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Analytics and BI · Self-serve analytics
How to clear the retail analytics query queue
The fastest way to clear an analytics query queue is to let the business answer its routine questions itself. 11Ants does this with Ant, an AI retail expert that anyone can ask in plain English. Sales, margin, store and promotion questions get answered in seconds from your own data, and analysts keep the requests that need their expertise.
THE CHALLENGE
Why does the query queue never get shorter?
Every department wants its own numbers in its own format, and most of the requests are variations on the same questions. How did we do against last year? Which stores hit budget? What’s driving this category?
Each request is small, but together they fill the team’s week. Analysts become the bottleneck, and the business waits days for answers it needed that morning.
THE SOLUTION
How does 11Ants take routine requests off the team?
Ant answers routine requests directly for every team, in plain English.
Analysts keep working in the Key Measures, Performance, Cross Tab and Cards modules for the analysis that needs their expertise.
Connect the data once
11Ants connects to your existing warehouse and refreshes daily, so every team works from the same numbers.
Give each team Ant
Merchandising, marketing and operations users ask Ant their questions directly, in their own words.
Ant asks back when needed
Short questions work because Ant asks a follow-up when it needs a store, period or measure.
Analysts handle the exceptions
The team focuses on bespoke analysis, new models and data strategy.
EXAMPLE QUESTION TO ASK ANT
QUESTION
Which stores achieved budget last week and which did not?
WHAT ANT RETURNS
[Insert a real Ant answer from demo data: a store table against budget, the variance by store, and a one-line summary.]
See self-serve analytics in action
Demonstration data; brand names are illustrative.
What results do analytics teams see?
CASE STUDY
Konzum, Croatia: the lag between question and answer is gone
Croatia’s largest supermarket chain (more than 600 stores) had a CRM team that couldn’t keep up with the business’s data questions. With 11Ants, answers come faster and the team is no longer the bottleneck.
11Ants has increased my efficiency, I don’t have to contact business intelligence for every matter – I’m more independent.
Ambrož Rozman
Category Manager, Mercator
Jobs that took the whole day now only take a few minutes and a few clicks in 11Ants.
Luka Jalšovec
BI Project Manager, Mercator
Self-serve analytics FAQ
What is self-serve analytics in retail?
Self-serve analytics lets business users answer their own data questions without waiting for an analyst or learning SQL. In 11Ants, users ask Ant in plain English and get answers from the retailer’s own sales, loyalty and inventory data.
Will business users get the numbers wrong?
Ant applies the same retail definitions for every user, so everyone gets consistent measures from one source. Answers state the period and measures used, and analysts can review any answer.
