Transaction level detail can be imported and used for forecasting or reporting

Description

This capability allows businesses to tap into granular data points related to sales, expenses, revenues, etc., which can be used for in-depth analysis, prediction of future trends, and informed decision making. This requires that the system be able to take in potentially thousands of individual transactions and generate forecasts and reports.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A mid-sized retail business itself using CPM software to monitor and predict the performance of various product lines. However, their current system only allows importing and analyzing data at the product category level, leaving a blind spot for individual product performance.

Solution: By implementing a CPM solution that allows for importing and utilizing transaction level detail, they can now get detailed insights into how each product is performing. This granularity helps them adapt their operations, sales, and marketing efforts according to the specific performance of individual products, driving efficiency and profitability.

Considerations

Most CPM tools are not transaction analysis tools. They're primarily used for analyzing more summarized data. It is common to have unit counts for a specific product in a specific month, but not the actual transactions in bulk. That is more of a BI tool use case.

Transactions can be useful for certain accounts, allowing users to drill through on actuals to understand major variances.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Data Import Capability: How easily can transaction level detail be imported into your system? Can the system handle large volumes of granular data?
• Drill-Down Functionality: Does your system support drill-down functionality to allow users to explore granular data in depth?
• Reporting: What tools are available to analyze and report on transactions, including trend analysis?