How a modern data stack is unlocking agility across the retail industry

In today’s shop-from-anywhere world, the model for success continues to change. Tried and true techniques are becoming obsolete as consumer expectations evolve, demand volatility rises, and supply chain disruptions become more frequent. Retailers are also dealing with online shopping surges that add new complexities to existing data strategies due to an influx of raw, unprepped, and largely underutilized data. 

63% of retail decision-makers don’t respond to consumer demands and insights in an agile manner, according to research by Salesforce.

Analytics agility is a competitive advantage in retail today—and it will be table stakes for retail success tomorrow. And yet, 63% of retail decision-makers don’t respond with agility to consumer demands and insights, according to Salesforce research. 

Retailers, the key to navigating this rapidly changing omnichannel landscape lies within your organization’s ability to quickly see, understand, and act on all its data. Data granularity matters. Though it may seem like a simple concept, the reality of actually accomplishing this feat baffles even the most technologically advanced retailers.

“To identify the root causes of high costs and promote effective decision making, granular data is essential. Yet companies typically lack the detailed data necessary to understand what is happening at a transactional level in the supply chain. Even if they do possess the data, they often fail to use it effectively. Moreover, data collection and analysis tend to be labor-intensive manual processes, which often aren’t completed in time to allow for effective actions.”    
- BCG, “Reinventing the CPG Supply Chain with Zero-Base Budgeting”

Fortunately, a modern data stack (MDS) using Fivetran, Snowflake, and Tableau makes it easier to pull data from new and various systems, combine it into a single source of truth, and derive fast, actionable insights.

What is a modern data stack?

A modern data stack, or modern data architecture, automates the sync between data pipelines, cloud data platforms, and business intelligence dashboards to drive faster time to value without growing respective data teams. 

Retailers, like Asics, who are using Fivetran, Snowflake, and Tableau as their MDS of choice are seeing significant boosts to productivity, scalability, agility, and revenue. On-demand access to readily available and actionable data is empowering teams to make high-impact decisions with confidence. 

How an MDS with Fivetran, Snowflake, and Tableau drives retail agility

Access to data
The hardest part of any analytics project or capability is getting the data, and Fivetran makes that easy. Fivetran data connectors—the key to blending cloud data sources with legacy, on-premises systems—are the fastest way to replicate applications, databases, events, and files into a high-performance cloud warehouse. Fivetran connectors deploy in minutes, require zero maintenance, and automatically adjust to source changes.

Transparency 
Retailers can then mobilize data in ways previously unimaginable with Snowflake’s cloud data platform—a solution for seamless and governed access to explore, share, and unlock the potential of data. Snowflake provides the scale, concurrency, and performance retailers want while delivering a single data experience that has the ability to span multiple clouds and geographies. 

Action
Insights must be understandable and actionable to be useful. The Tableau visual analytics platform provides powerful analytics capabilities that help everyone from executives to front-line operators make better, more informed decisions that propel the business forward and outpace the competition—all with clicks, not code. Tableau’s newest advanced analytics capabilities, Tableau Business Science, puts AI and machine learning into the hands of retail business users—enabling more accurate forecasts, more predictable supplier and distribution disruptions, and improved organizational preparedness to meet new challenges. 

Retailers who embrace a modern data stack are positioned to innovate, automate, digitize, and adapt their business models to capture new market share and compete in any environment. To learn more about what an MDS can do for your retail organization, read Data access, transparency, and literacy: Three must-haves for your modern retail data stack from Fivetran.