Stores Magazine - November 2007 - (Page 54) NUTS AND BOLTS / BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Geared Up BI tool helps REI scale new heights of assortment planning BY M.V. GREENE R EI, the world’s largest outdoor gear and clothing retailer, is mining the depths of business intelligence to remain near the top in customer service. Business intelligence (BI) gives organizations the tools to look inward by examining operational data and moving quickly to adjust to market conditions and customer expectations. “It gives you the ability to identify things differently on a regional or store basis where you can have greater refinement,” says John Strother, director of inventory and logistics for merchandising at the Sumner, Wash.-based retailer. “You can identi- fy where your business is not as strong in a particular product category down actually to a store level or a regional level. This gives you an earlier insight. It’s about the speed of decision making and the ability to react more quickly.” REI uses BI to generate store, Internet and catalog performance results for all of its merchandising functions, including managing product selection, inventory analysis and quality assurance. 54 STORES / NOVEMBER 2007 PivotLink “gives you an earlier insight; you can identify where your business is not as strong in a particular product category down to a store level or a regional level.” — John Strother, REI The goal, Strother says, is to put the power of BI in the hands of individual user groups, tailored for that user – whether it is the CEO, buyers, storelevel employees or vendors. Simply, “the quicker you can react to an inventory shortfall or an excess inventory situation, the better effect you will have,” he says. Three years ago, REI migrated to a system from Seattle-based SeaTab Software, deploying its PivotLink Embedded Business Intelligence on-demand tool to store managers, corporate users in departments that included finance, marketing and human resources and more than 100 of its largest vendors. For the large-volume suppliers, REI is able to increase communication by providing them with vendor scorecards that segregate data on returns, invoice accuracy and on-time delivery. REI dropped its previous BI vendor in favor of PivotLink because of enhanced pricing efficiencies, Strother says. PivotLink does not require seat licenses for individual users and the software resides WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG
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