Bellevue, WA — May 28, 2003 — Comfort-savvy Birkenstock Footprint Sandals has chosen SeaTab Software's PivotLink to provide business analysis "at your fingertips" for employees, the companies announced today.
Employee-owned Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, based in Novato, Calif., is the original U.S. importer and distributor of Birkenstock footwear made in Germany.
Birkenstock was experiencing a sales reporting vacuum because its existing data systems simply did not provide adequate information reporting. According to Steve Furtado, director of finance, the company was sending homegrown finance reports via fax to salespeople just once a week.
Strengthening its current data warehouse system, Birkenstock chose PivotLink to provide information and reports to employees nationwide. "By introducing PivotLink, salespeople were quickly able to access timely information on brand, channel, inventory and mix, which had an immediate impact on their sales ability and performance overall," Furtado said.
SeaTab said that PivotLink software helps company employees transform complex and voluminous data into actionable information, as users define reporting parameters based on their business focus. Birkenstock has deployed PivotLink to handle information in a variety of ways across the company, reducing the workload on its information technology department and streamlining other information-loaded areas, according to SeaTab.
"We look forward to expanding PivotLink across our company in data-heavy areas such as the human resources department, as well as more accurately managing overseas inventory and supply chains," added Furtado. "It has really caught on, and everyone has gravitated to using it to get at the information they need everyday."
"Understanding where sales are coming from — online, storefront or catalog — the merchandise and channel mix, and the impact on the other channels are key issues for the retail industry and why they are gravitating toward business intelligence tools such as Pivot Link," said SeaTab CEO Kristi Marchbanks.
