Decision Support Systems For Business Intelligence
    by Vicki L. Sauter

 
 
DSS in Action -- Grocery Stores

Today's analytics provide more than just the profit level or sales quantity of a store. With new data mining tools managers can now get insights into why sales hit specific levels as well as what is likely to happen next month, thus giving them factors that can be manipulated to improve performance. By analyzing vast quantities of data, managers better understand what drives different categories of shoppers. This, in turn, stimulates decisions such as how to rearrange store layouts, stock shelves and price items. Once shopping behaviors and preferences are understood, stores then can tailor offerings accordingly to differentiate themselves from competitors. Britain's Tesco relies on mined data for most decisions, including the development of house brands. Kroeger (U.S.) uses mined data to profile customer buying behavior so they can better target coupons to make the store more appealing. The ability to predict customer response to changes in business rules provides a powerful competitive advantage for the store.
 

 

   Page Owner: Professor Sauter (Vicki.Sauter AT umsl.edu)