top supermarket chain gains · memory technologies in sql server 2016, the solution provides store...
TRANSCRIPT
Itrsquos a challenging time for supermarkets Economic fluctuation online competitors and changing consumer lifestyles have all contributed to the sluggish sales in recent years Staying profitable means reacting faster than ever to trends both inside and outside the store Today leading retailers like Meijer are keeping their competitive edge by finding new ways to work with data
ldquoWe have 300 team members in each of our stores and they want to get data immediately about every piece of the business from the receiving area to the sales floor to the front end Power BI enables us to standardize data sources and empower store directors and ultimately team leaders to develop and track their own data sets to ensure that we improverdquo
Matt Craig Regional VPndashEastern Region Meijer
Top supermarket chain gains insight and boosts profitability with Microsoft Power BI
Customer Name MeijerIndustry Retail and Consumer GoodsCountry or Region United SatesCustomer Website wwwmeijer comEmployee Size 70000
Customer ProfileBased in Walker Michigan Meijer is a Midwestern chain of supercenters with 230 stores located throughout Michigan Ohio Indiana Illinois Kentucky and Wisconsin Each Meijer store includes a pharmacy and most also have a gas station The multibillion-dollar retailer is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States
Tapping into dataBased in Walker Michigan Meijer is a major regional supercenter chain with 230 stores in six states All Meijer supercenters include a pharmacy and most also include a gas station One of Americarsquos largest private companies Meijer has a long history of innovation including the introduction of the modern supercenter more than 50 years ago
Understanding operational performance and customer behavior was easier when Meijer opened its first stores in Michigan Now itrsquos a different world with aggressive competition hundreds of stores and products that range from groceries and gasoline to electronics and pet supplies And while the phrase ldquoTherersquos more at Meijerrdquo refers to products it could also apply to data The company had a potential gold mine of information but no way to tap into it consistently across the organization
Meijer was using a variety of technologies to manage information including a data warehouse based on Teradata a homegrown business intelligence (BI) tool and reporting software from other vendors In addition the companyrsquos business users relied heavily on Microsoft Excel However despite the diversity of technology the companyrsquos stakeholders all had one thing in commonmdashthey relied on IT to help extract insight from data
Marilyn Richards Director of Business Intelligence and Collaboration at Meijer wanted to create a more self-sufficient environment ldquoNo matter where I go
the demand for BI is always greater than the supplyrdquo she says ldquoAnd people donrsquot always have time to wait for IT to build every report Plus they were unable to do on-the-fly ad hoc analysis easily We have to empower the business customers with relevant and timely reporting to react quickly and appropriatelyrdquo
Building a better foundation for BIRealizing that most employees were familiar with Excel the company decided to use the spreadsheet software as a starting point for transforming BI And when Richards and her team learned about Microsoft Power BI and its self-service capabilities they knew theyrsquod found the right solution Together with SQL Server Analysis Services and Excel Power BI would provide the insight and real-time self-service capabilities Meijer needed to empower employees Meijer teamed with Microsoft BI partner obviEnce to kick off the project
Power BI connects to an on-premises SQL Server Analysis Services cube that includes a staggering 20 billion rows of data refreshed in near-real time With in-memory technologies in SQL Server 2016 the solution provides store directors insight into massive volumes of datamdashincluding sales across regions stores and individual departmentsmdashin less than two seconds
Although the new hybrid-cloud platform is still in the pilot phase Meijer is already seeing some impressive results In a typical scenario the company had opened three
ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammer I think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
Marilyn Richards Director of Business Intelligence and Collaboration Meijer
stores within a month In the past Meijerrsquos IT Manager of Business Intelligence Joseph Openshaw would have created a portfolio of new-store reports Then he would painstakingly answer every question from stakeholders It was a considerable challenge ldquoWe have approximately 800000 unique product codes and 80 different departmentsrdquo he explains ldquoWe sell everything from floral products and underwear to pharmacy and gas One solution doesnrsquot always fit every single businessrdquo
But the new solution makes everyonersquos job easier ldquoNow I create one or
two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new storesrdquo says Openshaw ldquoWith Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Getting insights and boosting profitAnd by asking their own questions Meijer employees can target areas for improvement For example a bakery
department used Power BI to compare its sales with regional performance As a result the department identified opportunities to boost profits ldquoDuring the Memorial Day holiday we increased profits by more than 40 percent just on cookiesrdquo says Matt Craig Regional Vice PresidentndashEastern Region at Meijer ldquoWith Power BI we were able to see where we were significantly behind the regional trend focus on the problem and create a solutionrdquo
The next step is to extend Power BI and Office 365 companywide to each store which will also provide access to the
latest version of Excel Openshaw points out that implementation can be carried out with existing infrastructure including the companyrsquos Teradata system and SQL Server Then Meijer looks forward to using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning with Power BI As a result it will gain predictive analytics and real-time alerts that can help store directors react faster and more proactively
Improving access to information Richards anticipates more data-driven collaboration too ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammerrdquo she says ldquoI think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
The cloud solution will also improve access to information across any device without additional effort from Meijerrsquos IT team ldquoI love how Power BI knows what device Irsquom using and surfaces data accordinglyrdquo says Openshaw ldquoFor example Joe Analyst can pull pricing information into a model and share it with his boss and other analysts and they can all query the data whether theyrsquore using phones tablets or desktopsrdquo
Easier access to information is just one benefit Openshaw stresses that access to data at the right time not just real time is important Every two hours his team
sends out a sales flash to approximately 800 Meijer business leaders ldquoWith Power BI they drill down into hourly sales by store and departmentrsquo
The company anticipates few barriers to user adoption ldquoOur team members are so accustomed to having instant communication and getting instant feedback in their personal livesrdquo says Craig ldquoThey want the same type of information when they try to run the business We have 300 team members in each of our stores and they want to get data immediately about every piece of the business from the receiving area to the sales floor to the front end Power BI enables us to standardize data sources and empower store directors and ultimately team leaders to develop and track their own data sets to ensure that we improverdquo
Staying ahead of the competitionUltimately improving means increasing profits And increasing profits depends on keeping one eye on customers and another on competitors ldquoLeaders in the retail environment have to be able to understand whatever is going on in each of their departments and compare that with the competitionrdquo says Craig ldquoAnd we have to do that in real time because if we canrsquot improve something immediately a customer will simply go to a competitor Power BI will help us be more agile and flexible and identify the gaps quicker Thatrsquos why itrsquos so importantrdquo
Softwarebull Microsoft Office 365bull Microsoft Power BIbull Microsoft SQL Server 2016bull Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services
This case study is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INTHIS SUMMARY Document published September 2016
ldquoNow I create one or two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new stores With Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Joseph Openshaw IT Manager of Business Intelligence Meijer
Customer Name MeijerIndustry Retail and Consumer GoodsCountry or Region United SatesCustomer Website wwwmeijer comEmployee Size 70000
Customer ProfileBased in Walker Michigan Meijer is a Midwestern chain of supercenters with 230 stores located throughout Michigan Ohio Indiana Illinois Kentucky and Wisconsin Each Meijer store includes a pharmacy and most also have a gas station The multibillion-dollar retailer is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States
Tapping into dataBased in Walker Michigan Meijer is a major regional supercenter chain with 230 stores in six states All Meijer supercenters include a pharmacy and most also include a gas station One of Americarsquos largest private companies Meijer has a long history of innovation including the introduction of the modern supercenter more than 50 years ago
Understanding operational performance and customer behavior was easier when Meijer opened its first stores in Michigan Now itrsquos a different world with aggressive competition hundreds of stores and products that range from groceries and gasoline to electronics and pet supplies And while the phrase ldquoTherersquos more at Meijerrdquo refers to products it could also apply to data The company had a potential gold mine of information but no way to tap into it consistently across the organization
Meijer was using a variety of technologies to manage information including a data warehouse based on Teradata a homegrown business intelligence (BI) tool and reporting software from other vendors In addition the companyrsquos business users relied heavily on Microsoft Excel However despite the diversity of technology the companyrsquos stakeholders all had one thing in commonmdashthey relied on IT to help extract insight from data
Marilyn Richards Director of Business Intelligence and Collaboration at Meijer wanted to create a more self-sufficient environment ldquoNo matter where I go
the demand for BI is always greater than the supplyrdquo she says ldquoAnd people donrsquot always have time to wait for IT to build every report Plus they were unable to do on-the-fly ad hoc analysis easily We have to empower the business customers with relevant and timely reporting to react quickly and appropriatelyrdquo
Building a better foundation for BIRealizing that most employees were familiar with Excel the company decided to use the spreadsheet software as a starting point for transforming BI And when Richards and her team learned about Microsoft Power BI and its self-service capabilities they knew theyrsquod found the right solution Together with SQL Server Analysis Services and Excel Power BI would provide the insight and real-time self-service capabilities Meijer needed to empower employees Meijer teamed with Microsoft BI partner obviEnce to kick off the project
Power BI connects to an on-premises SQL Server Analysis Services cube that includes a staggering 20 billion rows of data refreshed in near-real time With in-memory technologies in SQL Server 2016 the solution provides store directors insight into massive volumes of datamdashincluding sales across regions stores and individual departmentsmdashin less than two seconds
Although the new hybrid-cloud platform is still in the pilot phase Meijer is already seeing some impressive results In a typical scenario the company had opened three
ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammer I think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
Marilyn Richards Director of Business Intelligence and Collaboration Meijer
stores within a month In the past Meijerrsquos IT Manager of Business Intelligence Joseph Openshaw would have created a portfolio of new-store reports Then he would painstakingly answer every question from stakeholders It was a considerable challenge ldquoWe have approximately 800000 unique product codes and 80 different departmentsrdquo he explains ldquoWe sell everything from floral products and underwear to pharmacy and gas One solution doesnrsquot always fit every single businessrdquo
But the new solution makes everyonersquos job easier ldquoNow I create one or
two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new storesrdquo says Openshaw ldquoWith Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Getting insights and boosting profitAnd by asking their own questions Meijer employees can target areas for improvement For example a bakery
department used Power BI to compare its sales with regional performance As a result the department identified opportunities to boost profits ldquoDuring the Memorial Day holiday we increased profits by more than 40 percent just on cookiesrdquo says Matt Craig Regional Vice PresidentndashEastern Region at Meijer ldquoWith Power BI we were able to see where we were significantly behind the regional trend focus on the problem and create a solutionrdquo
The next step is to extend Power BI and Office 365 companywide to each store which will also provide access to the
latest version of Excel Openshaw points out that implementation can be carried out with existing infrastructure including the companyrsquos Teradata system and SQL Server Then Meijer looks forward to using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning with Power BI As a result it will gain predictive analytics and real-time alerts that can help store directors react faster and more proactively
Improving access to information Richards anticipates more data-driven collaboration too ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammerrdquo she says ldquoI think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
The cloud solution will also improve access to information across any device without additional effort from Meijerrsquos IT team ldquoI love how Power BI knows what device Irsquom using and surfaces data accordinglyrdquo says Openshaw ldquoFor example Joe Analyst can pull pricing information into a model and share it with his boss and other analysts and they can all query the data whether theyrsquore using phones tablets or desktopsrdquo
Easier access to information is just one benefit Openshaw stresses that access to data at the right time not just real time is important Every two hours his team
sends out a sales flash to approximately 800 Meijer business leaders ldquoWith Power BI they drill down into hourly sales by store and departmentrsquo
The company anticipates few barriers to user adoption ldquoOur team members are so accustomed to having instant communication and getting instant feedback in their personal livesrdquo says Craig ldquoThey want the same type of information when they try to run the business We have 300 team members in each of our stores and they want to get data immediately about every piece of the business from the receiving area to the sales floor to the front end Power BI enables us to standardize data sources and empower store directors and ultimately team leaders to develop and track their own data sets to ensure that we improverdquo
Staying ahead of the competitionUltimately improving means increasing profits And increasing profits depends on keeping one eye on customers and another on competitors ldquoLeaders in the retail environment have to be able to understand whatever is going on in each of their departments and compare that with the competitionrdquo says Craig ldquoAnd we have to do that in real time because if we canrsquot improve something immediately a customer will simply go to a competitor Power BI will help us be more agile and flexible and identify the gaps quicker Thatrsquos why itrsquos so importantrdquo
Softwarebull Microsoft Office 365bull Microsoft Power BIbull Microsoft SQL Server 2016bull Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services
This case study is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INTHIS SUMMARY Document published September 2016
ldquoNow I create one or two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new stores With Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Joseph Openshaw IT Manager of Business Intelligence Meijer
stores within a month In the past Meijerrsquos IT Manager of Business Intelligence Joseph Openshaw would have created a portfolio of new-store reports Then he would painstakingly answer every question from stakeholders It was a considerable challenge ldquoWe have approximately 800000 unique product codes and 80 different departmentsrdquo he explains ldquoWe sell everything from floral products and underwear to pharmacy and gas One solution doesnrsquot always fit every single businessrdquo
But the new solution makes everyonersquos job easier ldquoNow I create one or
two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new storesrdquo says Openshaw ldquoWith Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Getting insights and boosting profitAnd by asking their own questions Meijer employees can target areas for improvement For example a bakery
department used Power BI to compare its sales with regional performance As a result the department identified opportunities to boost profits ldquoDuring the Memorial Day holiday we increased profits by more than 40 percent just on cookiesrdquo says Matt Craig Regional Vice PresidentndashEastern Region at Meijer ldquoWith Power BI we were able to see where we were significantly behind the regional trend focus on the problem and create a solutionrdquo
The next step is to extend Power BI and Office 365 companywide to each store which will also provide access to the
latest version of Excel Openshaw points out that implementation can be carried out with existing infrastructure including the companyrsquos Teradata system and SQL Server Then Meijer looks forward to using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning with Power BI As a result it will gain predictive analytics and real-time alerts that can help store directors react faster and more proactively
Improving access to information Richards anticipates more data-driven collaboration too ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammerrdquo she says ldquoI think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
The cloud solution will also improve access to information across any device without additional effort from Meijerrsquos IT team ldquoI love how Power BI knows what device Irsquom using and surfaces data accordinglyrdquo says Openshaw ldquoFor example Joe Analyst can pull pricing information into a model and share it with his boss and other analysts and they can all query the data whether theyrsquore using phones tablets or desktopsrdquo
Easier access to information is just one benefit Openshaw stresses that access to data at the right time not just real time is important Every two hours his team
sends out a sales flash to approximately 800 Meijer business leaders ldquoWith Power BI they drill down into hourly sales by store and departmentrsquo
The company anticipates few barriers to user adoption ldquoOur team members are so accustomed to having instant communication and getting instant feedback in their personal livesrdquo says Craig ldquoThey want the same type of information when they try to run the business We have 300 team members in each of our stores and they want to get data immediately about every piece of the business from the receiving area to the sales floor to the front end Power BI enables us to standardize data sources and empower store directors and ultimately team leaders to develop and track their own data sets to ensure that we improverdquo
Staying ahead of the competitionUltimately improving means increasing profits And increasing profits depends on keeping one eye on customers and another on competitors ldquoLeaders in the retail environment have to be able to understand whatever is going on in each of their departments and compare that with the competitionrdquo says Craig ldquoAnd we have to do that in real time because if we canrsquot improve something immediately a customer will simply go to a competitor Power BI will help us be more agile and flexible and identify the gaps quicker Thatrsquos why itrsquos so importantrdquo
Softwarebull Microsoft Office 365bull Microsoft Power BIbull Microsoft SQL Server 2016bull Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services
This case study is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INTHIS SUMMARY Document published September 2016
ldquoNow I create one or two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new stores With Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Joseph Openshaw IT Manager of Business Intelligence Meijer
latest version of Excel Openshaw points out that implementation can be carried out with existing infrastructure including the companyrsquos Teradata system and SQL Server Then Meijer looks forward to using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning with Power BI As a result it will gain predictive analytics and real-time alerts that can help store directors react faster and more proactively
Improving access to information Richards anticipates more data-driven collaboration too ldquoWhat Irsquom looking forward to with Power BI and Office 365 is the ability to easily share reports through OneDrive SharePoint Online and Yammerrdquo she says ldquoI think Yammer will be very powerful for online discussions and sharing and even changing reports It is an exciting step for Meijer in moving forward with collaboration and self-service analyticsrdquo
The cloud solution will also improve access to information across any device without additional effort from Meijerrsquos IT team ldquoI love how Power BI knows what device Irsquom using and surfaces data accordinglyrdquo says Openshaw ldquoFor example Joe Analyst can pull pricing information into a model and share it with his boss and other analysts and they can all query the data whether theyrsquore using phones tablets or desktopsrdquo
Easier access to information is just one benefit Openshaw stresses that access to data at the right time not just real time is important Every two hours his team
sends out a sales flash to approximately 800 Meijer business leaders ldquoWith Power BI they drill down into hourly sales by store and departmentrsquo
The company anticipates few barriers to user adoption ldquoOur team members are so accustomed to having instant communication and getting instant feedback in their personal livesrdquo says Craig ldquoThey want the same type of information when they try to run the business We have 300 team members in each of our stores and they want to get data immediately about every piece of the business from the receiving area to the sales floor to the front end Power BI enables us to standardize data sources and empower store directors and ultimately team leaders to develop and track their own data sets to ensure that we improverdquo
Staying ahead of the competitionUltimately improving means increasing profits And increasing profits depends on keeping one eye on customers and another on competitors ldquoLeaders in the retail environment have to be able to understand whatever is going on in each of their departments and compare that with the competitionrdquo says Craig ldquoAnd we have to do that in real time because if we canrsquot improve something immediately a customer will simply go to a competitor Power BI will help us be more agile and flexible and identify the gaps quicker Thatrsquos why itrsquos so importantrdquo
Softwarebull Microsoft Office 365bull Microsoft Power BIbull Microsoft SQL Server 2016bull Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services
This case study is for informational purposes only MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INTHIS SUMMARY Document published September 2016
ldquoNow I create one or two standardized reports that give people a snapshot of the new stores With Power BI and SQL Server Analysis Services teams can pull in the data they need and ask their own questions instead of my having to create a solution that answers every single questionrdquo
Joseph Openshaw IT Manager of Business Intelligence Meijer