Chico’s FAS Inc. to use SAS® Social Media Analytics to understand, predict and act based on intelligence from social media data

Chico’s will initially focus on Facebook and Twitter

CARY, NC - SAS announced today that Chico’s FAS Inc. will implement SAS® Social Media Analytics to integrate social data across all areas of its business to understand what is being said about Chico’s FAS Inc.’s brands and apply this intelligence to decision making. The company will begin by analyzing data from Facebook and Twitter.

SAS Social Media Analytics will help the company’s three women’s retail fashion brands – Chico’s, White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates - understand, predict and act based on social media data. With the ability to uncover sentiment about key aspects of their business across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, discussion forums, blogs and more, this on-demand software will help the company learn how customers feel about its products and brands, identify key influencers, and understand how social media conversations affect business results. The organization can immediately apply answers to brand strategies, media placement, public relations and customer service activities.

Using the included SAS Conversation Center module, Chico’s FAS Inc. will also be able to better serve customers engaged in conversations with the company. This module will allow the company to capture tweets in real time and identify those that are significant to the brands based on sentiment and the influence of the Twitter author. Tweets can then be routed to customer-facing personnel to respond.

SAS Social Media Analytics, with its media portal and SAS Conversation Center applications, is offered as an on-demand solution. Like other SAS Solutions OnDemand, this offering gives business users all the analytical power of SAS with the ability to get the solution up and running quickly.

Chico’s FAS Inc. is an existing SAS Customer Intelligence customer, running customer analytics, reporting and multichannel campaign management through SAS’ advanced cloud computing center. The SAS Social Media Analytics implementation will allow the company to extend its customer insights beyond the boundaries of the brick and mortar, Web and call-center channels it actively analyzes and market across and into the social channels where related apparel conversations are occurring.

“Our success is rooted in a heritage of listening to what our consumers want,” said Barb Buettin, Director of CRM for Chico’s FAS Inc. “SAS’ ability to help us listen and act upon what our customers are saying beyond the confines of our boutiques is a natural extension of that heritage. It will help ensure our communications are personalized to the needs of our individual customers. SAS Social Media Analytics and SAS Marketing Automation are a natural pairing of capabilities needed to better serve our customers.”

About Chico’s FAS Inc.

The Company is a women’s specialty retailer of private branded, sophisticated, casual-to-dressy clothing, intimates, complementary accessories, and other non-clothing gift items. The Company operates 1,217 specialty stores, including stores in 48 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The Chico’s brand currently operates 598 boutique and 77 outlet stores, publishes a catalog during key shopping periods throughout the year, and conducts e-commerce at www.chicos.com.

White House | Black Market currently operates 355 boutique and 25 outlet stores, publishes a catalog highlighting its latest fashions and conducts e-commerce at www.whbm.com.

Soma Intimates is the Company’s developing concept with 148 boutique stores and 14 outlet stores today. Soma Intimates also publishes a catalog for its customers and conducts e-commerce at www.soma.com.

About SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 50,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know® .