Quantum takes leap with retail science
Demand forecasting, inventory allocation and replenishment — the unsung building blocks of every successful retail enterprise — have gained a new level of respect with retailers striving to deliver the omnichannel experience shoppers demand.
Retailers that expect to remain viable in the future are in some form or fashion pursuing an omnichannel strategy the key elements of which include an expanded product offering, a multifaceted approach to engagement and a whenever-and-wherever fulfillment philosophy. Executing this value proposition has led to an exponential increase in the complexity of running a successful retail business in an industry that was hardly lacking in complexity. Not surprisingly then, retailers are looking for solutions to minimize this elevated levels of complexity and technology providers are obliging them by integrating powerful new capabilities into their products. This trend was especially evident last month at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention and was exemplified by enhancements Quantum Retail made to its flagship Q Solution platform.
The Minneapolis-based company introduced upgrades to its Q Solution platform that help retailers more effectively manage their businesses against the backdrop of an industry undergoing a rapid transformation.
“These enhancements are the result of a collaborative process that has involved looking at the overall market direction, collecting feedback from our clients and prospects, and adding a number of science-based updates to deliver new levels of functionality to the retail marketplace,“ added Scott Aubitz, CMO and vp of product strategy at Quantum Retail. “Quantum is focused on driving constant innovation and releasing new capabilities for our retailers who use our solutions to drive millions of decisions every day.”
More specifically, Quantum sought to address the core challenges of less predictable consumer demand and shifting buying patterns that have become commonplace for retailers in the omnichannel age. To do so it added a range of new capabilities to its Allocation and Replenshiment Solution and Order Planning Solution within its Q Merchandise Optimization Solutions suite.
“Quantum Retail’s science has always been unique in its ability to predict buying patterns of consumers to help retailers more efficiently run their stores,” said Ziad Nejmeldeen, Quantum Retail’s vp of science. “Our latest enhancements extend our science to a broader portion of the merchandise supply network while also addressing changing dynamics within the retail vertical itself.”
What that means is the company’s allocation and replenishment solution now features the ability to perform allocations for products that have no prior sales history, evaluate variable packaging configurations to determine optimal allocations and produce forecast variance alerts triggered by demand shifts. In the area of order planning, the company’s science-based approach means retailers who use its Q Demand Engine can perform time-phased inventory targets to view inventory target fluctuations based on range, seasonality, life cycle and quantities while predicting demand based on future inventory constraints.
“These updates to the Quantum Retail solution suite represent our latest evolution of the Quantum Retail Merchandise Optimization technology to address rapid changes in the retail vertical,” said Steve Buege, CEO of Quantum Retail.