Andrew Fowkes is retail solutions director within Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for the Global Retail Practice (GRP) of SAS Institute Inc. (SAS), an international leader in business intelligence software. He represents over 16 years of experience in the retail industry, and leverages his merchant experience in guiding retailers as they blend the art of retailing with the science of SAS technology. Fowkes regularly meets with senior management in leading retail organizations introducing them to the Power of SAS for Retail and raising the awareness of the strategic benefits of retail planning software. His responsibilities include designing strategic solutions that support the customers’ business requirements along with an appropriate implementation roadmap driving associated business results.
Eidtor's note: Andrew Fowkes, Head of Retail Centre of Excellence at SAS UK & Ireland, explores the factors driving some retailers to excel and others to fail in a complex environment A stark polarisation is now emerging between winners and losers on the high street. Companies that have focused on
Today’s retailers have access to vast stores of data that allow them to create the personalised retail experience that customers have come to expect. Used in the right way, analytics can be the key to bringing customers in through the door, building a better online experience, or simply helping weather
Once upon a time, the festive countdown began when towns and cities switched on their Christmas lights. We all sat at home, eagerly waiting for Christmas adverts to debut. Retailers could plan based on the number of weekends left until Christmas. But last year, all that changed – the Black
In the past, the supermarket wars were fought on location and floor space. The biggest supermarkets had the most space in the best locations. Today it’s very different as battles are won and lost on price, loyalty and maintaining profit margins. The price of milk rose to the top of the
Black Friday might seem like a long time ago now, but the impact of this new phenomenon in the UK still ripples. Retailers such as Dixons Carphone embraced the shopping day and once the results were tallied, that turned out to be a good move. The retailer attributes the success to careful planning
Retailers are always trying to get closer to customers. But it’s not just about improving service to those customers – it’s about understand more about what products they are demanding so as to make better forecasting decisions around, for example, how much of a particular item is needed in stock.
Few of us can have missed the scenes of frantic shoppers searching for that ultimate bargain on Black Friday. This is something fairly new in the UK, having originated in the United States to refer to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. Legend has it that ‘black’ refers to the first day of the
