Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer, is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance its pricing and merchandising decisions. By utilizing Centric Market Intelligence, the company can now make data-driven choices across various departments, including pricing, merchandising, assortment planning, marketing, and e-commerce. This advanced technology replaces previously manual processes, allowing Neiman Marcus to optimize its operations.
One of the key modules Neiman Marcus employs is Product Matching, which utilizes machine learning (ML) to effectively match identical products across competing retailers. With Product Matching, merchandisers can easily compare similar items at an item or SKU level, export the view in Excel, integrate style IDs, and send the information to the pricing team for swift execution of price changes.
Furthermore, Neiman Marcus’s e-commerce team can now track the performance of different categories and identify contributing factors for underperforming areas. This enables them to analyze whether the poor performance is specific to Neiman Marcus or if it is prevalent among all competitors.
The retailer also leverages Centric Market Intelligence for assortment planning, where it evaluates whether there is a need for product overlap with competitors. Additionally, the technology helps them examine the reasons behind certain SKUs of specific products either selling out or not meeting sales expectations.
Jordan Pious, VP of Performance & Growth at Neiman Marcus, believes that Centric Market Intelligence is an invaluable tool that streamlines their business operations while giving them a competitive edge in terms of assortment and pricing. It enables the company to identify whitespace opportunities and make informed decisions in response to market trends.
Neiman Marcus has made significant investments in technology, with plans to allocate $200 million to enhance its systems and $90 million to optimize its supply chain in 2022. As part of these investments, the company acquired Stylyze, a machine learning platform that provides product attribution data and curated content for personalized shopping experiences. This acquisition marks the beginning of a multi-year, $500 million investment in digital technology to support Neiman Marcus’s integrated luxury retail strategy.
In summary, Neiman Marcus is embracing AI technology to refine its pricing and merchandising strategies. By utilizing Centric Market Intelligence and modules like Product Matching, the luxury retailer can make data-driven decisions, optimize its operations, track category performance, and evaluate product overlap with competitors. These advancements, coupled with their significant investments in technology, position Neiman Marcus for success in the evolving retail landscape.
