Project overview
A leading U.S. specialty grocery retailer sought to modernize its analytics capabilities to support rapid expansion and data-driven decision-making. With data spread across disconnected systems, business teams struggled to access timely, actionable insights. The organization needed an enterprise-scale solution that could unify data, enhance reporting efficiency, and provide real-time visibility into key performance metrics.
With our expertise, the retailer implemented Microsoft Fabric to consolidate its data infrastructure and empower teams with a centralized, scalable analytics platform.
Business challenge
The retailer’s analytics environment was heavily fragmented. Departments relied on static reports from siloed data sources such as Snowflake and Excel, resulting in:
· Delayed and inconsistent reporting
·
Limited cross-functional visibility
·
High manual effort for data preparation
·
Difficulty scaling analytics with growing data complexity
These limitations impeded strategic initiatives across marketing, CRM, store operations, and inventory management. Without a unified data platform, teams lacked the ability to track campaign performance, optimize customer loyalty programs, or manage inventory shrink effectively.
Objectives
The project aimed to deliver both technical transformation and business value:
Business goals
· Improve visibility into customer behavior and loyalty engagement
·
Enhance marketing ROI tracking across digital channels
·
Increase operational efficiency through store-level insights
·
Minimize inventory shrink through better analytics
·
Enable self-service reporting and reduce IT dependency
Technical goals
· Centralize data ingestion into Microsoft Fabric’s OneLake
·
Replace fragmented tools with governed Lakehouse architecture
·
Automate data pipelines using Fabric’s Data Factory and Synapse
·
Deliver real-time Power BI dashboards for cross-departmental use
Solution components
MAQ Software deployed a comprehensive Microsoft Fabric solution that included:
· Unified Data Ingestion: Integrated internal sources (Snowflake, Excel, SQL) into Fabric OneLake.
·
Lakehouse Architecture: Created scalable, centralized storage for structured and unstructured data.
·
Automated Pipelines: Used Data Factory to streamline ETL processes.
·
Semantic Modeling: Built reusable models for consistency across dashboards.
·
Real-Time Dashboards: Delivered functional Power BI dashboards tailored for marketing, sales, operations, inventory, and digital engagement.
·
Governance & Security: Established access controls and auditing for trusted, role-based reporting.
Business outcomes
Implementing Microsoft Fabric delivered a wide range of measurable improvements across the organization, impacting marketing, operations, inventory management, and digital engagement:
Marketing & CRM
· Increased campaign effectiveness with detailed insights into delivery rates, open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe trends, and ROAS.
·
Enabled personalization by tracking sales per customer, trips per customer, and discount impact.
·
Achieved a 25% improvement in campaign performance tracking.
Sales & store operations
·
Gained real-time visibility into store-level KPIs such as gross sales, comp sales growth, and foot traffic.
·
Enabled timely interventions in underperforming stores.
·
Transitioned from reactive to proactive decision-making.
Inventory management
·
Reduced shrink and improved margin protection by analyzing shrink %, days of supply, and year-over-year shrink trends.
·
Achieved a 15% improvement in inventory alignment and forecasting accuracy.
Digital engagement
·
Tracked web activity and customer acquisition through dashboards showing account creation, session volume, and subscriber growth.
·
Informed digital strategy using real-time behavioral data.
Reporting efficiency & cost savings
· 50% reduction in report generation time due to automated pipelines.
·
Expanded access to over 200 KPIs across more than 10 departments.
·
Scaled data storage from ~10 GB to ~85 GB, increasing historical data coverage from 2 months to 3 years.
·
Cut report refresh time from hours to just 1–2 minutes.
·
Delivered a single version of truth through centralized data models in OneLake.
·
Reduced reporting infrastructure costs by approximately 50%—from ~$40,000/month (P4 Import Model) to ~$20,000/month (Fabric Direct Lake on F256 SKU).
·
Eliminated data model size limitations under Fabric’s F256 tier, enabling seamless future growth.
—Business Analytics Lead, Fortune 100 Retailer
Conclusion
By adopting Microsoft Fabric and working with MAQ Software, this retailer successfully transitioned from siloed, manual reporting to a modern, scalable analytics environment. The solution unlocked real-time insights, improved operational agility, and empowered business users to drive value through data—setting a new standard for intelligent retail decision-making.
Interested in learning more?
As a Microsoft Fabric Featured Partner, MAQ Software brings deep expertise in helping organizations unlock the full potential of Microsoft Fabric. Whether you're looking for guidance on implementing data solutions or optimizing your existing platform, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Contact us at CustomerSuccess@MAQSoftware.com or explore our apps or consulting services on Microsoft Azure Marketplace: