Sample Conversation: Department or Zone-Level Performance Analysis with Explainability

User: What is life cycle optimization?

Bot: Lifecycle optimization, also known as Lifecycle Pricing Optimization (LPO), is used to determine the optimal pricing recommendations for promotions, markdowns, or targeted offers. It provides answers to questions such as which items to promote, when to promote, how deep to promote, and who to target. LPO caters to retailers interested in optimizing their pricing strategies to maximize profits.

User: How can I delete a run?

Bot: Runs can be deleted, depending on the status of the run and the permissions a specific user has. A user with Administrator permissions can delete any run except for one that has a status of Running. Users can delete any runs they have created that do not have a status of Running. They cannot delete runs created by another user or runs with an Auto run status. More than one run can be selected for deletion at the same time.

User: where is the task pane located?

Bot: The Task Pane is located on the left side of the application. It is used to navigate between LPO Overview, Forecasting, and Manage Recommendations. Users can also use this to navigate between the applications.

User: why am I getting a run not optimized error?

Bot: You are getting a "Run Not Optimized" error because the optimization is not complete. This error occurs when the run is in the "Worksheet" status, and you try to go to the "Results" stage. The optimization process is not finished, and therefore, the results are not available. Additionally, the error can also occur if there are mapping errors in the assortment data, or if the POG set has multiple assortments mapped to it and at least one of them has mapping errors.

User: what is pro_merch_rpm_flg, whats the default value?

Bot: PRO_MERCH_RPM_FLG is a configuration parameter that serves as a flag to identify whether to publish markdown recommendations to RPM. The default value of PRO_MERCH_RPM_FLG is N.

User: what are the configurations for integrating with pricing cloud services

Bot: To integrate with Pricing Cloud services, additional configuration parameters must be set. These parameters include the Pricing CS username and password, which must be added under the credential store for Merchandise Pricing CS Access. The credential store can be managed using the UI screen for Control and Tactical Center -> Manage Credential Stores.

The configuration parameters for integration with Retail Pricing Cloud Service are listed in Table 12-5, which includes parameters such as IO_MERCH_RMS_REPL_PATH, IO_MERCH_RMS_VERSION, and IO_MERCH_RMS_AUTH_SERVICE_TYPE. These parameters are used to determine the path of the Rest service, the RMS version to use for publishing replenishment parameters, and the authentication type to use for IPO-IO RMS integration.

User: what are the configuration parameters for integrating with pricing cloud services

Bot: The configuration parameters for integrating with Pricing Cloud services are listed in Table 12-5. These parameters include PRO_MERCH_RPM_FLG, PRO_MERCH_RPM_HOSTNAME, PRO_MERCH_RPM_CONTEXT_ROOT, PRO_MERCH_RPM_CLEARANCE_PATH, PRO_MERCH_RPM_PORT, PRO_MERCH_RPM_HTTP_PROXY_HOSTNAME, PRO_MERCH_RPM_HTTP_PROXY_PORT, and PRO_MERCH_RPM_HTTPS_PROXY_PORT. Additionally, the Pricing CS username and password must be added under the credential store for Merchandise Pricing CS Access.

User: what exceptions does LPO Forecasting support?

Bot: LPO forecasting supports exceptions based on sell thru and returns. This includes the sell thru exception, which occurs when the Sell thru end of life is lower than the sell thru exception threshold for any product, and the returns exception, which occurs when the Forecast return % is greater than the return exception threshold for any product.

User: what are the Foundation jobs in POM

Bot: The Foundation jobs in POM are not explicitly listed in your data. However, it does mention that batch jobs are necessary to put the system on a batch schedule and that some of the jobs require relevant configuration parameters to be specified with client-specific values.

User: what are the Foundation jobs in POM that load product hierarchy

Bot: The foundation jobs in POM that load product hierarchy are:

• ORASE_START_BATCH_JOB

• ORASE_START_BATCH_REFRESH_RESTR_JOB

• ORASE_START_BATCH_SET_ACTIVE_JOB

• ORASE_START_BATCH_END_JOB

• RSE_WEEKLY_INPUT_FILES_START_JOB

• WEEKLY_INPUT_FILES_WAIT_JOB

• WEEKLY_INPUT_FILES_VAL_JOB

• WEEKLY_INPUT_FILES_COPY_JOB

• RSE_WEEKLY_INPUT_FILES_END_JOB

• RSE_DIMENSION_LOAD_START_END_JOB

• RSE_DIMENSION_LOAD_START_START_JOB

• RSE_REGULAR_MAIN_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_LOC_SRC_XREF_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PROD_SRC_XREF_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_LOC_HIER_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_LOC_HIER_TC_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_LOC_HIER_DH_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_FISCAL_MAIN_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PROD_HIER_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PROD_TC_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PROD_DH_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PROD_GROUP_LOAD_JOB

• RSE_PRICE_ZONE_LOAD_START_JOB

User: How can I allocate budgets for markdowns and promotional activities in our retail strategy?

Bot: To allocate budgets for markdowns and promotional activities in a retail strategy, the system allows for separate budgets for promotions and markdowns. A budget can be fed in at the run's merchandise setup level or it can be fed in at the run's merchandise processing-level. The interface allows the user to provide separate budgets or a combined budget for promotions and markdowns. The relevant fields from the interface are: slspr_rtl_amt (promotion budget), slscl_rtl_amt (clearance budget), loc_exchange_rate, mcal_wid, delete_flg, prod_dh_wid, org_dh_wid.