IBM Systems and Technology Smarter Computing

Retail

Bernard Chaus innovates with fashion trend analysis

Using a cloud-based solution backed by IBM to improve retail visibility and decision making
Based in New York, NY, Bernard Chaus specializes in creating an extensive range of womens career and casual sportswear. With fashion collections available in a wide range of department stores including Macys, Nordstrom and Neiman-Marcus, Bernard Chaus manages sales, marketing, design and production for its brands.

Overview
The need
Bernard Chaus, a fashion design company, needed to improve how it consolidated, analyzed and accessed retail sales data, helping the company to make timely and insightful business decisions.

Making sense of retail sales data

To remain competitive in the fashion industry, Bernard Chaus requires a deep visibility into its retail performance. For the company to make intelligent business decisions, it needs to have timely access to the right information such as seasonal sales trends. But simply having the right information at the right time does not always lead to clear insightsnot if the information is hard to interpret and use. The company was finding it difficult to analyze its retail reports, which include sales and transaction data. According to Henry Thervil, president of sales for the Vince Camuto brand at Bernard Chaus, Each retailer would send us a sales report, but the data would be in different formats. It was impossible to pull all of the information together. To help improve its sales-analysis process, the company began looking for a new technology solution.

The solution
The company worked with Sky I.T. Group to implement SKYPAD, a cloud-based solution supported by IBM infrastructure that collects, consolidates and displays sales trend information through a dashboard.

The benefit
The solution has enabled the company to improve its sales visibility and the efficiency of its decision-making, helping to boost retail sales and reduce product markdowns by close to 30 percent.

Providing an efficient and accessible solution

When it began evaluating options, the company found that many solutions were capable of consolidating sales data, but the reports they generated were in spreadsheet form and difficult to use. However, one solution offered a cloud-based tool with business analytics capabilities that focused on ease of use. The SKYPAD solution from IBM Premier Business Partner Sky I.T. Group, based in New York, NY, enables users to view and analyze retail point-of-sale data through a dashboard interface. This solution, which runs on IBM infrastructure hosted by Sky I.T. Group, offered Bernard Chaus the analytics capabilities it needed to make sense of sales data and generate business insight. Recognizing this opportunity, the company decided to move forward with the SKYPAD solution.

IBM Systems and Technology Smarter Computing

Retail

The sheer fact that we have IBM hardware and software with SKYPAD has given us the analytics capabilities to gain a big advantage over our competitors.
Henry Thervil, president of sales for Vince Camuto, Bernard Chaus

After a relatively quick implementation, Bernard Chaus began using SKYPAD to view and analyze the data collected from individual retailers and also from its own retail web portal and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By using the tools dashboard, employees can create a wide range of graphical views and reports including information such as weekly, store-by-store sales and product markdowns. This combination of usability with analytics functions helps the company make timely decisions such as whether or not to produce more of a certain product or engage with retailers about markdowns. The hosted infrastructure behind these IT capabilities includes an IBM POWER server, which Sky I.T. Group uses to run the SKYPAD application (using data collected from the ERP and retail point of sale systems) and IBM DB2 software running on IBM BladeCenter servers to power the SKYPAD database. Regarding one of the solutions advantages, Thervil comments, The sheer fact that we have IBM hardware and software with SKYPAD has given us the analytics capabilities to gain a big advantage over our competitors.

Connecting with retailers and consumers on new levels

Since the solution was implemented, Bernard Chaus has improved collaboration with retailers and increased efficiency in its trend analysis. This has enabled the company to move swiftly to replenish items or proactively work with retailers to drive additional sales. The solution also helps the company make predictive decisions to optimize its product mix, drive sales and manage inventory.

Smarter Computing: The IT Infrastructure of a Smarter Planet

Bernard Chaus, a fashion design company, was facing a challenge to improve visibility into its retail sales information. Looking to consolidate and analyze sales reports provided in a wide range of formats, the company needed an IT solution capable not only of processing this data, but also of presenting data in a clear and insightful format. Working with IBM Premier Business Partner Sky I.T. Group, Bernard Chaus was able to deploy a powerful and efficient SKYPAD solution including a hosted cloud infrastructure from Sky I.T. Group based on IBM technology. The solutions business analytics capabilities enable the company to generate new insights, and the flexibility of the cloud design provides employees with easy access to growing amounts of sales data. The solution has transformed the way the company analyzes retail sales and has provided numerous benefits, such as enabling the company to improve sales and reduce retail markdowns by nearly 30 percent.
2

IBM Systems and Technology Smarter Computing

Retail

Solution components
Hardware
IBM BladeCenter servers IBM POWER server

Software
IBM DB2 Enterprise Edition version 9.7

By using the SKYPAD dashboard to study year-to-year sales trends, Bernard Chaus was able to improve long-term analyses. For example, the company found that moving the start date for sweater sales in certain markets from September to October not only would provide greater sales, but also would help prevent markdowns on sweaters that remained in stock for too long. Theres a seasonality behind our products, and timing is important. If theyre not working weve got to mark them down, says Thervil. So far, the solution has helped Bernard Chaus improve sales and reduce its gross retail markdowns by nearly 30 percent.

IBM Premier Business Partner

Sky I.T. Group

Continuing to set trends in technology

Although Bernard Chaus has used its solution to analyze historical sales data, the company hopes to begin using predictive analytics to identify upcoming sales trends. This may be possible in the near future, as Sky I.T. Group has partnered with IBM to integrate IBM SPSS analytics software into a new SKYPAD offering. By running this new solution on its POWER serverwhich provides an optimal platform to run SPSS Bernard Chaus could begin to use predictive analytics to unlock new business opportunities. Having worked with IBM for many years, both Bernard Chaus and Sky I.T. Group recognize the advantage of this unique partnership. And by implementing solutions that enable the company to get closer to retailers and consumers than ever before, Bernard Chaus has become an inspiring and successful technology trendsetter in the fashion industry.

For more information

To learn more about Smarter Computing from IBM and how we can help you integrate, automate, protect and transform your IT, contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit:
ibm.com/smartercomputing

To learn more about IBM Premier Business Partner Sky I.T. Group, please visit: skyitgroup.com For more information about Bernard Chaus, please visit:
bernardchaus.com

Additionally, IBM Global Financing can help you acquire the IT solutions that your business needs in the most cost-effective and strategic way possible. Well partner with credit-qualified clients to customize an IT financing solution to suit your business goals, enable effective cash management, and improve your total cost of ownership. IBM Global Financing is your smartest choice to fund critical IT investments and propel your business forward. For more information, visit:
ibm.com/financing

 Copyright IBM Corporation 2012 IBM Corporation IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States of America November 2012 IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, POWER, BladeCenter, and DB2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at Copyright and trademark information at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. The client examples cited are presented for illustrative purposes only. Actual performance results may vary depending on specific configurations and operating conditions. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided. Please Recycle

POC03114-USEN-00