1010data Brings Together Top Retail Executives to Discuss the Use of Business Intelligence in Today’s Economy

Strategic Technology Can Change the Game in an Economic Crisis

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the Commerce Department’s recent report stating that retail sales fell by a record 2.8 percent in October, forward-thinking retailers like Target, Carlson Companies and Regis Corporation understand, now more than ever, the urgency of using innovative business intelligence (BI) technologies to stay ahead of the competition. Those retailers and others joined 1010data, a provider of ad hoc analytics for BI, and Cathy Hotka & Associates, a CIO-level retail marketing firm, at a recent roundtable forum to discuss the use of BI technologies to better understand customers, shopping patterns and preferences in today’s fast-paced, competitive retail market.

“1010data understands the extreme volumes of data that retailers deal with every day. Due to this, the company provides an inexpensive, easily implemented BI solution that allows retailers to dig deeper into their massive quantities of data – all while generating near-immediate payback.”

“One issue that was unanimously agreed upon was that the retailers who successfully emerge from this economic crisis will be the ones with the best insight and visibility into their stores, employees and customers,” said Cathy Hotka, principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates. “In 2009, it is imperative that retailers find cost-effective ways to get fast access to data, helping them better understand key metrics and improve business-critical decisions that affect the bottom line.”

Retail IT executives who attended the event in Minneapolis earlier this month discussed how better understanding of changing customer behaviors will help position retailers to successfully withstand the current economic crisis. With additional immediate insight into customer needs and preferences, the attendees identified technology trends in which to make this idea a reality for retailers:

• Changing the Role of BI: Historically, BI in the retail market has been “nice to have,” but not a staple of retailers’ IT infrastructure. With the advent of optimization software, the retail technologists felt strongly that they need to and can use BI in a more strategic, revenue-generating way.

• Gaining Fast Access to Data: The business of retail moves quickly, and IT needs to adapt. BI technologies that give retailers quick access to unlimited amounts of customer, operational and merchandising data, open up countless possibilities for analysis – even at the most granular, raw transaction level – to make better, more informed business decisions. This true form of analytics supports the notion that retailers may not know the real questions to ask until they start getting the answers from the initial questions. Immediate turnaround of the answers allows for retail analysts to dig deeper with more thoughtful and rewarding analysis.
• Considering SaaS: With IT budget constraints getting even tighter, retailers are considering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for quick, easy implementations that show immediate ROI. Secure and accountable, SaaS saves retailers from pricey data centers and high power consumption and maintenance costs.

“Retailers spend less money on IT than any other industry, and with IT budgets cut even more due to the economy, retailers are facing pressure to use existing company data to make better business decisions,” said Jim Mattecheck, director of retail services, 1010data. “1010data understands the extreme volumes of data that retailers deal with every day. Due to this, the company provides an inexpensive, easily implemented BI solution that allows retailers to dig deeper into their massive quantities of data – all while generating near-immediate payback.”

1010data’s hybrid BI solution combines a powerful back-end database with a flexible front-end tool, enabling fast, reliable queries of detailed data. Delivered as a cost-effective SaaS, 1010data lets retailers store their transactional data online, and then quickly and easily combine it with outside data sources to provide unprecedented real-time analysis. Implemented in less than six weeks, 1010data’s fully managed solution gives retailers immediate insight for better business decisions and immediate ROI. The impact on the bottom line is demonstrable and proven.

1010data is a proven solution to an age-old problem that is more critical now than ever before. Retailers that would like to schedule a demo with 1010data can contact Jim Mattecheck at [e-mail].

About Cathy Hotka & Associates

Cathy Hotka & Associates creates events where retail IT leaders can see one another and compare notes, and where technology companies can contribute ideas and learnings. Cathy Hotka & Associates leverages a huge contact base of retail IT leaders to create custom meetings, executive dinner discussions and the Retail Insiders Party, the only place to see nearly all of retail’s top IT leaders in one room.

About 1010data

1010data provides high-performance ad-hoc analytics for business intelligence, empowering organizations with a fast, reliable and easy-to-use solution to get the most out of data. The company’s hybrid business intelligence tool provides a unique platform that combines front-end usability with back-end analytical functionality. Delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, 1010data returns complex, sophisticated query results from very large datasets in seconds, allowing organizations to make quick, critical decisions and enabling them to express complicated business ideas. To learn more about 1010data, visit: http://www.1010data.com.