Fenix Outdoor charts new course in data-driven retail with TimeXtender
Fenix Outdoor International AG is a well-known company in the outdoor retail industry, known for its collection of brands such as Fjällräven, Tierra, Hanwag, Royal Robbins and Frilufts Retail. Fenix Outdoor is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange and has a reputation for its strong and functional outdoor products. The company is dedicated to improving the experience of the outdoors. This commitment goes beyond the creation of products; Fenix Outdoor is also focused on modernising its approach to retail through the use of digital technology.
Fenix Outdoor's strategic vision is based on the understanding that the future of retail is a mix of physical and digital presence. Back in 2018, former CEO Martin Nordin said in an interview: "Digital is not just a trend, it's the key to unlocking deep customer insights." This vision underlines the strategic importance of data in navigating and shaping the future of retail - and is the main driver behind the steps Fenix Outdoor has taken towards data-driven retail, powered by TimeXtender.
From Excel-based reporting to self-service BI
"As a data-driven retailer, we needed to build a more adaptable, future-proof system. A key focus was to move from Excel-based reporting to self-service BI so that our team could manage data and modify reports themselves."
Lars Hanson, Business Analyst on the IT Technology team, Fenix
He goes on to explain the problems with their previous system: "We faced challenges with our Azure-based setup, especially with a data lake managed by an external vendor in a different time zone. It's difficult to outsource data modelling when the external team is not intimately familiar with your business, processes and products. The rigidity of our data lake was hindering efficient analytics and API functionality, and slow responses to data requests were becoming an increasing problem, so we were looking for a flexible solution where we could easily use internal resources, but also external resources when needed. This would give us more control over our own data - and reduce our reliance on external programmers.
Easy to use, flexible and cost effective
In their search for a better solution, the Fenix Outdoor team worked with twoday, a trusted partner since 2008. Lars Hanson: "After evaluating several options, we chose TimeXtender in combination with Qlik Replicate because the proof of concept showed that we would get a more dynamic, flexible, faster and also more cost-effective solution for moving and transforming data. While we looked at other tools, many were either too expensive or too complex for our needs. twoday helped us to consider different options, but in the end TimeXtender's capabilities matched our needs perfectly.”
The deployment of TimeXtender at Fenix Outdoor was done in collaboration with twoday. Lars Hanson: "Over the past year, we have moved data from 2 on-premises ERP systems to the cloud, a process that has been greatly streamlined with the help of TimeXtender. As a result, key data elements such as sales, purchases and inventory have been consolidated into a single data warehouse, making them easily accessible and ready for consumption by the business through the BI tool of their choice or via Excel."
Consuming data through a range of tools
The way Fenix Outdoor manages and accesses its data has been greatly improved by using TimeXtender.
"Incremental loading has been a game changer for us. It has made our data processing much faster and given us much more control over our data. This improvement means, for example, that we can update key reports on an hourly basis. TimeXtender's low-code ETL tool has also been a real help."
Lars Hanson, Business Analyst on the IT Technology team, Fenix
With TimeXtender, Fenix Outdoor is now able to use a variety of tools to access, report and analyse its data, such as Qlik Sense, PowerBI and perhaps even Snowflake in the future. This flexibility is a big improvement over the old method of using static CSV files and loading all the data at once. All in all, it enables the business to respond more quickly and make better decisions.
Future plans
Fenix Outdoor plans to continue to integrate more and more data into TimeXtender. This will include data from their main ERP systems - they have four main ERP systems and a number of smaller ones. They also plan to include data from external sources such as Google Analytics in their sales reports.
A key focus for 2024 is to drive the adoption of self-service reporting. This shift represents a major change in both process and culture, and requires effective promotion and presentation. Changing the current Excel-driven culture is challenging, but it's a necessary step for progress.
Looking ahead, Fenix Outdoor is optimistic about the benefits of its improved data architecture. They plan to use this advanced data management to drive innovation, stay ahead of the market and adapt quickly to new trends and customer needs - essential to keeping their operations agile and responsive in the fast-changing retail industry.
Solution overview
Company Name: Fenix Outdoor International AG
Industry: Retail
Challenges:
Solution benefits:
About twoday
Leading IT consultancy twoday has played a key role in this transformation. With around 3,000 technology experts, twoday specialises in helping large and medium-sized organisations on their digital journey. They provide tailored consulting services and data-driven solutions to more than 8,000 public and private organisations in the Nordic region. twoday's expertise in innovative solutions is instrumental in transforming businesses and society.