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Industry Summary Articles

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Boomerang Commerce Unveils New Retail Lifecycle Performance Management Application

Boomerang Commerce releases its new Lifecycle Performance Management application (LPM). Until now, merchants could only react to problems during the product lifecycle as they arose. With Boomerang’s newest application customer performance data, blended with external market data, can predict future challenges and forecast demand and performance. Utilizing artificial intelligence, LPM recommends actions to mitigate performance risks and lets merchants and planners see the predicted outcome of their actions. As a result, retailers are able to increase sales, drive profitability, and improve sell-through.

“Apparel brands and retailers use Boomerang Commerce technology to maximize earnings while meeting customer expectations in an increasingly dynamic market,” notes Guru Hariharan, Boomerang’s CEO. “Facing both internal and external pressures, merchants and merchant planners need a system that can synthesize an increasingly diverse and growing set of data to make critical decisions across the product lifecycle. The Boomerang Lifecycle Performance Management application allows planners to refine the customer experience and improve the merchandising lifecycle to meet demands and grow revenue.”

Lifecycle Performance Management Application Helps Drive Performance

Merchant planners are under increasing pressure to hit aggressive sales targets without sacrificing margins. This requires more accurate forecasting, optimal inventory allocations, and optimal timing of markdown prices. However, planners must do this for an ever-increasing set of products and channels, all with limited resources and increased market competition. Boomerang’s LPM application leverages machine learning to monitor performance, inventory levels, and competitors to identify opportunities to improve performance and mitigate risk weeks before they become larger problems. The system saves significant time in analysis, prevents last-minute fire drills, and minimizes opportunity cost due to ineffective actions.

"Pricing and selection play a huge role in establishing what a brand stands for and the overall customer experience with a brand,” says Joe Milano, senior vice president & general manager of digital, Saks Fifth Avenue. “Retailers and brands that proactively use pricing and assortment insights to make smarter decisions across the apparel lifecycle using technologies like Boomerang Commerce understand this and will have a competitive advantage over those that don't."

Going Beyond Legacy Software Tools to Provide a Digital Merchant Assistant

Merchant planners must process a staggering amount of data to make intelligent forecasting, merchandising and markdown decisions. Unfortunately, many of the tools at their disposal are designed for analysts or data scientists and offer only opaque pricing models. Designed to make a planner’s life better, Boomerang has created the first machine learning-enabled merchant assistant to help planners focus their efforts on actions that can positively impact the business or avert performance issues before they strike across the entire product lifecycle.

The application’s features include:

  • Digital Merchant Assistant: Constantly analyzes catalog, performance, and market data to guide planners with suggested actions to drive higher footfall, greater online traffic and increased sell-through while optimizing for improved margins. This solution:
  • Identifies opportunities and risks that planners can address before they turn into performance problems;
  • Guides product lifecycle decision making at the cadence of merchant operations;
  • Recommends multiple decision options to illustrate tradeoffs between various performance metrics; and,
  • Offers a streamlined user interface that is designed for merchants and planners.
  • Identifies opportunities and risks that planners can address before they turn into performance problems;
  • Guides product lifecycle decision making at the cadence of merchant operations;
  • Recommends multiple decision options to illustrate tradeoffs between various performance metrics; and,
  • Offers a streamlined user interface that is designed for merchants and planners.
  • Lifecycle Forecasting:Provides forecasts and simulations for store and online channels to help planners:
  • Drive revenue and margin performance across the lifecycle of their products;
  • Achieve optimal sell-through against their plan; and,
  • Foresee inventory and allocation issues before they happen.
  • Drive revenue and margin performance across the lifecycle of their products;
  • Achieve optimal sell-through against their plan; and,
  • Foresee inventory and allocation issues before they happen.
  • Markdown Management and Recommendations:Manages the markdown process from the very beginning of the product lifecycle. The solution:
  • Automatically surfaces suggested actions to drive resolution of potential performance issues;
  • Manages markdown decisions across teams to ensure closed-loop operations; and,
  • Optimizes margin opportunities to ensure no money is left on the table.
  • Automatically surfaces suggested actions to drive resolution of potential performance issues;
  • Manages markdown decisions across teams to ensure closed-loop operations; and,
  • Optimizes margin opportunities to ensure no money is left on the table.

“The future of retail requires technology to bring a data-driven approach to the art of merchandising," says Professor Barbara Kahn, director, Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at The Wharton School. "With the massive amounts of information inside a retailer and the ever-changing outside market conditions and consumer trends, Boomerang's use of machine learning and predictive analytics to combine and process these data sources to then recommend 'next best' actions at any point in the product lifecycle is a huge step forward toward modernizing retailing."

Boomerang’s Lifecycle Performance Management application is delivered as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription and is being unveiled today at Shoptalk in Las Vegas. To see a demonstration, ShopTalk attendees can stop by booth 624 and learn more. 

To view the original press release, please click here.

Search for Boomerang Commerce on CIMdata.com

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