BI Drives Big Benefits For Oberweis Dairy

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

March 2016 Innovative Retail Technologies

The application of sophisticated analytics in several departments breathes new life into a nearly century-old regional retailer.

Oberweis Dairy might be the most business intelligence (BI)-savvy retailer you’ve never heard of. The Midwestern chain of 42 dairy stores sells a variety of freshly prepared ice cream treats along with milk and other fresh, perishable foods, which it also sells wholesale through local and national grocery chains. Oberweis also operates a chain of restaurants, and, perhaps most interestingly, it operates a six-state home delivery network that harkens back to its roots; the company started out in 1927 delivering milk to its customers’ doorsteps via horse-drawn wagons.