The Tile Shop selects software from Business Objects to aid in aggressive growth strategy
San Jose, CA, and Paris — March 7, 2005 — Business intelligence (BI) solutions provider Business Objects today said that The Tile Shop, a growing retailer of ceramic, porcelain and natural stone tile, has implemented BusinessObjects XI to analyze sales, inventory turns, order fulfillment metrics, financial expenditures and marketing initiatives to help execute an aggressive growth strategy for the chain in the coming months and years.
The Tile Shop commented that it will use the solution to achieve insight into the performance of its 30 stores throughout the nation by analyzing and defining best practices at current stores that can then be replicated at new locations.
For example, at the point of sale, The Tile Shop staff identifies whether an individual or a contractor made a purchase. This distinction is important because contractors purchase tile in bulk for large projects, such as finishing a housing development, and receive special incentives as a result.
The Tile Shop then downloads the data from its point-of-sale terminals nightly into the XI solution, and executives use the information to determine which stores, which products and which regions are attracting more contractors, and which are attracting more individual consumers. This helps ensure that marketing dollars are being properly allocated between these two important types of customers.
The Tile Shop will rely on BusinessObjects XI to measure nearly every aspect of its performance as an organization, from product performance to store-by-store profitability. As a result, annual budget planning has become a shorter and more precise process, and everyone in the organization assumes greater accountability for meeting financial and corporate goals.
Dashboards powered by BusinessObjects Dashboard Manager and BusinessObjects Performance Manager will track key performance measurements by department and store. In addition, The Tile Shop uses BusinessObjects Data Integrator to deliver data to their performance management dashboards.
"BusinessObjects XI is a critical component for us as we expand our business intelligence deployment," said Gerald Baltrusch, director of information technology at The Tile Shop. "Understanding and delivering the right product mix at the right time is essential to our continuing success. BusinessObjects XI is helping take us where we want to be: a performance based company with an aggressive growth strategy."
Russ Hill, worldwide director of marketing for consumer products, retail and distribution for Business Objects, said, "Maintaining a consistent view of the business throughout an organization can be challenging, but it is critical that everyone in the organization have accurate information to help them focus on delivering results on company-wide goals. The Tile Shop understands the importance of keeping all aspects of its business on the same page."
