Analytics - Client Success Stories

For many companies, the ability to collect data has grown faster than their capacity to analyze and interpret it. At the same time, profitable business decisions need to be based on a clear understanding of reality that only data can provide. This means that a solid data analysis function is an important competitive advantage in any industry.

We take a careful, deliberate top-down approach to analytics, first seeking to understand how a given data analysis project will advance the client’s business goals. The precisely defined questions are a key input into our structured analytic framework. Here are some of our client success stories:

  1. Customer Profitability Analysis
  2. Validating Business Model for New Product
  3. Improving Retail Profitability
  4. Building an Analytics Division

Customer Profitability Analysis

Problem:  Difficulty making fact-based management decisions due to a lack of information on the relative profitability of retail customers, products, services, and channels.

Goal: Improve the client's ability to make profitable, fact-based decisions about customer strategy, marketing, produce pricing, promotion, and retail store management..

Approach:  In collaboration with staff from IT, operations, and management, FA developed procedures to accurately estimate the “customer-level P&L statement” using existing data sources. The client staff was trained in how to make fact-based assessments using a combination of technology and information analytics.

Result: 

  • Identified the 30% of customers who generate nearly 100% of retail profits, enabling better focus of resources.
  • Identified value-destroying promotions that encouraged unprofitable customer behavior.
  • Created repeatable methodology and process documentation, enabling data to be “refreshed” at will.
  • Integrated methodology into existing Business Intelligence (BI) platform.

Validating Business Model for New Product

Problem: Following a strategic initiative to diversify into new areas of business opportunity, the client wanted to determine the best new product lines to invest in and how to capture significant market share. 

Goal: The Fitzgerald Analytics team was asked to create a business case for a new product line by conducting extensive market analyses and financial modeling, and evaluating different product placement strategies and product lines. 

Approach:

  • Opportunity Identification: The team kicked off the project by conducting the necessary research on the real estate emerging market, creating a basis to identify the potential niche that the client could capitalize on.
  • Business Case: Next, the Fitzgerald Analytics team benchmarked different business models to the client's current model. We proceeded to evaluate the profitability of the new business venture through proprietary financial modeling techniques, establishing a business case to proceed with the project.
  • Branding Strategy: Finally, the FA team worked on developing the appropriate branding strategy for the client, and creating the necessary materials to present the innovative product line to potential investors.

Result: The FA team recommended which product lines the client should prioritize based on forecasted returns, and created the necessary materials to convince investors to buy into the client's business venture. This generated broadened interest from investors and partners, and resulted in agreements and commitments which are now in place to green-light the new product.

Improving Retail Profitability

Problem:  The client wanted to have a better understanding of the risk associated with the credit worthiness of customers and to apply this new knowledge to their credit limit policy for each credit card issued to a customer.

Goal: The client asked Fitzgerald Analytics to review long-standing credit limit policy to identify customers with additional profit potential and better manage its risk exposure.

Approach:

  • Profitability Analysis: Our team conducted a thorough analysis on profitability by customer segment, educating the client staff in analytical tools to conduct such analysis periodically.
  • New Credit Policy: Based on the analysis, FA recommended a new credit limit policy which was tested on a group of new cardholder accounts over a 6 month period. The positive results from the test group resulted in the client adopting FA’s proposal to use profit-maximization approach to each customer group.

Result:  Client credit card sales improved by 15%, year-over-year, which translates into more than $100 million in increased sales. Client has been using the analytical framework created by Fitzgerald Analytics to continue to assess profitability of new credit cards issued by the firm.

Building an Analytics Division

Problem: The inability to harness information and apply analytics to direct their investment and marketing initiatives made the client unable to take advantage of opportunities in the market.

Goal: We were asked to help create an Analytics division in the firm, and train the staff to conduct the kinds of customer and transaction analytics and forecasting that is a significant competitive advantage in global markets today.

Approach: Fitzgerald Analytics worked with the client to build this new Division using the following approach:

  • Organizing a New Division:  We worked with the client to define the organizational structure and skills requirements for the creation of a cross-functional analytics division that would provide insight into every aspect of the revenue, cost and operations of the firm.
  • Building Client Skills: Fitzgerald Analytics trained the client staff on how to manage information assets and analytical tools to answer hypotheses relevant to business scenarios facing the client.
  • Providing Analytical Tools and Frameworks: By providing our proprietary Analytics Toolkit to the client, we were able to work with the client on several projects in which the client improved its capabilities to perform analysis and modeling.

Result: The client now has a highly trained cross-functional team that is using the training and tools Fitzgerald Analytics provided to generate forecasts and conduct mission critical analysis for profit growth opportunities.