Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest shopping time of the year for retailers. Purchases during Black Friday weekend can account for more than 20% of quarterly sales.

Retailers attempt to maximize Black Friday sales by offering enticing promotions and discounts. The retailers’ sales goals rely on each promotion meeting a certain number of purchases. To evaluate the effectiveness of promotions, our client wanted to track store sales in real time. Based on sales, the retailer could adjust promotions to maximize revenue and profitability.

To track sales and promotions, our client relied on multiple data sources stored on various platforms, which was cumbersome and time-consuming. Using Azure Services and Power BI, MAQ Software built a real-time promotion tracking solution for the retail store managers and marketing managers.

Key Challenges:

• Create an easy to use Power BI portal to analyze real-time sales and promotion data.
• Combine multiple database platforms into a single information portal.
• Implement secure access allowing only authorized personnel to view the sales data.

MAQ Software created a real-time reporting solution using Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Data Analytics, and Power BI.

Key Highlights:

• Created a data pipeline that updates twice per hour using Azure Data Factory.
• Consolidated static files and stage data, pulled data from sources, and stored the processed data using Azure Data Lake.
• Created visuals to report data as soon as it’s refreshed using Power BI.

MAQ Software developed a solution using an array of Azure services. Azure Data Factory pulls real-time data from on-premise servers, blob storage, and static Excel worksheets and stores it on Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS). ADLS data is processed through Azure Data Warehouse to create external tables for processing the tabular model.

We then process the external tables in the Analysis Services Tabular Model. The Power BI report has a live connection to the tabular model and displays data visualizations that are refreshed twice an hour. Along with the Power BI dashboard, the software sends a secure email every hour.

The Azure-based solution enables the retailer to track up-to-the-minute data regarding the performance of its Black Friday promotions. The retailer no longer relies on traditional databases, which would take days to process the needed information.

Outcome Highlights:

• Increased revenue by tracking promotion utilization in real-time and adjusting promotions based on buyer response.
• Saved time by reducing the need to search through various sales databases on different platforms.
• Enabled quick adjustments by creating Azure alerts that pinpoint errors in promotion redemption.