How BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Are Bringing Science And Automation To The Art Of Retail Decision-Making

Historically, words like algorithms, forecasting, optimization, and business intelligence have been limited to the vocabulary of propeller heads that spend their days in climate-controlled server rooms. Retail IT and operations have been relatively siloed organizations; the marketers and merchandisers leaning on the programmers and coders only when gut feeling, intuition, or a hard drive fails them.

This unfortunate reality has limited the business user’s exposure to the insight, speed, accuracy, and immediate applicability afforded by modern business intelligence and analytics tools.

Recent advances in the usability of complex BI and predictive analytics tools are changing that retail paradigm. Today, planners, buyers, merchandisers, and store operations professionals have frontline access to business and predictive intelligence in a user-friendly (non- propeller heads welcome) inter- face. The power of these tools is positively influencing the decisions retailers make about their products, placement, prices, promotions, and people.

In this paper, we’ll discuss how new in-memory, mobile computing power is helping retailers make intelligent, agile operations decisions around these “Five Ps” (or, if you’re new-school, the “Four Es”—experience, everyplace, exchange, and evangelism).

Download this white paper below to read more.