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Case Study:
Category Management
Objectives
A multi-channel retailer engaged Alpha Matica to optimise its category management processes. The goal was to improve efficiency, gain deeper customer insights, and ultimately increase sales and profitability by leveraging traditional and Generative AI technologies.
In addition, Alpha Matica's recommendations leveraged the overall technology ecosystem and current capabilities and skills.
Ways of Operating
Alpha Matica partnered with the senior leadership team across critical departments and respective stakeholders from Customer Experience, Technology, Data & AI, Operations and Call Centre:
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Data Collection: Alpha Matica integrated vast amounts of data relevant to category management, including sales, forecasting, inventory and quality issues. market insight and trends, customer and consumer trends.
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Activities Mapping: Alpha Matica established an activities list where resources for traditional and generative AI should be applied as priorities. Feasibility and potential improvement from the current process were the main two drivers.
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Implementation of Automated BAU workflow: Based on the review above, Alpha Matica prioritised and automated several category manager tasks, such as
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Automated Product Assortment Optimization: Traditional AI models analysed sales data, customer segments, and margin information to recommend optimal product assortments for different store locations.
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Automated Trend Identification: Generative AI summarisation algorithms continuously scanned customer reviews and social media mentions to identify emerging trends and potential new product opportunities.
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Automated Quality Issue Flagging: AI algorithms analysed quality issue data to flag potential problems and recommend corrective actions automatically.
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Generative AI and strategic activities: Besides the automation above, strategic activities such as the review of category performance, vendor proposals, and commercial responses have been great and efficient candidates for the Generative AI application.
Outcome and Benefit
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First, Alpha Matica's solution seamlessly integrated with the client's existing technology infrastructure, minimising disruption and maximising ROI.
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Alpha Matica's solution delivered significant benefits by combining traditional and generative AI.
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Category managers saved 20% of their time by automating repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic planning and supplier relationships.
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A 5% overall sales growth was attributed to improved demand forecasting, targeted marketing, and optimised product assortments.
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Reduced stockouts and targeted marketing campaigns led to a 4% increase in customer satisfaction scores.
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The frequency of strategic activities and discussions with suppliers increased, ultimately allowing the category manager to capture and respond to new market trends and opportunities and align the overall supply chain and ecosystem.
