By Mia A. Aznar

Sunday, May 27, 2012

IN just two years, drugstore chain Three Sixty Pharmacy has managed to open 60 branches in Cebu and neighboring provinces.

As they plan to end the year with 80 branches, company officials are optimistic they can expand well with the help of technology.

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Three Sixty and IBM Philippines announced yesterday a partnership to reduce the chain’s administrative and support costs.

Three Sixty selected IBM’s Storwize V700 unified disk system for “a robust and scalable storage environment” and the IBM Tivoli storage flash copy manager to streamline its operations to support its expansion plan.

Three Sixty business operations manager Glordelyne Ramos and IBM Philippines geographic expansion territory manager Ana Joy Bellosillo said they are finalizing the partnership to include business intelligence software.

Ramos said that the solutions IBM provided help them do more things in less time.

When the chain started out, they already used IBM point of sale (POS) systems.

IBM country manager for general business Chestnut Andaya said that by using IBM POS systems in the front-end of the business, they can easily access data on what items have been sold and what products need to be replenished.

“That way they can replenish stocks quickly and anticipate what runs out of stock faster,” she explained. Andaya added that having stocks ready is a good way to serve customers better.

Ramos said having access to data helps them be responsive to customers and that they can get significant insights in running their chain.

Ramos explained that despite having many branches, each location “has its own idiosyncrasies.”

She said that with business intelligence, they can tailor-fit each store to meet the needs of the community they are in, making them more efficient and customer-oriented.

Ramos also clarified that they named Three Sixty Pharmacy after 360 degrees, not because they wanted to open that many branches, but because they wanted to change how retail pharmacies are run and come full circle in the industry.

Business development manager Carlo Yap said that of the 20 additional branches they are planning to open this year, 10 of these will be outside Cebu. Currently, they have two branches each in Tacloban and Bohol. They want to open another one in Bohol, three more in Tacloban, two in Dumaguete City, one in Bacolod, two in Iloilo and one in Tagum, Davao.

Ramos said they want to be able to open branches in communities that do not have access to quality drugs, saying their branches in the towns such as Moalboal and Carcar are very patronizing. They also planning to open a branch in Dumanjug and are considering opening in Bogo.

Asked if they see it is a goal for them to have one branch in each municipality, Yap said that any place with a strategic location is an ideal spot for them.

For now, all existing and future branches are company-owned.

Ramos said that while they are not closing their doors to franchising in the future, they want to be able to maintain how the branches are run.

Part of their optimism about their expansion activities in Cebu has been fueled by other retailers opening in the province. They noted the quick opening of SM and Savemore branches. There are also reported plans of convenience store chain 7 Eleven to open a branch here. “We are happy for the local economy of Cebu.”

Andaya agrees with the company’s expansion moves, saying they should take advantage of the fast growth Cebu is experiencing.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 28, 2012.

Article source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2012/05/27/chain-opens-60-branches-2-years-223745

With the digital revolution and various social media platforms, data equals intelligence and intelligence is wisdom. Social business intelligence is all about wisdom—the wisdom to listen, interpret and act authentically, tapping into the wants and needs of the billion-plus consumers who openly express their opinions online.

In traditional research, companies elicit feedback through periodic surveys and then enhance their findings through focus groups. Both have inherent limitations. Surveys are episodic and offer inauthentic information, since the questions themselves alter the answers given, creating a distance from reality.

Focus groups suffer from the most human of all issues: The loudest person in the group wins and sways others through a combination of charisma and decibels. In both cases, the information rendered is faulty. When companies combine this result with internal business data, they glean the business intelligence they use to make fundamental decisions about product development, honing existing services, and where and how much to invest. Unfortunately, traditional BI is imperfect, making acting on feedback a game of guesswork. Million-dollar decisions should be based on real-time and authentic data, not “spaghetti on the wall.”

Social data offers a way out of this problem. As consumers offer opinions, expose their likes and dislikes, and express raw emotions, they produce a treasure trove of intelligence for brands. Socializing the feedback process offers instant advantages: You gain real feedback in real time and can make data-driven decisions on a dime, translating feedback into informed action at lightning speed.

Underpinned by technology and with a team of smart people ready to listen, interpret and act, social business intelligence can offer unparalleled advantages as you make new product decisions, develop in new markets and abandon unprofitable areas in favor of growth. When you make advertising and media decisions, and socialize your systems and incorporate social data into everything you do, your decision systems are enhanced and provide a more immediate ROI.

Classic business intelligence yields data from the inside out. Social business intelligence works in real time and leverages powerful technology to offer you the outside-in view. Now there is no more excuse for navel-gazing. The outside world is at the tip of your fingers!

Paul Dunay is an award-winning B-to-B marketing expert with more than 20 years’ success in generating demand and creating buzz for leading technology, consumer products, financial services and professional services organizations. Dunay is the CMO of Networked Insights, a leader in social media analytics, and author of five “Dummies” books: “Facebook Marketing for Dummies” (Wiley 2009, 2011, 2012).

Follow him @PaulDunay

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gyro/2012/05/22/social-business-intelligence-wisdom-from-the-outside-in/

ANN ARBOR, Mich.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–GPX
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all measured against 16,000 private company comparables.

After extensive usability testing, Xambrosius is now available to the
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GPX Software would like to thank its’ many partner companies, notably
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Xambrosius is available directly through www.gpxsoftware.com
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About GPX Software: GPX Software, LLC (GPX) is a supplier of business
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Article source: http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120524006279/en/GPX-Software/Xambrosius/Financial-Planning