CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES

Results

With granular inventory data and timely reporting, the CPG was able to fulfill store-specific orders the same day to improve in-stock levels. Utilizing only one standard VELOCITY dashboard, the supplier realized a 116% increase in incremental sales for that week.

Results

With more accurate and dependable sales forecasts and plans, actual shipment and inventory data, and granular POS data in one shared database, the supplier has a continuous, overall picture of product movement, from “start to cart.” This has been a real eye opener for the company—particularly in how it has impacted the efficiency of manufacturing and demand planning. The company also has greater control over what product gets shipped to each retailer. Using high-quality VELOCITY data to increase or decrease the flow of goods to each store, the supplier has been able to drastically reduce end-of-season markdowns and returns while maintaining or even improving their rate of sale.

Results

In less than three months, the supplier noticed an increase in sales due primarily to increased effectiveness in inventory management through VELOCITY. For the first time, the company was able to capture and track historical item-level sales and inventory at individual stores and identify which stores were maximizing their sales and which were not. This allowed the company to reroute its territories to service high-performing and high-maintenance stores more efficiently.

The supplier could now accurately document and measure sales increases and compare product performance levels with stores where there was a lower level of service. Employing more accurate inventory data management, the company proved a day-to-day retail sales improvement of up to 40% in the stores they serviced and a significant ROI improvement in their category.

The supplier’s vice president of sales stated, "Retail Velocity and its VELOCITY platform have been a real strategic asset for us. In addition to bringing on additional revenues, we also credit VELOCITY with our ability to give our customers tangible proof of our impact on their bottom line and prove our value to them over time. Our customers want to know how we can do all the things we do—how we provide the timely and accurate reporting no one else can. That's a huge competitive advantage, and we credit VELOCITY."

Results

The supplier was now able to complete store-specific orders in about one quarter of the time they once spent using their old spreadsheet process. It believes that the largest single improvement provided by VELOCITY is the ability to better manage their inventories and complete reorders faster.

Their account manager explained, "VELOCITY allows us to spot exceptions 10 times faster than our old system. It lets us take a 'snapshot' of every retail facility we serve across the country—at the store level—so we can instantly identify a low on-hand number or a high 'phantom' number. For example, if there is a negative or erroneously high inventory count in the system, that product will not reorder. Because VELOCITY's exception-based reporting highlights these products for us, we can dig right into the data quickly and attack those numbers directly to determine specifically which SKUs and stores are problematic and then go in and provide a solution. And even though we have not added any new field sales staff, our service levels are much higher.

"We are effectively correcting and adjusting retailers' inventories every day and that has a huge impact on reorders and increased sales. With thousands of stores and responsibility for more than 1,500 SKUs, there is just no way we could provide this level of service without the timely, store-level data and analysis tools that VELOCITY provides."

Results

The supplier’s customers were impressed with the richness of the POS and inventory data, the quality and timeliness of analyses, and the accuracy of sales forecasting. Many of the buyers considered the supplier’s VELOCITY reports and analytics to be "better than their own," and, in at least one buyer's opinion, the supplier’s POS reporting, monitoring, and sales forecasting and planning capabilities are "light years ahead of the competition."

With the advantages of using VELOCITY, along with greater insights into consumer demand, the company shifted to a proactive sales approach to help their customers better manage their rate of sell, inventory levels, and product turns—and help build sales and profitability for both parties. As a result, the supplier was able to build stronger, more loyal customer relationships, which is an invaluable strategic advantage in a highly competitive retail market.

Results

The client improved seasonal forecasting by extrapolating store-level data, obtained greater ROI on promotions, and gained faster store reads that helped the company determine its endgame for the holiday season. The client achieved a labor savings of 10 full-time employees in sales and one in IT during year one.

Results

Data was now accepted as accurate by all departments to feed Machine Learning models. C-level executives obtained a complete view of global retail sales and inventory. Account executives have access to clean, harmonized data and big data tools without having to mine it themselves.

Results

The client’s senior national account manager stated, “It’s all about greater visibility. The VELOCITY platform lets us share information internally and with retailers more quickly, which lets people make better decisions and react more quickly to sales opportunities or critical issues. For example, we’re able to easily identify a retailer’s top 200 stores and if there’s a sale next month, I can tell them that we should send these stores extra product because they ran out the last time. I can even identify a list of stores that don’t have any of our products on their shelves, and that’s really free money we don’t want to lose.

“As a result of these deeper insights and trustworthy recommendations, we have been able to achieve a 5% increase in sales. The value of VELOCITY is being able to have a concrete example, show it to the retailer and have them address it.”

Results

The manufacturer was able to easily keep an eye on store-level sales and inventory activity, and at the end of the test period, they achieved a 47% increase in sales. The program was then quickly rolled out to 85% of their top retail customers. Also, for analysis and reporting going forward, they could now look at actual retail sales data based on numerous attributes such as region, state, household type, race, market, and more. In addition, the attributes could also be grouped based on any defined criteria, such as brand, category, style, color, and size.

Results

The client increased sales by improving their forecasting and keeping retail shelves adequately stocked, and they reduced the carrying cost of inventory by 10% globally. Here’s what the client’s senior manager, consumer shopper insights had to say about VELOCITY and its benefits:

“With VELOCITY, we’ve created a much more efficient process that drastically reduces the time we spend getting and analyzing retail data. Because the process used to consume so much personnel time, sales and marketing teams sometimes went without having all the data they’d have liked to have. That doesn’t happen anymore.

“Having a ‘single version of the truth’ and making that truth easily accessible is a huge benefit for us. It eliminates conversations over what’s the right data and puts us immediately in a position to make use of the data. With VELOCITY and Microsoft’s Power BI platform, we can use advanced analytics for more in-depth and insightful analyses.”

Results

Global coverage was obtained for all products, and the client was able to feed all downstream applications, including daily VMI order generation.

Results

With greater channel and customer insights, the client was able to increase sales by lowering out-of-stocks.

Results

The client dramatically reduced out-of-stocks and achieved top-line sales growth of 8% within one year of implementation, resulting in billions of dollars of revenue for the consumer goods giant.

The product supply director said, “The use of VELOCITY combined with some improved standard work processes has enabled us to run this continuing data, reporting, and analytics challenge almost like a production facility. It's given us standard processes and practices, standard exception reports, and has allowed us to take corrective actions on a regular basis. To be a preferred supplier to our leading retail partners, we must continually improve their cash flow, sales, and profits. Retail Velocity has helped us achieve those goals."