Microsoft Excel and Retail Link

Traditionally, Microsoft Excel has been the tool of choice for analyzing Retail Link data from Wal-Mart for many suppliers, but it has some disadvantages:

• Excel was never intended to store or manipulate large quantities of data.
• Getting results from relationships between sets of data is not easy.
• Producing a flexible report with your analysis results is not simple.
• Copying and pasting data and formulas takes time and can introduce errors.

Microsoft Access and Retail Link

An analysis of Retail Link data can also be done using Microsoft Access. Here are some of the advantages:

• Access is a database tool, which means it was meant to store and manipulate large quantities of data (multiple millions of records is no problem).
• Just about any kind of data file can be imported into, or connected to, Access: text, Excel, other databases, etc.
• It has a powerful query system that makes it easy to build relationships between sets of data and get the results that you need.
• Access has a good reporting feature that lets you filter, group, and sort your results easily.
• By “automating” your work process, using Access’s VBA programming language (Visual Basic for Applications) you can:
  • Get consistent results over and over again.
  • Save an enormous amount of time.
  • Eliminate copy-and-paste errors.
  • Produce and print reports, charts, and graphs with the click of a button.
  • Use Excel formulas and even create results in Excel from the data in Access.

Case in Point

A supplier had been using Microsoft Excel to analyze their Retail Link data to create buyer reports for Wal-Mart.  They had a large number of SKUs to work with, so there was a large volume of data.  Their Excel template/copy-and-paste method was taking them 2 days at minimum, and sometimes as much as a week to complete.  After we automated the process using Microsoft Access, the whole analysis took as little as 1 hour.

Ready to Make the Switch?

If you are still using Excel for your Retail Link analysis, contact us to find out how Extra Mile Data can help you automate your analysis with Microsoft Access.