This weekend I ran across an interesting real-life tale where the WebAction Point-of-Sale Data Driven App could have saved (and made) WholeFoods, thousands of dollars in profit. For some businesses the huge number of participants running through downtown for the annual SF marathon equated to increased sales. Unfortunately for the Potrero Hill Whole Foods, their proximity to the race course had the opposite effect. Rhode Island St. at 17th Ave. and Mariposa St. was blocked and the diverted access to the store was not obvious (I found it). The normally bustling parking lot only held five cars at 11:15 AM, fantastic for me but certainly not for business. Those customers might have come back later or they went to Safeway.
Data Driven Apps to the Rescue
Maybe the store manager should have noticed the empty store and lack of sales and appointed a team member to direct traffic to the inconspicuous entrance on Mariposa St. to drive people into the store. But, likely the manager was otherwise engaged handling inventory, payroll and other pressing issues in back. If he had the benefit of a Point-of-Sale Data Driven App, monitoring retail transactions across all national point-of-sale terminals he would have received a real-time alert of the dip in sales allowing him to assess the situation and get a team member in action saving thousands of dollars in revenue for the day. Another tangible example of harnessing big data streams for real-time action.
