SwiftIQ

Written by Forte Group | Mar 1, 2024

A PoS data insights platform for retailers

Client:
SwiftIQ

Editor’s note: In January 2020, PDI, a global provider of ERP, fuel pricing, logistics, and marketing cloud solutions, acquired SwiftIQ. SwiftIQ is now PDI Insights Cloud.

Industry:
Retail

Type of work:
Scaled Engineering

Technology and Platforms:
Java, Angular JS, Apache Spark, Google Cloud Platform, jQuery, Bootstrap

For decades, brick-and-mortar retailers have struggled to measure and predict their customers’ purchasing preferences. Without accurate point-of-sale data, it’s difficult for retailers and brands to measure how effective an in-store display or promotion is. Without that data, how do we know what’s working and what isn’t?

Online retailers, in comparison, can mine from a wealth of data to segment their customers and create custom-tailored messaging that connects people with the products they want. For traditional stores, that level of data sophistication is far more challenging to achieve.

The SwiftIQ platform evens the playing field, providing retailers, brands, and distributors with “basket-level” data insights to help measure the effectiveness of point-of-sale transactions. Armed with real-time, granular data about their customers’ purchasing preferences, brands and stores can reclaim a competitive edge and better connect with their customers.

Background

SwiftIQ began as a startup in 2011, but after receiving a round of seed funding in 2014, it needed to enhance and scale its platform to meet growing demand. SwiftIQ needed to process more data faster, which required a platform upgrade.
With its rapid growth, SwiftIQ wanted to ensure that its new platform was built correctly and for the long haul. To upgrade, improve, and scale, the team at SwiftIQ called Forte to manage quality assurance and testing services for its new platform.

Results achieved

Since the launch of SwiftIQ’s platform in 2015, the company has tripled its customers and now analyzes more than $100 billion in offline, receipt-level point-of-sale data.
The power of SwiftIQ’s nearly real-time data is used by leading brands such as Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, MarsWrigley, Hershey, and KraftHeinz. It’s also used by small and medium-sized retail chains, allowing companies of all sizes to make more tactical merchandising and marketing decisions efficiently.
Since the initial launch, SwiftIQ and Forte Group have forged a strategic partnership of more than five years. Both teams continue to improve the product, adding features while ensuring world-class quality and performance for the platform.

Business challenges

Offer traditional stores and retailers a way to broaden their insights into customer preferences
Introduce a data-driven approach to predicting customer behavior
Create a robust yet elegant and customer-centric product that is easy for everyone to use
Empower retailers and brands to use data in real-time to improve their offering

Feature-based challenges

Have a fast but easy and intuitive to use interface throughout the platform
Ensure flawless performance under varying loads of users and data flows
Build a custom test automation framework to ease the time-consuming burden of repetitive tests
Accelerate overall delivery speed and establish predictable and effective release cadence

Solution highlights

Test automation:

The Forte QA team built a test automation framework into the SwiftIQ platform, automating time-consuming tests. This makes the entire testing process smoother and faster, allowing QA analysts to focus on improving the product rather than running repetitive tests. Test automation helps identify bugs earlier, accelerating development time and improving the overall quality of a product.

Functional testing:
For any piece of software to be of value, it must meet the functional requirements established at the outset. Using functional testing, the Forte QA team ensured that the highest quality standards were met and that the platform functioned flawlessly.

Performance testing:
Any high-performance product — whether it’s a pair of running shoes or an F1 race engine—has to be rigorously tested to ensure it can stand up to high-intensity use. The same logic must also be applied to a quality software product. By testing for responsiveness, stability, and speed under demanding usage, QA analysts can build and improve performance standards in the product’s implementation, design, and architecture.

UI verification:
Using a graphical user interface (GUI), the Forte QA team ensured that the product was easy for people to use, met customers’ needs, and offered an exceptional user experience (UX).

Data-driven approach:
To improve the platform’s speed and ease of use, the Forte quality assurance (QA) and test team built data-driven test functionality into the SwiftIQ platform.

Outcomes

10x increase in test execution

$100+ BL in receipt-level point-of-sale data

5+ Years of strategic software partnership

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