Sensing by the SKU

Teradata is releasing its new Demand Signal Repository, which allows consumer goods companies to analyze retail point-of-sale data to detect demand patterns at the SKU and store levels.

Tim Shaw, a senior program manager for Teradata, said the DSR's scalability allows the solution to effectively process high volumes of retail sales data.

Teradata announced the DSR April 16.

"It takes POS feeds from large retailers that vary by complexity and level of detail, and harmonizes and brings them into a single repository," Shaw said. He said data can be collected, harmonized and analyzed across retail accounts and also at the account level.

Consumer goods companies can also use the DSR to collect data from different banners of multiformat retailers in one repository, Shaw said, using multiformat grocery retailer The Kroger Co. as an example.

"Kroger has a dozen or more banners, and typically each banner sends its own data," he said. "The supplier wants to see across those banners. You can handle multiple data reporting schedules within the same repository."

Mike DeBrosse, vice president of demand and supply chain solutions marketing for Teradata, said the DSR offers improved visibility into POS data, which is typically aggregated.

"You can view POS data at the aggregate level, or you can drill down to SKU- and store-level information, rather than look at product- or regional-level-type information," DeBrosse said.

He credited partnerships with data analysis technology vendors Shiloh Technologies and Relational Solutions with enabling the DSR's analytic capabilities.

"Access to our rich data model is enabled by a rich set of analytics [from these partners] for alerting and reporting against data on an item- or store-level basis," DeBrosse said.

"Teradata gives Shiloh a platform to become infinitely expandable," said Shiloh Technologies President and CEO Lisa Bohn. "We can allow manufacturers to finally get all information from any retailer into one place. Their [data analysis] tools tend to be siloed to work with particular data feeds. It takes a lot of effort to line all that data up to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges."

DeBrosse said the DSR can help consumer goods companies improve on-shelf availability and account forecasting through increased visibility.

"You understand the whole relationship with the retailer," he said. "From a manufacturer's perspective, you better understand new product introductions and the product life cycle by responding to POS data."

He said the DSR can also enable more efficient promotions management.

"You understand the true takeaway at the shelf instead of the shipment history," he said.

In addition, DeBrosse said a consumer goods company can obtain retailer profit and loss statements at the individual store level, rather than at an aggregate level.

Lora Cecere, an analyst with AMR Research, said the use of downstream data on the POS and inventory levels in the extended supply chain can improve out-of-stock levels at a store by 2 to 3 percent.

"For companies pushing growth strategies, new product introductions and promotions, the use of downstream data is essential," Cecere said. "Downstream data enables more responsive pull-based replenishment."

She said while Teradata has strong capabilities in data warehousing, this announcement gives the vendor a data model that allows better use of data to drive information for the retail account teams of consumer goods companies.

Dan Berthiaume covers the retail space for eWEEK. For more industry news, check out eWEEK.com's Retail Site.