Advancing data analysis for Retail Managers

[janette....@yahoo.com.au]

Imagine being untethered from your office, able to access the latest
business information and react to it in real time. Essentially, you
are ‘instantly effective’ wherever you may be; Talking to vendors,
briefing staff, tracking supply chain indicators or communicating with
remote peers over a report.

You’re an area manager for retail conglomerate CheapStuff. The
northwestern sector of your region is underperforming. The situation
demands your personal attention – and a visit. Luckily, you can take
all the location-based information you need with you on your
smartphone or ipad – your Business Intelligence (BI) solution has
integrated Location Intelligence (LI) and mobile reporting
capabilities.

LI – the combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and BI
allows you to combine location-based data and traditional metrics –
and Mobile BI – the ability to receive reporting and analytics on-the-
go via mobile devices – empowers you to uncover otherwise hidden
trends, patterns and relationships; no matter where you, or your
assets are located.

6 ways to utilize Location Intelligence and Mobile BI to accelerate
retail actions and reactions

The ability to access location-based reports from your mobile device
allows you to formulate a strategy from the departure lounge. You’re
able to:

Track stock levels of individual retail operators to coordinate
warehouse deliveries to ensure individual shop fronts are always well
stocked

Categorize underperforming stores to assess their ongoing
viability and ability to raise profits

Assess the sales of particular items by store to determine
effective and efficient sales campaigns and stock distribution

Assess customer purchase habits, frequency and residency to help
new marketing campaigns boost store traffic and sales

Segment customers in a multi-dimensional way via purchase
history, demography as well as location, to develop highly effective
and personalized relationships

Identify the location of potential customers and suggest
specialized marketing messages via location-specific mediums

Detect and mitigate unnecessary competition between regional
stores

Forecast and redevelop store-specific budgets and expectations
based on the size of surrounding populations and other location
specific information

Yellowfin extends your mobile device to a total business awareness
device.

So, what can a BI platform, encompassing LI and mobile analytical
capabilities, bring to a retail organization’s critical business
processes and operations?

Just ask Yellowfin how, at: http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFContact.i4

The importance of where: Location Intelligence and Mobile BI

Gartner’s 2012 BI Magic Quadrant survey indicated that the majority
(53%) of organizations will deliver some form of mobile analytics by
year’s end. The same report revealed that many organizations, across
a diverse range of industries, are beginning to apply BI and analytics
to new business areas. As a result, respondents listed “geographic-
intelligent functions” as one of the standout new product requirements
for 2012.

The insight able to be leveraged by assessing location-based data on
mobile devices is enormous. LI is the glue that binds organizational
data assets together, generating context, meaning and exposing crucial
relationships between data types. Mobile BI is the platform of the
future for reporting and analytics, as executives abandon their desks,
and spend more time amongst assets, employees and customers.

With the intensification of trends towards globalization, outsourcing
and the instantaneous (driven by our constant connectivity courtesy of
the Internet), not knowing will no longer be an excuse, no matter
where you, or your company’s operations, are located.