Retail Industry Solutions

 

Business Objects profitability applications are uniquely able to meet the requirements of the retail industry. The flexible activity-based costing engine calculates cost using the most appropriate combination of methodologies - time splits, time-driven and transaction-based - within a single model, making for realistic driver-based planning and budgeting. At the same time, the profitability applications provide a rapid response to changes in underlying assumptions, which can very quickly and automatically be applied across the entire model.

Key Features

Addressing the Issues

BusinessObjects Store Assortment Optimization Analytics enables you to manage assortments and drive revenue and profitability. It accomplishes this through improved store segment, individual store category, and companywide assortment compositions - while monitoring standardized processes.

Business Metrics

Store Assortment Optimization Analytics contains metrics that cover the following areas:

  • Category/Product Assortment or Range: A logical group of products, a term used extensively in retail—typically "range" and "category" are synonymous.
  • Brand: A group of products that share the same brand (e.g., Heinz Tomato Ketchup).
  • Boston Consulting Group Matrix (BCG Matrix): A methodology designed to help decision-makers choose the best areas of business in which to invest. It categorizes products into stars, question marks, cash cows, and dogs—based on criteria like share and growth (of market/business).
  • Out of Stock (OOS) or Stock-Outs: Critical for all retail organizations, stock-outs reduce customer satisfaction and can lead to a decrease in revenue. Stock-outs are of particular concern for retailers where their offering is not differentiated from other retailers. Stock-outs are typically measured as a percentage.
  • Availability: An alternative measurement to stock-outs. Also expressed as a percentage, availability is the opposite of a stock-out measure—e.g., if availability is 93%, stock-out would be 7%.

Customer Profiling and Campaign Management

Customer Profiling and Campaign Management enables retailers to understand their customers, develop appropriate strategies, run relevant campaigns to them and monitor the success of those campaigns.