How the web makes store sales analysis easier for REI
Merchandise managers at REI Inc. are using a web-based data analysis system implemented last month to maximize gross profit margins per square foot in each of its 63 stores. "The tool makes it easier to see things we couldn`t see before, because it was too hard to get the data," John Strother, director of inventory and logistics for merchandising operations, tells InternetRetailer.com.
REI built the gross margin analysis into its PivotLink tool from SeaTab Software by adding metrics related to costs, retail prices and square footage. In addition, it also added metrics on sales of its most popular items and related in-store inventory levels. "This enables managers to analyze how effectively REI is maintaining in-store stocks of our best-selling items," Strother says.
He adds REI managers had been able to access limited amounts of similar information in the past through a cumbersome, non-browser-based system, but the difficulty in accessing and comparing data in pivot tables resulted in less analysis actually being conducted. By providing web-based access to key metrics, Strother says, REI made the data more easily accessible to managers, who in turn have stepped up their analysis of store performance.
Since implementing the web-based PivotLink tool more than a year ago to access and analyze other corporate sales and merchandising data, REI has increased management`s use of analysis by 400% over the prior non-web system, Strother says.
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