INTERVIEW 184 Seasonal shifts in demand coupled with difficulties in maintaining the smooth flow of products between manufacturers, retailers and customers can often make running a retail business feel like a constant battle. However, artificial intelligence-powered solutions like those from ToolsGroup enable retailers and their partners to maintain a healthy and reactive supply chain, ensuring they can easily deliver products to customers whenever and wherever they want them. “ToolsGroup aims to make the supply chain a force for good,” says Inna Kuznetsova, the firm’s CEO. “Our software, which is available on Microsoft Azure, enables retailers to be in full control of their inventory. It provides accurate demand forecasting, allowing our customers to optimise margins, minimise waste, and improve resource utilisation to meet changes in demand.” ToolsGroup, which has won Microsoft’s Best Independent Software Vendor Partner Award for three years running, offers a comprehensive suite of applications that has been developed by retailers for retailers and incorporates key capabilities essential for running a successful business. “We offer our customers the whole package to help them with everything from financial planning to replenishment and allocation,” says Kuznetsova. “Our dynamic data unification platform, Inventory Hub, senses changes in stock levels with every scan of a product, whether it’s a purchase or return. This provides real-time data, ensuring businesses have more flexibility to react to unforeseen events, such as hot weather or flooding. Back to school is a big moment in retail, but the timing can be different for every store, even within a five-mile radius. Our retail planning and execution software, aptly named JustEnough, gives retailers the ability to allocate exactly the right amount of product to avoid shipping inventory back and forth to the warehouse. These efficiency-driving capabilities help retailers reduce their environmental impact, make the best use of working capital, and deliver enhanced customer satisfaction.” With an extensive network of partners, including Microsoft, ToolsGroup is proud to be an active part of the software community. “We find it to be a wonderfully productive collaboration because, in this industry, nobody does it alone,” says Kuznetsova. “We firmly believe in the strengths of the community, and we’re extremely proud to be a part of it; we are excited to help Microsoft’s partners create a more dynamic and flexible supply chain.” Inna Kuznetsova from ToolsGroup discusses how real-time supply chain and inventory data helps retailers maintain a healthy supply chain and meet customer demand The right tools BY LAURA HYDE “ Our software provides accurate demand forecasting to optimise margins, minimise waste, and improve resource utilisation”
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