Fashion · Looker · CFO

Looker + Fashion Retail: Built for CFO

Fashion retailers have 15,000+ SKUs and blind spots hiding in every store. Ward watches them all and delivers the findings your team doesn't have bandwidth to find. Your Looker / Looker Studio data holds answers nobody has time to extract. Ward reads it via read-only APIs.

Ward + Looker for Fashion & Apparel

Fashion & Apparel retailers running Looker / Looker Studio get AI insight cards without custom development. Seasonal sell-through, size curve optimization, and markdown timing. Ward monitors style velocity and flags slow movers before the window closes.

How it works: Ward can query Looker via API or connect directly to the underlying database. Either way, Ward monitors while your team browses.

Ward monitors 15,000+ SKUs across your locations and delivers automated insight cards covering Sell-through rate, Markdown %, Return rate, and more.

app.getward.ai Live demo
Acme Retail @Merchandising: VP Analyst claude-sonnet default
A

Chat

Ask anything. Ward routes to the right agent and returns cited answers.

Why did Store 37 miss target last week?
You · 9:42 AM
Schema Scout · routed to Merchandising Agent

I pulled Store 37’s last 28 days against the chain baseline. Two root causes, both compounding.

SignalFinding
labor_efficiencyRev/labor-hour −22% vs. cluster, staffing mismatch at 11a–1p peak
inventory.freshFresh fill 83%, backroom replenishment lag at 2–4p
promo.liftBOGO crackers cannibalized Brand Y by 28%, net category +6%

Recommend: re-baseline Store 37 schedule against true peak, raise replen window to 1p, and review the BOGO before next cycle.

8 parallel queries 3 sources cited confidence 0.92
Show me how to fix the staffing mismatch.
You · 9:43 AM
Labor Agent · drafting schedule diff
Querying labor_scheduling
Ask anything, Ward routes to the right agent. Cmd+K

Dashboards

Pinned views built from saved data-lake queries.

Revenue vs. forecast +4.2% WoW
Gross margin % −3.2pp
Fill rate, fresh 83%
Shrink, West region +0.8pp

Sources

Connect external systems to the data lake.

NameTypeLast sync
sap_pos_transactionsimport2m ago
sap_inventory_shrinkageimport2m ago
sap_labor_schedulingimport14m ago
retail_inventory_weeklyimport1h ago
retail_google_ads_dailyimport1h ago
retail_meta_ads_dailyimport1h ago
retail_ga4_website_dailyimport1h ago

Policies

Browse and manage Cedar access policies for your tenant.

TLS 1.3 AES-256 Read-only SOC 2 II
Policy IDEffectResources
merch-read-defaultpermitModel::*
finance-read-shrinkagepermitModel::"inventory_shrinkage"
vendor-blockedforbidModel::"labor_*"
region-west-onlypermitTenant::"acme"
Live product demo, Ward analyzing retail data in real time.

What Ward delivers

  • GMROI tracking by category with weekly insight cards
  • Inventory carrying cost alerts when capital efficiency drops
  • Working capital optimization recommendations based on turnover trends
  • SSS decomposition into traffic, conversion, and basket components
  • Store-level unit economics cards for capex prioritization

Metrics Ward monitors

Sell-through rate
Markdown %
Return rate
Style velocity
Size accuracy

Fashion challenges Ward solves

  • Markdown timing
  • Size curve misallocation
  • Style velocity prediction
  • Return rate management
  • Seasonal transition

How Ward connects to Looker / Looker Studio

Ward does not replace Looker. Ward watches the same data Looker visualizes and proactively alerts when something changes. Your dashboards stay. Ward adds intelligence.

Setup: Ward can query Looker via API or connect directly to the underlying database. Either way, Ward monitors while your team browses.

Data Ward reads from Looker

Looker API for query results
Underlying database (direct)
LookML model metadata

Impact metrics with Looker

Time to Insight
Proactive, no login
Explains why metrics moved before anyone checks a dashboard.
Anomaly Detection
Inter-refresh coverage
Catches deviations between Looker dashboard refresh cycles.
Decision Velocity
Root cause attached
Every anomaly card includes cause analysis; no drill-down needed.
Data Utilization
Unused models activated
LookML dimensions and measures queried beyond built dashboards.

Data lake enrichment

Ward enriches Looker data with: Looker query results, Underlying database, Weather & events, Competitor data, Customer segments

Your P&L surprises are born on the store floor.

Pain points
  • ×Margin erosion only surfaces at month-end close
  • ×Inventory carrying costs are a black box
  • ×Working capital tied up in slow-moving stock nobody is watching
  • ×Same-store sales comps lack decomposition into actionable drivers
  • ×Capex decisions for store remodels lack unit-economics evidence
How Ward helps
  • GMROI tracking by category with weekly insight cards
  • Inventory carrying cost alerts when capital efficiency drops
  • Working capital optimization recommendations based on turnover trends
  • SSS decomposition into traffic, conversion, and basket components
  • Store-level unit economics cards for capex prioritization

Inventory distortion, overstock and out-of-stock combined, costs retailers $1.77 trillion globally. Source: IHL Group

Fashion KPI impact

Markdown Rate
Shallower, earlier
Slow movers detected before deep clearance is the only option.
Sell-Through
More at full price
Style velocity cards flag underperformers early enough to reallocate.
Size Accuracy
Fewer size gaps
Size curves recalibrated by store cluster and season.
Return Rate
Better matching
Right size, right store means fewer returns.

Frequently asked questions

Ward can query Looker via API or connect directly to the underlying database. Either way, Ward monitors while your team browses. Data points include: Looker API for query results, Underlying database (direct), LookML model metadata.

Yes. Ward reads Looker data and combines it with contextual signals (weather, events, demographics) to generate Fashion-specific insight cards. No custom development required.

Your P&L surprises are born on the store floor. Ward solves this with automated insight cards: GMROI tracking by category with weekly insight cards. Inventory carrying cost alerts when capital efficiency drops. Working capital optimization recommendations based on turnover trends.

Ward delivers daily insight cards covering Sell-through rate, Markdown %, Return rate, tailored for Finance decision-making. Each card includes what changed, why it matters, and what to do next.

First insight cards arrive within 48 hours of data connection. Ward needs approximately 2 weeks to establish stable baselines for your specific operation.

No. Ward sits on top of your existing stack. It is the proactive intelligence layer that watches your data continuously and delivers insight cards, so your team acts on findings instead of hunting for them.

See what Fashion problems Ward catches.

Root causes, not just alerts. See it on your data.

Read-only to start · your LLM keys · SOC 2 Type II underway · or book a call directly

Find out what your data has been hiding.

Tell us about your operation. We’ll show you the problems Ward catches, and the ones your current tools miss.

Step 1 of 3
What are your goals?
Step 2 of 3
About your operation
Step 3 of 3
Your contact info