2019 Promotion Optimization Institute TPx Vendor Panorama (Fall 2019)

Distinction: POI Best-in-Class for HQ Analytics/Insight

Analytics: Data Ventures analytics extend well beyond the scope of this report into macro insights, shopper loyalty dynamics, assortment optimization, space management, strategic pricing planning, new product evaluation, and supply chain analytics. On the planning side, this means promotion decomposition at the event level to understand which promotional approaches generate truly incremental results for both manufacturer and retailer- results net of cannibalization and time shifting. In particular we like how it shows volume decomposition graphically, side by side, for both trading partners. It also provides understanding of brand and package switching, and calculation of pricing opportunities.

The latter shows graphically which products to promote in a Strategic Pricing Matrix, which is a really cool way of looking at win/lose combinations for both the manufacturer and retailer. Also impressive is the ability to index product affinities and display them graphically as a way of looking at co-promotion and product mix opportunities. The Data Ventures team continues to enhance the forecasting accuracy capabilities by matching the statistical forecasting approach used: for retailers where POS is available they employ their proprietary recurring Neural Net algorithm; for retailers where delivered data is available with promotional retail pricing data they employ linear regression models; and for those with delivered data but where the retail pricing data is missing they employ time series forecasting models.

IDV express is a revolutionary new data processing engine designed for extremely complex data sets (i.e. loyalty card data). Highly detailed queries against enormous databases can now be delivered in under 10 seconds (60X faster response time vs. earlier processing engine).

Data Venture’s expertise in post event analytics stems from its work with global retailers on POS/Scan/loyalty card analytics. It is arguably one of the most powerful analytical tools on the market. They can then be planned and monitored at the banner level. One ongoing engagement for a very large beverage company and a pair of very large retailers involves monitoring on-shelf availability with full root cause analysis by store every day by 10 AM. This has also extended into the ability to support promotions by predicting when a specific SKU will run out of inventory at a specific store 3-4 days in advance.

Forecasting capabilities have been enhanced this year to extend down to the most granular level: store/SKU/day which enables clients to now integrate their TPM forecasts with their supply chain planning. Planners can still plan at the promoted group, but the system takes care of the aggregation and disaggregation behind the scenes.

Best-in-Class executive dashboard reporting has been deployed and is a highly visual, interactive, geo map-based solution to enable high level views in real time into: YTD TPO/TPM results, along with BOY forecasts and by market unit trade channel, retailer, category, products, and packages. We wish we could share the graphic with you as this dashboard is exceptional both visually and regarding the depth of data that can be reviewed quickly to understand the business and gaps. Overall, POI rates Data Venture Analytics as Above Average.

Key differentiators: Data Venture’s depth of the analytics, combined with the experience of seeing things from the retailer side of loyalty card and shopper analytics. This is a really strong synergy and few competitors can do things like manage 1.7 million SKUs for a Japanese retailer for better merchandising, shelving, and pricing locally, let alone from halfway around the world. In particular, where we see depth on the TPx side is in volume decomposition, whether at the plan or individual level. Also, as it relates to monitoring and predicting out of stocks, which should be a part of any TPM approach. Thus, it is the insight on overall strategy development and details on how to execute a better promotion that differentiates Data Ventures.

Another differentiator relative to promotion execution is the ability to monitor product at the SKU and store level in near real time, or as often as the data is available. We believe that capability should be part of every TPx deployment, so that adjustments and collaboration can be done in-flight instead of registering that the promotion was not executed per contract or had product availability issues after the event was over.

Source: https://poinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2019POITPxVendorPanorama-FINAL9-19-2019.pdf