CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY: RETAIL
QuantiSense, a leading provider of analytic applications and
data warehouses exclusively for specialty retailers, has been a
MicroStrategy global alliance and premier reseller since 2001.
Built atop the MicroStrategy platform, QuantiSense puts powerful
data analytics and reporting capabilities in the hands of retail
business users and can be implemented in 60 days or less. The
QuantiSense applications consists of role-based dashboards,
exception reporting that pinpoints problems and opportunities,
and the signature QuantiSense Playbooks®, which capture retail
best practices and guide users to take immediate action to
improve their business
BREAKING THE BARRIER
Company:
QuantiSense
Applications:
Mobile Business Intelligence
“Our retail clients will be able to
analyze high-level store performance, run
dashboards, receive exception alerts, and
be forewarned of overstock or stock-out
conditions immediately. In the future,
the write-back capability of our app will
Even with everything that has been done with web and desktop analytics,
retail decision makers are not using nearly all the potential of the web
and desktop because analytics don’t exist where many retail decisions are
made. QuantiSense aims to change that with Mobile BI to better serve
retailers across the world.
Merchandising groups of buyers, planners, and allocators typically make
decisions in their Monday morning meetings, away from a desktop.
The store operations’ regional, district, and store managers make up a
mobile group of users that have a pressing need for analytics on-the-go.
QuantiSense is aiming to reach both of these user groups with useful
iPhone and iPad apps.
“The biggest barrier to having analytics has been the delivery mechanism,”
says Jeff Buck, CEO at QuantiSense. “The iPhone and iPad break this barrier
for retailers.” And while the iPhone is essential in delivering analytics to
decision makers on-the-go, the bigger game changer, according to
QuantiSense officials, is the iPad.
ensure everyone can immediately act on
these insights to improve the business.”
– Jeff Buck
Chief Executive Officer at QuantiSense
“Retailers can email district managers,
store managers, and associates to keep
them apprised of their sales targets and
promote healthy competition.”
– Jeff Buck
Chief Executive Officer at QuantiSense
CONSTANT CONNECTIVITY FOR THE MERCHANDISING WORLD
In 2010, QuantiSense ventured into the mobile app world by developing
its first app for the iPhone and iPad with MicroStrategy Mobile. The Retail
Merchandise Analysis app is based on the primary MicroStrategy-based
dashboard that QuantiSense developed for retail executives. Designed
mainly to cater to the needs of buyers and merchandise managers, the
app provides comprehensive information about inventory, orders, sales,
and product performance via the iPhone.
Furthermore, the app also enables quick decision-making. Buyers and
managers can quickly accelerate shipments by evaluating top-selling
products, make markdown decisions based on seasonal sell-through,
cancel orders for bottom-selling products, and communicate more
effectively with vendors. The app is perfect for the retail community as it
equips buyers and merchandise managers with constant connectivity to
changing consumer demands as well as seasonal trends.
“We envision a lot of useful and clever
possibilities delivering mobile apps to
retailers,” said Buck. “QuantiSense is
exploring a range of ways that our mobile
solution could be customer-facing,
informative for shoppers, and tailor made
to suit their tastes and on-the-go lifestyle.”
– Jeff Buck
Chief Executive Officer at QuantiSense
“The Retail Merchandise App lets buyers and planners access their
iPhone or iPad, and interact with their retail data wherever they are,”
says Buck. QuantiSense is currently developing a database write-back
capability so that decisions made on the iPhone and iPad can write back
to transactional retail systems. “If, for example, a merchant is interacting
with real-time data during a Monday morning meeting, he or she can
accelerate or cancel an order with a vendor, allocate merchandise to a
group of stores, promote an item, or put it on clearance, all with a few taps
and swipes,” explained Buck.
GETTING WORK DONE ON THE GO
Store Operations is another area where retail decision-making will
benefit with mobile apps built for the iPhone and iPad. Consider a retail
giant that employs thousands, if not tens of thousands of people that
work out in the field, across stores, or travel around managing a group
of stores. District managers, who move in and out of the office, have a
constant need to be empowered with analytics, and have historically been
underserved by IT. They haven’t had the right interface to access reports
remotely as they check in with their team.
“Being in front of a computer for district managers isn’t possible for large
segments of the day or week because they’re visiting store locations,”
“With an iPad, a district manager can
run reports in real time as he or she
walks into a store to meet with a store
manager. Moreover, a district manager’s
schedule is often booked months in
advance, so having access to real-time
key metrics aligned for that store as well
as performance metrics for those store
employees is going to ensure an effective
meeting with the store manager.”
– Jeff Buck
Chief Executive Officer at QuantiSense
“The MicroStrategy and QuantiSense
infrastructure is the perfect way to
added Buck.
STAYING CONNECTED WITH PROMOTIONS AND YOUR TEAM’S
PERFORMANCE
In the retail world, employee performance is often tied to how a
promotion performs across stores. If a store hasn’t displayed a new floor
set and promotional sign that promotes a popular teen movie, hundreds
of dollars can be lost in a few hours. With weekly reporting, a district
manager might not know about the floor set and the signs not being
replaced for four or five days.
However, with an iPad, that district manager would know that sales linked
to that DVD promotion are underperforming relative to stores in the
district because an iPad alert would show a dip in DVD sales. Furthermore,
by requiring managers to take a picture of every new floor set that’s
installed, a district manager could open the file for the underperforming
store and see that the floor set picture is or isn’t the right one for the
current promotion.
manage performance contests and drive
excitement”
– Jeff Buck
Chief Executive Officer at QuantiSense
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