SupplyPike, a retail data science company in Northwest Arkansas, is happy to announce a new, powerful software tool for Walmart suppliers. We’ve created Data Lab, a custom query builder that runs Retail Link reports – without Retail Link!
Walmart suppliers know the hassles of running queries in Retail Link’s Decision Support System (DSS). It’s a tedious, manual process with lots of opportunities for error. Reports are slow to come back (if at all), and one wrong click can make a query fail altogether.
Enter SupplyPike’s Data Lab. It features a clean, user-friendly interface through which suppliers can create fast, custom reports. Users select the data they want to see on the Excel spreadsheet, and Data Lab ensures that the columns match the expected report. Users cannot create reports that would otherwise fail in DSS.
Data Lab uses caching to pull data immediately, so the average report takes four seconds to generate. DSS reports can take hours or even days. Additionally, Data Lab stores reports indefinitely, whereas DSS archives queries if the user hasn’t accessed them in 90 days.
In the Data Lab interface, suppliers will see some familiar modules. Users select their data level (i.e., item, store, category, or vendor), time range (rolling dates or static calendar dates), item details, and store information. Finally, users select the critical part of the report: data columns. Data Lab divvies up the data into usable groups, so suppliers can easily see their sales performance or instocks.
“Unlike retailer portals that were built in the 1990s, Data Lab is stable and predictable. It’s not a mystery as to how long a report will take to finish or if it will finish at all,” states Carter King, Product Owner at SupplyPike. “Data Lab provides an easy and intuitive report setup: The process guides a user through different stages of filtering and specifications, ensuring a valid report is returned every time.”
Data Lab is the perfect complement to SupplyPike’s robust analytics app, Retail Intelligence. The marriage of fast, ad hoc reporting to common metrics and custom dashboards means that suppliers will never have to open Retail Link again.
SupplyPike will take a deep dive into the reporting features in its free webinar series, “Coffee Break: Intro to Walmart Data,” every Wednesday in October at 9 AM CDT while also discussing Walmart analytics topics. SupplyPike’s Senior Director of Retail Insights, Stacy Tan, will review standard metrics that Walmart suppliers should be watching.
The webinar series features 15-minute discussions on reporting, demographics, and inventory and will end with an hour-long Q&A with a Walmart buyer. Visit the Events page on SupplierWiki for more information and to sign up.