STORES Magazine - February 2009 - (Page 42)

NUTS AND BOLTS / BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Brand Management Business intelligence helps Elie Tahari control its image BY MICHAEL HARTNETT reputation for fashion, style and sophistication in women’s and men’s apparel and accessories has driven Elie Tahari’s expansion among retailers here and abroad as well as into its own bricks-andmortar locations. Senior managers soon realized, however, that they needed the technical tools to protect their brand within these diverse markets and multiple retail channels. A A key decision in achieving that goal — along with significant improvements in overall performance management — came with the addition of the IBM Cognos business intelligence (BI) application. Since it was installed in 2003, Elie Tahari has been able to measure its performance in multiple operations and to make the appropriate adjustments. This capability is all the more valuable because of the inherent sophistication of the brand’s merchandise (and customers), as well as the complexities and distances involved in its international quality materials are being used by its manufacturing partners. Selection of the IBM Cognos BI suite meant Elie Tahari was able to integrate its own best-of-breed systems on varying platforms that could communicate with each other at a transactional level, and maintain that level of communication with speed and accuracy. The implementation “was intended to be a single point for reporting and data analysis for the entire company, and it has lived up to this expectation,” says Nihad Atayman, director of business “We have seen a 20 percent across-the-board increase in our packing efficiency.” — Nihad Atayman operations, which includes some 40 countries. Elie Tahari apparel is sold by Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and major department stores, as well as in the company’s 19 mostly East Coast stores. Plans call for the opening of the first international store in Kuwait, followed by others in Athens and Istanbul, later this year. Maintaining the brand’s status and stature requires massive amounts of upto-date information dealing with fundamental day-to-day details such as ensuring that retailers adhere to the brand’s price points and avoid inappropriate markdowns, that their marketing and promotional programs are appropriate and consistent with the brand’s positioning and making certain that high42 STORES / FEBRUARY 2009 applications for the New York-based company. “We do not write any reports in our legacy applications and have replaced most of the existing legacy reports with BI screens and reports. Our user community has adopted our BI implementation to the point of total dependence on it in performing their daily duties.” Instant visibility ROI “has been more tangible in some areas than others, but is evident throughout,” Atayman says. “We have seen a 20 percent across-the-board increase in our packing efficiency after showing our packing supervisor a graphic performance analysis of packers. Our own retail division has changed its buying patterns after they found out WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - February 2009

STORES Magazine - February 2009 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Are You a Pusher or a Puller? What Shoppers Think Online Retail Satisfaction 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story - Something’s Got to Give First Look Concept2Watch Online Partners Merchandising Sustainability Inventory Systems Drug Store Systems Business Intelligence Inventory Managment Online Marketing Supply Chain - Better Data, Better Decisions Returns Management - Identifying Fraud Data Security - Securing Intimate Data Anti-Shoplifting - Mall of Shame? Risk Management - Securing Consumer Confidence Loeb Retail letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar End Cap

STORES Magazine - February 2009

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