Grocery retail runs on razor-thin margins, fast-moving inventory, and decisions that often can’t wait until tomorrow morning. For Schnuck Markets, Inc.—one of the largest privately held supermarket chains in the U.S.—that reality exposed a growing problem: its data was everywhere, but insight was nowhere.

Now, the Midwest-based grocer is betting on Domo to change that.

Domo (Nasdaq: DOMO) says Schnucks has deployed its AI and Data Products platform as an enterprise-wide reporting layer, giving operators, managers, and executives a shared, real-time view of the business. The move marks a sharp break from the spreadsheet-heavy reporting models that still dominate much of the grocery industry.

The goal isn’t better dashboards for their own sake. It’s faster decisions on staffing, promotions, inventory, and customer experience—on the store floor, not weeks later in a boardroom.

A familiar grocery problem: too much data, too little clarity

With 113 stores across multiple Midwest states and more than 80 years in operation, Schnucks had accumulated a classic enterprise challenge. Data lived in dozens of systems spanning HR, finance, merchandising, supply chain, marketing, and store operations. Reporting often required manually stitching together spreadsheets, printed reports, and emailed files.

That fragmentation came at a cost.

Teams across departments were looking at different numbers, often generated at different times. Store managers reacted to yesterday’s data. Executives debated whose version of the truth was correct. And real-time operational insight—the kind modern retail demands—was mostly out of reach.

This isn’t unique to Schnucks. Many grocery chains still rely on legacy reporting approaches built for slower, less complex retail environments. But today’s grocery landscape—shaped by inflation, labor shortages, omnichannel fulfillment, and heightened customer expectations—leaves little margin for lag.

Rebuilding reporting around a single source of truth

Schnucks turned to Domo with a clear mandate: centralize data and make it usable by everyone, not just analysts.

Domo now serves as the grocer’s enterprise reporting platform, aggregating data from across the organization into a single, cloud-based system. HR metrics, financial performance, supply chain signals, merchandising data, marketing results, and store-level operations all flow into one environment.

The difference isn’t just consolidation—it’s accessibility.

Executives see high-level performance indicators across regions and states. Store managers get role-specific KPIs relevant to staffing, production, and service levels. Department leads monitor operational metrics in near real time rather than waiting for end-of-day summaries.

Instead of reacting to what already happened, teams can respond to what’s happening now.

From hindsight to foresight on the store floor

That shift is precisely what Schnucks was after.

“We no longer ask ‘What were my sales yesterday?’ but focus on ‘What do I need to do moving forward to improve the customer experience?’,” said Colin Lloyd, Director of Business Analytics at Schnucks.

It’s a subtle but important change in mindset. Grocery retail has long been retrospective, built around weekly reports and historical trends. Domo pushes Schnucks toward continuous decision-making, where data informs staffing levels, production planning, and customer service adjustments throughout the day.

Store teams reportedly use the platform daily, not as an abstract analytics tool but as an operational guide. When staffing needs shift or production demands change, managers see it immediately. That immediacy matters in an industry where under-staffing hurts customer satisfaction—and over-staffing erodes margins.

AI and low-code apps bring analytics closer to the business

A key enabler of this shift is Domo’s low-code App Studio. Schnucks used it to build interactive dashboards that surface company-wide KPIs in visually intuitive ways.

Rather than forcing users to adapt to rigid analytics reports, Schnucks tailored experiences by role. A corporate executive doesn’t see the same view as a department manager, and they shouldn’t. Each dashboard highlights what matters most to the decision-maker using it.

This is where platforms like Domo are increasingly competing—not just on analytics horsepower, but on usability. Traditional BI tools often struggle to gain adoption outside analytics teams. Low-code environments, by contrast, aim to bring data into daily workflows without requiring SQL fluency.

For grocery retailers, that accessibility can be a competitive advantage.

Marketing and merchandising move at near-real-time speed

One of the most tangible changes has shown up in marketing execution.

Schnucks’ marketing and merchandising teams can now monitor promotion performance in Domo as little as 15 minutes after launch. That’s a radical improvement over traditional retail reporting cycles, which often measure outcomes hours or even days later.

If a promotion underperforms, teams can adjust pricing, placement, or messaging while the campaign is still running. If it overperforms, they can scale it faster or ensure inventory availability keeps up with demand.

In a category where promotions directly influence foot traffic and basket size, that agility translates to real revenue impact.

It also reflects a broader industry trend: retailers are increasingly borrowing playbooks from digital commerce, where real-time performance optimization is table stakes.

Breaking down silos without breaking workflows

One reason Domo resonated with Schnucks is its ability to unify data without forcing massive changes to existing systems.

Rather than ripping out legacy tools, Domo sits above them, ingesting and normalizing data. That architecture allows Schnucks to modernize analytics incrementally while preserving operational continuity.

For many retailers, that balance is critical. Large IT overhauls carry risk, especially in businesses that operate seven days a week. Platforms that can layer intelligence on top of existing systems are often more attractive than ground-up replacements.

Mark Boothe, Chief Marketing Officer at Domo, framed Schnucks as an example of what happens when organizations democratize data.

“Schnucks demonstrates how critical it is for retailers to break down data silos and enable all teammates with insights to drive smarter, faster decisions,” he said.

The grocery industry’s data reckoning

Zooming out, Schnucks’ deployment highlights a broader shift underway in grocery retail.

As margins tighten and competition intensifies—from discount chains, big-box retailers, and online players alike—data-driven execution has become less optional. Retailers that can’t see across their operations in real time risk falling behind those that can.

Historically, grocery has lagged other industries in advanced analytics adoption, in part due to operational complexity and thin margins. But pressures around labor optimization, dynamic pricing, and demand forecasting are accelerating change.

Platforms like Domo position themselves as enablers of this transformation, offering analytics, app development, and now AI-driven insights in a single stack. The challenge will be proving sustained ROI in an industry that measures success in basis points.

AI is the next layer Schnucks is preparing for

Schnucks isn’t stopping with dashboards.

The grocer is preparing to integrate Domo.AI, aiming to surface AI-powered insights directly to frontline teams in real time. While detailed use cases haven’t been disclosed, the direction aligns with industry momentum toward predictive and prescriptive analytics.

Instead of asking users to interpret charts, AI systems can flag anomalies, predict demand shifts, or recommend actions—essentially shortening the gap between insight and execution.

In grocery, where managers balance hundreds of variables each day, AI-assisted decision support could become a major differentiator, especially if it’s delivered directly into operational workflows.

Operational data as a customer experience lever

What stands out in Schnucks’ approach is how closely analytics are tied to customer experience.

Better staffing decisions reduce checkout wait times. Smarter production planning minimizes out-of-stocks and food waste. Faster promotion optimization ensures customers see relevant offers when they matter most.

Data, in this model, isn’t a back-office function. It’s an on-the-floor capability.

That framing mirrors a larger Martech and RetailTech convergence, where operational data increasingly shapes customer-facing outcomes. Analytics platforms that can bridge those worlds—linking internal efficiency with external experience—are well positioned as retailers modernize.

A blueprint for data-driven grocery retail

Schnucks’ Domo deployment doesn’t reinvent grocery retail, but it modernizes how insight flows through the organization.

By consolidating data, tailoring analytics by role, and pushing intelligence closer to decision-making, the grocer has shifted from reactive reporting to proactive operations.

Other grocery chains facing similar challenges—fragmented data, slow reporting cycles, misaligned teams—will likely see a familiar story here. The tools may vary, but the imperative is the same: in today’s retail environment, insight delayed is opportunity lost.

As Schnucks layers in AI-driven capabilities, the next test will be whether predictive intelligence can scale across hundreds of stores without overwhelming users. If it does, the company may offer a compelling case study for how grocery retailers can turn data into a daily operational asset—not just a quarterly report.

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