Sizing Up Sizing
Having the right styles has always been a challenge for retailers. But even more important is having the right sizes in the right styles. This January 2006 Stores article takes a look at what retailers, including SAS customer Kohl’s, are doing to tackle this sizeable challenge. Read more

In Retail, Size Matters
As you try on a pair of new jeans at your favorite retailer, you soon discover what retailers have known for years: size matters. As retailers examine the recent holiday shopping season, assessing the effectiveness of big markdowns, big sales and big spending, they’re also grappling with a rapidly changing industry, from mergers and acquisitions to the spread of super centers. New technologies from SAS are helping retailers plan more effectively, better understand their customers and vendors, deliver the right offer at the right time via the right channel, and have the right merchandise for sale at the right price. Read more

Forecasting Provides Fundamental Insights at Staples
How does a successful retail corporation with nearly 1,200 U.S. stores and $14 billion in annual sales decide where to open new stores each year? For Staples Inc., the answer is easy – with SAS. SAS' forecasting capabilities help analysts at the office supply superstore calculate three years' worth of sales forecasts for nearly 5,000 potential store locations each year. Staples executives use the results to help determine the best site for each new store. Read more

Aberdeen Group Identifies Secrets to Success in Retail and CPG
Increase gross annual revenues more than 15 percent. Enjoy a 15 percent annual improvement in return on marketing investment (ROMI). Sound impossible? Well, it’s not. According to a recent study conducted by the Aberdeen Group, these results can be achieved by building a “marketing-ready enterprise.”

Product commoditization, higher customer expectations, shrinking budgets and channel cannibalization have pressured marketers to increase their interest in building a marketing-ready enterprise. Download this research study to understand the correlation between companies that adopt leadership in building marketing-ready enterprises and companies that attain higher ROMI as well as increased gross sales revenue.

Respected Analyst Alexi Sarnevitz Joins SAS to Lead Retail Strategy
Alexi Sarnevitz has joined SAS as senior director of global retail strategy. His responsibilities will include defining and shaping advanced retail industry solutions and go-to-market strategies at SAS. Sarnevitz has more than 20 years of senior-level experience leading vital functional areas and directing major cross-functional initiatives for prominent international retailers. Read more

SAS® Takes Guesswork Out of Promotions
Retailers pulled out all the stops in the 2005 holiday season, offering huge promotions to lure consumers back to their registers. But the jury is still out on what impact increased promotions had on bottom lines. In 2006, with the introduction of SAS Promotion Optimization, SAS retail customers won’t have to struggle to determine the expected lift in demand from promotions. SAS Promotion Optimization is the latest module in the groundbreaking SAS Revenue Optimization suite, which helps retailers maximize revenue and margin through the entire merchandise life cycle. Read more

SAS® Demand Intelligence Enhances Merchandise Planning
Successful retailers do more than accurately measure past performance; they also predict future demand to make the right merchandising decisions today.

SAS recently launched an enhanced version of the Marketmax® Integrated Merchandise Planning Solution. Marketmax 6 is an integrated planning solution that includes financial, assortment, allocation and space management capabilities. Key enhancements include integrated statistical forecasting and workflow functionality. Read more

Retail Execs Rank SAS High on Performance, ROI
SAS has been recognized as one of the most important software vendors for the retail industry. In its Software LeaderBoard 2005, Retail Information Systems (RIS) News has ranked SAS high for the overall performance, strategic value and ROI that it delivers to the retail industry through its retail intelligence software and for the service and support it provides to the industry. Read more

Which? Takes Control of the Customer Experience

Newport News Catalog Adds Millions to Bottom Line With SAS® Software for Retail

Retailer Casual Male Turns to Sophisticated Analytic Software from SAS

Brooks Brothers Standardizes on SAS’ Enterprisewide BI Platform

Sainsbury's Uses Marketmax to Offer Secure Exchange of Collaborative Planograms

Have a question, comment or suggestion? Want to see something covered in the next Retail Special Edition? Simply e-mail the editor.

SAS Retail Executive Session
SUGI 31 Executive Conference
March 26 – 27
San Francisco
SAS customers seeking to improve their organization’s bottom line are invited to join retail industry visionaries, SAS executives and business leaders from around the world at the SAS Retail Executive Session held in conjunction with the SUGI 31 Executive Conference. Speakers will focus on the challenges facing today’s retailers and the global issues that will shape the future of information systems. Participants also will be able to take part in discussions, share best practices with peers and participate in other sessions to transform their businesses and build success. If you are a SAS customer and would like more information on this invitation-only event, please contact Kelley Levens.

SUGI 31
March 26 – 29
San Francisco
Register soon for SUGI 31. Visit the SUGI 31 Web site for the latest SUGI news and information! New for 2006: a retail focus session featuring keynotes from Brian Kilcourse, chief strategist at Retail Systems Alert Group, and Scott Langdoc, vice president of research at AMR Research. In addition to the keynotes, there will be industry-specific demos, seminars and more.

F2006
June 5 – 6
Cary, NC
SAS’ first business forecasting conference, F2006, will be held at SAS’ world headquarters in Cary , NC. Attend F2006 to learn about the latest forecasting theories, trends and best practices from world-renowned forecasting experts. The conference will feature several keynote speakers and sessions covering practical applications, methods, tools and successful case studies in business forecasting. Register before March 3 and save!

Super Models: How Operational Research Can Change Your Business for the Better
Tuesday, February 28 – 11:30 a.m. ET
Predictive modeling is no longer the purview of actuaries and accountants. So who is using advanced analytics in business, and are they getting value for their investment? Join Mary Crissey, manager of worldwide strategy for advanced analytics at SAS, for an exploration into the world of operational research. Read more

Building the Marketing-Ready Enterprise
Thursday, March 9 – 11:30 a.m. ET
The need for more rigorous marketing discipline and competence has never been greater. As a result, the chief marketing officer’s new agenda for creating a sustainable competitive advantage is to build a marketing-ready enterprise. The Aberdeen Group, sponsored by SAS, recently conducted research to find the marketing competencies that are critical to the success of today’s marketing organizations. Join Alan See, director for the SAS customer solutions and alliances division, to learn about the results of this study and take away key information that can help you build your own marketing-ready enterprise. Read more

Focus on SAS® Enterprise BI Server
On-Demand Web Seminar
Extend the capabilities of SAS Enterprise BI Server and reveal the many facets of your data – with fast, easy access to multiple data sources, consistent and credible reporting, simple deployment of information for all user levels, and accurate, reliable insights. View now

Smart and Smarter: The Advantage of Business Intelligence
Free Learning Series from BetterManagement.com
This BetterManagement Learning Series will help you understand how to apply enterprise business intelligence to business issues and decisions. It explains how you can identify the business value of enterprise data management and analytics in your company. You’ll see real-world examples of companies that have successfully integrated enterprise business intelligence into their activities and learn to identify the best practices that you can apply in your own organization. Explore the concepts, requirements and value of sustaining an effective enterprise business intelligence program. Learn more

New Introduction to SAS® Business Intelligence Live Web Class!
Learn how to use the SAS®9 BI Server throughout your organization. Find out how everyone – from IT experts to top executives – can turn data into useful information for better business decisions. Using a Web browser and telephone, the Live Web class provides you with an instructor to guide your learning and answer your questions in real time – all from the comfort of your desktop. Register online for the upcoming April 12-13 class.

SAS® Forecast Studio: An Introduction and Overview
Generating forecasts is an important first step in many planning and decision-making processes. Typically, forecasting is performed on a regularly repeating basis for a wide variety of planning purposes. For example, future demand for products and services may be forecast in order to support production planning, marketing activities, resource scheduling and financial planning.

SAS Forecast Studio, a key component of SAS Forecast Server, facilitates and speeds the statistical forecasting process by providing a convenient, user-friendly interface to the large-scale automatic forecasting, model-building and time series exploration capabilities available in SAS. Download this white paper to learn how SAS Forecast Studio enables users to set up forecasting projects, perform large-scale automatic forecasting, identify exceptions, override forecasts and more.

Mastering Data Mining: The Art and Science of Customer Relationship Management
In this follow-up to their successful first book, Data Mining Techniques, Michael Berry and Gordon Linoff offer a case-study-based guide to best practices in commercial data mining. This book shifts the focus from understanding data mining techniques to achieving business results, placing particular emphasis on customer relationship management. After providing the fundamental principles of data mining and customer relationship management, the authors share the lessons they have learned through a series of warts-and-all case studies drawn from their experience in a variety of industries, including e-commerce, banking, cataloging, retailing and telecommunications. Read more