Beckett Associates manages inventory and reduces unused merchandise with QlikView and Analytics8
Customer Company Size
Large Corporate
Region
- America
Country
- United States
- Canada
Product
- QlikView
- Visual AccountMate
- Velocity
Tech Stack
- SQL Server 2008
- Excel
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Revenue Growth
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
- Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Applicable Industries
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- Data Science Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Beckett Associates is the largest North American distributor of trading cards (gaming, sports and entertainment), related trading card supplies and hot trend items. The company provides retail supply chain management and specializes in category planning, planogram development, initial distribution, replenishment and merchandising of the modular for its retail partners. Additionally, Beckett Associates supports manufacturers who are looking for retail distribution of their products. Beckett Associates is a trend-based company that aims to consistently offer products that are relevant to current culture. Partners rely on Beckett to increase sales results from year to year by constantly innovating, while also identifying new properties to distribute and maximizing sales performance of evergreen brands.
The Challenge
Beckett Associates, a large North American distributor of trading cards and related supplies, was struggling with managing its inventory effectively. The company was operating without a reporting or analytical tool, pulling data from multiple sources and creating reporting silos. The reports were compiled in Excel, a static and inflexible tool, which led to an increasing dependence on IT to maintain the reports, slowing down business operations. The company's limited Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities, coupled with the need to be trend-based, resulted in its inability to effectively manage inventory. This often led to overbuying products, resulting in unused inventory sitting in the warehouse for too long, leading to lost revenue.
The Solution
Beckett Associates chose QlikView, a user-driven Business Intelligence solution, to address its challenges. The company's IT Director, Heather Sterk, downloaded the free online application and called upon Analytics8, a BI and Data Warehouse (DW) enablement and optimization consulting firm, to facilitate the implementation of QlikView. Analytics8 assessed Beckett Associates’ Business Intelligence needs and concluded that the QlikView Associative Architecture would be the most effective solution for the company. The Associative Architecture included applications such as Inventory Analysis and Store Analysis, ideal for the industry in which Beckett operates. After spending a week in QlikView training, the first set of applications was delivered for executives focusing on daily, weekly, and monthly accounting data. Within 90 days, there were QlikView applications built for executives with financial data, the sales force for forecasting, and line operators for supply chain analysis.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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