Outdoor retailer expands business potential with data analytics

Arc’teryx Equipment, a Vancouver,Canada-based specialty retailer of high-performance outerwear and goods, is all about helping customers achieve their maximum potential.



The retailer has decided to take that same performance-driven ethos and apply it internally with help from visual analytics technology provider Qlik. Arc’teryx is using the Qlik visual analytics platform to transform its operational efficiencies and expand its global footprint.



By leveraging the Qlik Sense and Data Market applications, Arc’teryx is now able to analyze large amounts of internal and external data sources. This in turn empowering data-driven decisions about the expansions of brick-and-mortar locations, service and delivery, and supply chain efficiencies.



With the business goal of expanding into strategic global markets, Arc’teryx began to utilize its existing resources to determine specific locations for expansion. This ad hoc method, which included desktop research, proved challenging. These approaches were often missing crucial weather, money, and geographic data.



Based on years of successfully using other Qlik technology, Arc’teryx inquired about a visual self-service analytics platform that would enable-decision makers to evaluate the business smarter and faster. Now using Qlik Sense, executives have the ability to monitor each store location’s individual data, while also comparing results by country or region.



In addition, DataMarket, provides access to a comprehensive library of free and subscription-based external data directly within Sense to allow users to augment and cross-reference their internal data to gain context and drive deeper insights. Data collected in Arc’teryx’s Qlik Sense dashboards include overall global sales, sales of each product, time of day of sales, whether the weather impacted sales of specific products, vendors, and shipments.



Furthermore, several features facilitate sharing and collaboration, including storytelling that allows data stories to be directly published to Microsoft Office and PDF. The ability to share data allows decision makers to obtain near real-time insights throughout the different stages of not only the day-to-day operations, but how the individual lines of business are functioning. In addition, having the ability to access the near real-time data on the go enables the retailer to identify, respond, and rectify potential issues, such as low inventory of merchandise before they escalate.



“Qlik has had a tremendous impact on our organization by providing us a 360 view of our business,” said William Jackson, manager of business intelligence, Arc’teryx. “We have been able to dig deeper into our data, revealing data-driven insights that empower us to identify key markets for expansion, improve our supply chain and relationships with vendors. This ultimately transforms the way we are able to run our day-to-day global operation.”