APT’s 11th Annual Test & Learn Best Practices Summit Draws Record Attendance to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday, May 3rd through Tuesday, May 5th over 300 business leaders gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C. to discuss best practices for leveraging APT’s analytics software suite. Attendees represented over 120 leading companies across industries, including Walmart, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Victoria’s Secret, American Family, Hilton Hotels, SunTrust, T-Mobile, and others.

APT Chairman Jim Manzi opened the summit on Monday with a keynote address focused on the evolution of Big Data and steps organizations can take to monetize it. During his presentation, Manzi explained, “Over the past decade, organizations have invested large amounts of resources collecting and storing increasing amounts of granular data. In many cases, the presumption was that large amounts of data would translate to better decision-making. However, companies that have truly been able to use data to generate a sustainable competitive advantage have been those who regularly and rapidly conduct scientific tests, using their data. We have seen such tests generate millions of dollars in incremental value for organizations across various industries.”

In his keynote address Jayson Tipp, Chief Development Officer and SVP Technology at Papa Murphy’s International explained, “It is essential to first recognize where your company currently stands in order to clearly understand the analytical challenges and opportunities that exist. The best way to become more data-driven is to start testing all of the ideas within your organization. The next step is to share both negative and positive results to gain credibility and maximize learnings. Finally, it’s important to approach analytics in a way that the results are not simply ‘good to have,’ but rather directly impact a top of mind decision that’s about to be made. Through my experience across multiple major organizations, I have seen that scientific testing is not only the most robust analytical method, but that it is also the approach that drives the most innovation.”

APT Chief Technology Officer Andrew Fedorchek concluded the keynote sessions by speaking about the development of APT’s software suite. Notable advancements included enhanced ease-of-use to enable more business users to arrive at the most accurate decisions, the ability to more rapidly analyze promotional strategies, and the capability to determine how to most profitably allocate store space.

In addition to the keynote addresses, attendees participated in more than 50 interactive breakout sessions, as well as a networking event held at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The breakout sessions covered such topics as:

• Cutting Edge Merchandising Solutions – Discussed how leading retailers are leveraging APT’s software to consider key issues such as product assortment and store layouts/displays to optimize their in-store experience.

• Fast & Furious: Using Automated, Rapid Analytics to Speed Up Innovation - Outlined the benefits and challenges of analyzing a high volume of marketing campaigns and described how APT clients use closed loop testing techniques to drive value.

• Half of Your Promotions Aren’t Working: Improving the Impact of Circulars and Promotions - Explained how APT can significantly impact promotion planning and evaluation by correctly answering fundamental questions about circulars/flyers, such as which categories deserve more space, which items should be included, where these items should be placed, and which discount offers to use.

• How to Optimize Store Space to Maximize Profits - Covered how leading retailers are using APT Space Planning Optimizer to correctly decide how much in-store space to allocate to each department or category.

• Introducing and Optimizing Loyalty Programs – Described how companies are using scientific tests to introduce, invigorate, and optimize loyalty programs in an environment where organizations continue to evolve their efforts to meet shifting consumer demands.