Chapter 11 - Minicase 1

Precision Buying, Merchandising, and Marketing at Sears

In preparation for answering the questions, review the Sears web site.

1. What were the drivers of SPRS?

   Sears started with 18 data centers, originally consisting of ten geographical regions and eight departmental centers. When Sears reorganized, only seven geographic regions remained. This reduction produced numerous mismatches in query results and required multiple queries to produce answers to seemingly simple problems. Also, a great deal of the information was in summary form, and could not be “drilled into”.

2. How did the data warehouse solve Sears’ problems?

   The single sales data warehouse replaced eighteen obsolete legacy sales reporting systems. The single repository enabled removal of redundant and conflicting information.

   More importantly, the single sales data warehouse produced consistent and reliable reports on a timely basis. It also supported trend and variance reporting that were not feasible before.

3. Why was it beneficial to integrate the customers’ database with SPRS?

   Sears is able to coordinate all of their customer records. The benefit is the ability to offer customized sales and targeted discounts to improve customer sales and satisfaction.