Microsoft Customer Solution
Retail Industry Case Study
Tesco Real-Time, Point-of-Sale Data Infrastructure
Handles 1500 Transactions a Second
Overview
Country: United Kingdom
Industry: Retail
Customer Profile
Tesco, with 1,200 stores and almost 250,000
employees, is the U.K.’s largest supermarket
chain, the national leader in the food sector,
and a global player in retailing with outlets in
Ireland, Central Europe, and Asia.
Business Situation
Tesco needed a new retail data infrastructure
operating in real time, to improve supply chain
management, and reduce unknown losses at
check outs in its U.K. supermarkets.
Solution
Sysrepublic’s Real Time Integrator provides
retailers with faster access to critical business
information, through full use of accurate,
detailed, point-of-sale (POS) information. It
uses Microsoft ® BizTalk® Server and
Microsoft SQL ServerTM 2000.
Benefits
 Single stream of data from stores.
 Better informed management.
 Captures details of every product that
passes through the tills
 Data delivered in single, versatile format.
 Scalable solution to match business growth.
“SQL Server and BizTalk together have proved that
they can handle two terabytes of POS data–equivalent
to three weeks of sales data. The solution is highly
scalable and enters data into SQL Server at up to
20,000 inserts a second.”
Simon Alcock, Technical Specialist, Tesco
Tesco Group, the U.K.’s largest supermarket chain, needed a new
retail data infrastructure operating in real-time, to improve supply
chain management and stock availability in its 1,200-plus stores.
Sysrepublic’s Real Time Integrator (RTI) provides retailers with
faster access to critical business information, through the provision
and use of accurate, detailed, point-of-sale (POS) information. Sales
data from individual store databases will be routed to head office in
XML to Microsoft® BizTalk® Server and Microsoft SQL ServerTM
2000. Tesco’s head office will gain a single view of supermarket
sales data from all its stores, which was previously unavailable in
such detail or in such a timely manner. The solution handles 1500
sales transactions a second at peak times, which each have an
average of between 50 and 100 items. The first application for RTI
will be a pilot in 120 stores to reduce the number not on file items
and improve the customer experience.
“We were confident
from experience with
other customers that
Microsoft SQL Server
was equal to the task.
Tesco is very happy with
the solution.”
Nathan Smith, Business Development
Director, Sysrepublic
Situation
Solution
Tesco is the U.K.’s largest supermarket chain,
the national leader in the food sector, and a
global player in retailing with outlets in
Ireland, Central Europe, and Asia. Over the
past 78 years, as the retailing market has
changed, the company has grown and
developed, responding to new opportunities
and pioneering many innovations, including
online sales. Tesco, with 1,200-plus stores
and almost 250,000 employees, is described
by many analysts as the ‘king of
supermarkets’ in the U.K. Apart from its
familiar high street supermarkets, it operates
small grocery stores under the Tesco Metro
brand name, big supermarkets outside cities
(Tesco Extra), and 24-hour stores.
Sysrepublic’s Real Time Integrator (RTI)
provides retailers with faster access to critical
business information, through use of
accurate, detailed, POS information. RTI can
address issues, such as stock availability,
loss prevention, customer service, in-store
productivity, and promotion tracking and
through Web Services initiate a series of
responses without needed manual
intervention. It is implemented using
Microsoft® BizTalk® Server, part of the
Microsoft Windows ServerTM System, and the
Microsoft .NET Framework for development.
Data from individual stores is captured using
the .NET Framework and transmitted via XML
Web services through BizTalk Server, and a
single Microsoft SQL ServerTM 2000
database.
Point-of-sale (POS) data is the lifeblood of any
supply chain. Supermarkets, especially, use
this information to understand and anticipate
customer behaviour, manage stock in
individual stores, above all, the speedy
availability and accuracy of POS data makes
a fundamental difference to a retailer’s
competitiveness and the strength of its
supply chain.
Simon Alcock, Technical Specialist, Tesco,
says: “Managing the supply chain is critical
for Tesco in maintaining its leadership in the
industry. If customers can’t find the product
they like on the supermarket shelves, then
they can’t buy it. The media has highlighted
‘out of stocks’ as an issue for some of our
competitors, this solution will help us tackle
the problem.”
As the UK’s most successful, supermarket
chain, Tesco is constantly refining the way in
which it sources, analyses, and manages
sales data. In late 2003, Tesco began
working on a new real-time retail
infrastructure based on Microsoft
technologies and developed by Sysrepublic,
which specialises in retail software products
and consultancy.
Within six months, using RTI, Tesco,
Microsoft, and Sysrepublic, have successfully
deployed a real-time sales data infrastructure
that will deliver:
 POS transaction feeds from more than
1,200 stores.
 A highly scalable interface that accepts up
to 1,500 baskets a second.
 Capacity for two terabytes of POS data
 Using minimal network bandwidth.
 Further flexibility for extension using the
.NET Framework.
Nathan Smith, Business Development
Director, Sysrepublic, says: “There was a
good deal of initial skepticism at Tesco that
SQL Server could handle as many as 1200
sales transactions a second at peak times.
The transactions include an average of
between 50 and 100 items, customer
information, and discounts. But, we were
confident from experience with other
customers that Microsoft SQL Server was
equal to the task. Tesco is very happy with
the solution.”
Benefits
Single Version of Real-Time Supermarket
Sales Data
Tesco will use Sysrepublic’s RTI with BizTalk
and SQL Server to give its head office
management team a single view of
supermarket sales data from all its 12,000
plus stores. Alcock says: “The solution gives
us one version of the truth. Before we
considered adopting RTI we relied on several
different databases.
“Even when we integrated the databases,
and, for example analysis showed that one
was flawed, we could not work out which one
was faulty. We will now have one database,
with links to our loyalty scheme Clubcard, and
will improve customer relationship
management (CRM) throughout our stores.”
Resilient and Reliable Data
Infrastructure
The proof of concept for RTI showed that
Microsoft technologies provide a resilient and
reliable data infrastructure. Alcock says: “SQL
Server and BizTalk have proved that they can
handle two terabytes of POS data–equivalent
to three weeks of sales. The solution is highly
scalable and inputs data into SQL Server at
up to 20,000 inserts a second. Any
skepticism we may have had about SQL
Server and its suitability for the enterprise no
longer exists.”
Efficiency Gains from Improved Supply
Chain Management
The biggest long-term benefit of RTI using
highly scalable Microsoft technologies is that
it accelerates the supply chain, reduces ‘out
of stocks’, and helps to retain customer
loyalty. Smith says: “With a reliable, scalable
platform, Tesco will minimise IT management
costs. The real-time, up-to-date metrics give
managers a view of individual store
performance, giving them the information to
take corrective action where required much
more quickly. Importantly, with the basics in
place, it provides a strong base for other realtime applications, including labour
monitoring, and inventory management.”
For More Information
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About Microsoft’s Smarter Retailing
Initiative
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft® Windows Server SystemTM is a
comprehensive, integrated, and interoperable
server infrastructure that helps reduce the
complexity and costs of building, deploying,
connecting, and operating agile business
solutions. Windows Server System helps
customers create new value for their
business through the strategic use of their IT
assets. With the Windows ServerTM operating
system as its foundation, Windows Server
System delivers dependable infrastructure for
data management and analysis; enterprise
integration; customer, partner, and employee
portals; business process automation;
communications and collaboration; and core
IT operations including security, deployment,
and systems management. For more
information about Windows Server System,
go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/
windowsserversystem
The Microsoft Smarter Retailing Initiative
helps retailers win today by leveraging current
investments, and win tomorrow by easing
delivery of new retail experiences. Consisting
of Smarter Shopping, Smarter Selling and
Smarter Operations, the Smarter Retailing
Initiative is designed to close the loop
between the retailer’s strategy, the in-store
execution and familiar technologies already
in the consumer’s hands.
More information can be found at:
www.microsoft.com/smartretail
For more information about Sysrepublic
products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.sysrepublic.com
For more information about Tesco products
and services, visit the Web site at:
www.tesco.com
Software and Services

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case
study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
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Document published December,
March, 2005
2004
Products
− Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000
− Microsoft SQL Server 2000
− Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Enterprise Edition

Technologies
− Microsoft .NET Framework
Partners

Sysrepublic