Developing and Scaling A Personalization Platform

Executive Summary

We partnered with a leading integrated retailer focused on connecting digital and physical shopping experiences to serve its customers. Our engagement involved advanced analytics and insights on business performance, transitioning their analytics platform to Google Cloud, implementing KPI-focused business intelligence (BI) and real-time tracking, strategic planning and decision-making, cross-functional leadership and management, data engineering, and recommending investment decisions. We managed a team of 150+ associates, including senior directors and directors, to achieve these objectives.

Client Background

The client is a leading integrated retailer that operates through its subsidiaries with full-line and specialty retail stores across the United States. The company is dedicated to seamlessly connecting digital and physical shopping experiences to serve its customers. They also own a social shopping platform that offers members rewards for shopping at their stores and other retail partners.

Problem Statement

The client faced challenges in leveraging their data to optimize business performance, manage analytics infrastructure, and make informed strategic decisions. They needed a partner to help them transition their analytics platform, implement real-time tracking and BI solutions, and provide cross-functional leadership and management.

Objectives

Our objectives were to:

1. Provide advanced analytics and insights on business performance.
2. Transition the client’s analytics platform to Google Cloud.
3. Implement KPI-focused BI and real-time tracking.
4. Support strategic planning and decision-making.
5. Provide cross-functional leadership and management.
6. Establish data engineering and provisioning at a foundational level for continuous analytical outputs across domains.
7. Recommend investment decisions using BI and technology.
8. Manage a team of 150+ associates, including senior directors and directors.

Approach

We took the following approach to achieve our objectives:

1. Analyzed the client’s data to identify trends, patterns, and insights to improve business performance.
2. Migrated the client’s analytics platform to Google Cloud to ensure scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness.
3. Developed and implemented KPI-focused BI and real-time tracking solutions to monitor and optimize business processes.
4. Collaborated with the client’s leadership team to support strategic planning and decision-making.
5. Provided cross-functional leadership and management to coordinate efforts across various departments and teams.
6. Established data engineering and provisioning processes to enable continuous analytical outputs across domains.
7. Utilized BI and technology to recommend investment decisions that would drive business growth and profitability.
8. Managed a team of 150+ associates, ensuring effective communication and collaboration among team members.

Key Findings

Our engagement revealed opportunities for the client to optimize their business performance through advanced analytics, strategic planning, and technology investments. Transitioning to Google Cloud provided a scalable and cost-effective analytics infrastructure, while implementing KPI-focused BI and real-time tracking solutions enabled better decision-making and process optimization.

Recommendations

We recommended the following actions:

1. Leverage advanced analytics to drive data-driven decision-making and optimize business performance.
2. Transition to Google Cloud for a scalable and cost-effective analytics infrastructure.
3. Implement KPI-focused BI and real-time tracking solutions to monitor and optimize business processes.
4. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive strategic planning and decision-making.
5. Invest in technology solutions that enable continuous analytical outputs and support data-driven growth.

Implementation

Our team implemented the recommended actions, working closely with the client’s leadership and cross-functional teams to ensure a smooth transition and successful adoption of the new processes and technologies.

Results

The implementation of our recommendations led to improved business performance, streamlined decision-making, and optimized processes. The client was able to better leverage their data and analytics infrastructure, resulting in more informed strategic decisions and increased profitability. The transition to Google Cloud, implementation of KPI-focused BI and real-time tracking solutions, and investment in technology solutions enabled the client to drive continuous improvement and growth across their organization.

Conclusion

Our engagement with the leading integrated retailer successfully addressed their challenges in leveraging data to optimize business performance, managing analytics infrastructure, and making informed strategic decisions. Through our collaborative efforts, we were able to provide advanced analytics, transition their analytics platform, implement real-time tracking and BI solutions, and offer cross-functional leadership and management. As a result, the client experienced improved business performance, streamlined decision-making, and optimized processes, ultimately leading to increased growth and profitability.