Pets at Home Deploys New Store Planning and Optimization Solutions

DALLAS, May 03, 2018 -- Symphony RetailAI, the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, today announced that the U.K.'s leading pet specialist retailer, Pets at Home, is rolling out its SR Store Planning and Optimization solutions to optimize space across its 440 stores.

Pets at Home is the U.K.’s leading pet care business. It aims to make sure pets and their owners get the very best advice, care and products from its wide range of branded and private label ranges of pet food and accessories. But Pets at Home is not just a retailer; the Group is also one of the U.K.’s foremost veterinary services providers with 450 first-opinion veterinary practices and four specialist veterinary referral centers. It also provides an increasing range of in-store services, such as pet grooming and subscription services for flea treatments.

In order to optimize the use of space across its store portfolio and ensure an optimal assortment, Pets at Home needed a scalable solution for analyzing and improving space performance – a solution that would provide accurate recommendations for balancing category space and assortment content with valuable services in both existing store layouts and stores facing comprehensive redesign.

During a highly detailed review and proof of concept, Symphony RetailAI used its SR Store Planning and Optimization solutions to deliver an optimal allocation of merchandising space for each category, aisle and department, which in one scenario reduced store display space by approximately 20% and reallocated space to services such as veterinary care, and in another scenario optimized an unchanged space allocation. The solutions do this based on SKU-level performance analysis from any user-selected trading period. Optimization can be automated or performed manually, and users may review and adjust all settings in the workflow in real time.

“We want our stores to be the best pet shops in the world, and we knew that implementing world-class planning technology is important to achieving our goal,” said Mark Wilkinson, Head of Merchandising & Space Planning, Pets at Home. “By taking the time to continually optimize our stores, we can ensure we provide the service and convenience our customers have come to expect. We look forward to delighting pet owners when they visit our store locations to shop for their VIP pets.”

“Success in retail today means adapting in order to stay relevant to customers’ evolving shopping habits,” said Graeme Cooksley, CEO & President, Retail Solutions Division, Symphony RetailAI. “We are excited that with Symphony RetailAI solutions deployed, Pets at Home will be able to better optimize the store experience and support its continued growth as a result.”

Learn more about Symphony RetailAI’s SR Store Planning and Optimization solutions, here.

About Pets at Home
Pets at Home offers great products, tips and advice to keep your pet happy and healthy. From specialist pet food to toys and training aids, there is everything a pet owner could wish for and more. All colleagues receive extensive training on pet care and pet knowledge which is endorsed by City & Guilds, providing a stamp of approval that demonstrates the value of its training.

There are more than 430 Pets at Home stores across the U.K. Log onto www.petsathome.com to find your nearest store and for further information.

Pets at Home are proud winners of The Sunday Times Top 25 Best Big Companies to Work for in 2013.

Pets at Home have been ranked 7 out of 100 retailers in the 2015 Which? Customer Service Ratings.

About Symphony RetailAI
Symphony RetailAI is the leading global provider of Artificial Intelligence-enabled decision platforms, solutions and customer-centric insights that drive validated growth for retailers and CPG manufacturers, from customer intelligence to personalized marketing, and merchandising and category management, to supply chain and retail operations. Symphony RetailAI is innovating rapidly to drive faster, more profitable decisions through AI, machine learning and voice technologies. We are trusted by over 1,200 organizations including 15 of the world’s 25 largest grocery retailers, thousands of retail brands, and hundreds of national and regional chains worldwide to help solve their toughest business problems, through AI-powered customer intelligence and retail solutions. Symphony RetailAI was formed in January 2018 incorporating Symphony GOLD and Symphony EYC into the company as the Retail Solutions Division and Customer Intelligence Division respectively. More at www.symphonyretailai.com. Follow us on Twitter: @symphonyretail.

Media Contact
Adrienne Newcomb
Ketner Group Communications (for Symphony RetailAI)
[email protected]
512-794-8876