Director · Store Operations

Managing 800 stores from a spreadsheet is insane.

Your store operations team has the data. They don’t have the bandwidth to find what’s buried in it. Ward delivers the findings, with root causes attached. Click any number to see the SQL.

Poor labor allocation and inconsistent execution cost multi-store retailers 3–5% in lost sales.Source: RSR Research
Store team members collaborating on the retail floor
Grocery Fashion Convenience

What store operations finds out
too late.

Managing 800 stores from a spreadsheet is insane.

Morning check-ins rely on phone calls and email chains

No single view of which stores need attention today

Labor scheduling is disconnected from demand signals

Planogram compliance is checked manually, quarterly

Exception management is reactive and inconsistent

Poor labor allocation and inconsistent execution cost multi-store retailers 3–5% in lost sales.

Source: RSR Research

Insight cards for
director store ops.

Before Ward
Problems surface in the quarterly review. By then, the damage is done.
  • ×Morning check-ins rely on phone calls and email chains
  • ×No single view of which stores need attention today
  • ×Labor scheduling is disconnected from demand signals
  • ×Planogram compliance is checked manually, quarterly
With Ward
Problems surface at 6:47 AM with root causes and recommended actions.
  • Morning brief delivered at 06:47 with prioritized action list
  • Estate-wide heat map of store performance, updated hourly
  • Staffing recommendations correlated with predicted traffic
  • Planogram compliance anomalies detected and flagged

Morning brief delivered at 06:47 with prioritized action list

Estate-wide heat map of store performance, updated hourly

Staffing recommendations correlated with predicted traffic

Planogram compliance anomalies detected and flagged

Consistent exception handling with recommended actions

From signature
to running insights.

A live pilot for director store ops hits these milestones on real data, on a fixed-fee schedule.

Week 1
06:47 morning brief covers fill-rate and stockout exceptions across the estate.
Month 1
Store performance heat map live. Labor-vs-traffic correlation per location.
Quarter 1
Planogram compliance anomalies auto-flagged. Exception triage SLA cut in half.

This is what Ward
delivers to you.

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

Models

Browse, search, and manage data–lake model definitions for your tenant.

NameNamespaceVersion
retail_pos_transactionsretail1.0
retail_inventory_snapshotretail1.2
retail_labor_schedulingretail1.0
retail_promo_calendarretail1.1
retail_supplier_performanceretail1.0
sap_inventory_shrinkagesap1.0
ga4_daily_eventsmarketing1.0
meta_ads_ad_levelmarketing1.0

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

Architecture

Two ways to connect. Federate against your live systems, or ingest into Ward’s data lake. Toggle below.

Your systems · read-only
SAP Retail
Snowflake
BigQuery
Shopify
Toast POS
Ward Gateway
TLS 1.3 · AES-256
Querying live · data stays put
Federated answers
SELECT * FROM sap.pos
JOIN snow.inventory
WHERE store_id = 37
→ insight cards
Ward Data Lake
→ baselined per store
TLS 1.3 in transit AES-256 at rest Read-only credentials SOC 2 II in progress VPC peering · PrivateLink

Pipelines

Move data from sources into models on a schedule.

NameSourceModelStatusSchedule
sync_sap_pos_transactionssap_pos_transactionspos_transactionsenabledhourly
sync_sap_labor_schedulingsap_labor_schedulinglabor_schedulingenableddaily
sync_sap_inventory_shrinkagesap_inventory_shrinkageinventory_shrinkageenableddaily
sync_retail_inventory_weeklyretail_inventory_weeklyinventory_weeklyenabledweekly
sync_retail_google_ads_dailyretail_google_ads_dailygoogle_ads_dailyenableddaily
sync_retail_ga4_website_dailyretail_ga4_website_dailyga4_website_dailyenableddaily

Streams

Real-time ingestion pipelines.

0events / min
0streams active
0% delivered
  • pos.txn store_037, basket $42.18
  • inv.move dc_west → store_104
  • labor.clock store_022 shift_start
  • pos.txn store_211, basket $19.04

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::"shrinkage"
vendor-blockedforbidModel::"labor_*"
region-west-onlypermitTenant::"acme"

Entities

Principals and resources referenced by Cedar policies.

Entity UIDTypeTenant
Tenant::"acme"Tenantacme
Model::"sap.pos_transactions"Modelacme
Model::"sap.inventory_shrinkage"Modelacme
Model::"sap.labor_scheduling"Modelacme
Model::"retail.toast_pos_daily"Modelacme
Model::"retail.ga4_website_daily"Modelacme

Providers

Manage LLM API keys and the model profiles that use them.

API Keys Model Profiles
NameProviderUsed byCreated
anthropic-defaultAnthropic3 profilesApr 22
openai-defaultOpenAI2 profilesApr 22
gemini-defaultGemini1 profileApr 22
ollama-onpremOllama2 profilesApr 22

LLM-agnostic. Bring your own key, route per task. No lock-in.

Settings

Manage your dashboard preferences and account.

Appearance
Theme • Light ° Dark

Light and dark themes are available. Your choice is remembered per browser.

Account
NameAdmin
Emailadmin@acme.io
Tenantacme-retail
Evidence trail, composable charts, and a live data lake, every finding inspectable.
Ward · for Director Store Ops06:47 AM

7 stores need your attention. 793 are clean. Priority: Stores 22 and 37, fresh availability below threshold. Replenishment already raised.

✓ Action recommendedStore Operations context
Built for IT & procurement

Outcomes for director store ops.
Without putting IT on the hook.

The fastest way to kill a retail AI deal: an agent with write access to production data and no audit trail.

Ward starts read-only, runs on policy, and logs every query. Your security review is short. Your data team isn’t carrying the risk. Cyber and tech E&O on file with an AI rider.

SOC 2 II Read-only VPC · PrivateLink
Read-only by default
Ward queries your warehouse, POS, and ERP with read-only credentials. Agents can’t mutate the data they reason over.
Agents on a leash
Cedar policies scope every agent per role and resource. Least-privilege, machine-enforced. Not aspirational.
Every query inspectable
Full reasoning trail per insight. Which agent, which sources, which SQL, which model. Hand it to compliance without a forensics project.

The blind spots that cost
director store ops the most.

KPIs that erode quietly when nobody’s watching. Flip to see what Ward does about each one.

Grocery
Shrinkage
Cause-level attribution
Loss prevention shifts from guesswork to targeted intervention.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Loss prevention shifts from guesswork to targeted intervention.
Cause-level attribution
↻ Flip back
Grocery
Fill Rate
24–72hr head start
Stockout prediction cards arrive before customers notice gaps.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Stockout prediction cards arrive before customers notice gaps.
24–72hr head start
↻ Flip back
Grocery
Fresh Waste
Flagged before spoilage
Perishable turn rates monitored by store.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Perishable turn rates monitored by store.
Flagged before spoilage
↻ Flip back
Grocery
Promo ROI
Net lift, not gross
True lift net of cannibalization and pull-forward.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
True lift net of cannibalization and pull-forward.
Net lift, not gross
↻ Flip back
Fashion
Markdown Rate
Shallower, earlier
Slow movers detected before deep clearance is the only option.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Slow movers detected before deep clearance is the only option.
Shallower, earlier
↻ Flip back
Fashion
Sell-Through
More at full price
Style velocity cards flag underperformers early enough to reallocate.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Style velocity cards flag underperformers early enough to reallocate.
More at full price
↻ Flip back
Fashion
Size Accuracy
Fewer size gaps
Size curves recalibrated by store cluster and season.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Size curves recalibrated by store cluster and season.
Fewer size gaps
↻ Flip back
Fashion
Return Rate
Better matching
Right size, right store means fewer returns.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Right size, right store means fewer returns.
Better matching
↻ Flip back
Convenience
Attach Rate
Impulse adjacencies
Daypart-specific cross-sell opportunities surfaced.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Daypart-specific cross-sell opportunities surfaced.
Impulse adjacencies
↻ Flip back
Convenience
Daypart Revenue
Weak hours identified
Which hours and categories underperform, and why.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Which hours and categories underperform, and why.
Weak hours identified
↻ Flip back
Convenience
Planogram Compliance
Sales-correlated flags
Deviations flagged when they affect revenue, not just visuals.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Deviations flagged when they affect revenue, not just visuals.
Sales-correlated flags
↻ Flip back
Convenience
Shrinkage
Slow-bleed detection
Transaction-level anomalies that periodic audits miss.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Transaction-level anomalies that periodic audits miss.
Slow-bleed detection
↻ Flip back
Specialty
CLV
Churn risk surfaced
At-risk customers identified before they leave.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
At-risk customers identified before they leave.
Churn risk surfaced
↻ Flip back
Specialty
Conversion Rate
Assortment + staffing
Cards that help convert high-intent browsers.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Cards that help convert high-intent browsers.
Assortment + staffing
↻ Flip back
Specialty
Revenue per SKU
Whitespace found
Underperformers identified, gaps in curated assortment.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Underperformers identified, gaps in curated assortment.
Whitespace found
↻ Flip back
Specialty
Overstock
Less capital locked
Demand matching reduces slow-moving inventory.
↻ Flip to see the action
Recommended Action
Demand matching reduces slow-moving inventory.
Less capital locked
↻ Flip back

What director store ops
uses Ward for first.

The three insight types this role drives the most value from. Each one tailored for store operations decision-making.

Two ways to start.

Run a fixed-fee pilot on your data, or talk to advisory about a broader engagement.

Playbooks for Store Operations.

The procedures this team runs on Ward. Each pairs a data insight with the AI automation and automated data routing to act on it.

Planogram correction
Sales-correlated planogram drift. Ward issues the corrected POG to the field and verifies with next-cycle photos.
Convenience · Specialty · Pharmacy · GroceryBlue Yonder Space · field-ops app · POSCompliance + sales lift
Daypart staffing rebalance
Traffic and labor are out of sync by daypart. Ward proposes a schedule that matches staff to demand.
Convenience · PharmacyUKG · Kronos · POSConversion
Schedule mismatch correction
The posted schedule doesn't match forecast traffic. Ward flags the gaps before the week locks.
All retailUKG · POSLabor productivity
Endcap velocity check
An endcap is underperforming its rent. Ward flags it and proposes a higher-velocity swap.
Convenience · SpecialtyPOS · space planningEndcap ROI
Fresh waste prevention
Perishables trending to spoilage. Ward proposes markdown or pull timing before the waste hits.
GroceryRelex · POSWaste %
Task compliance audit
Directed tasks aren't getting done at the store. Ward surfaces the misses and routes them to the DM.
All retailfield-ops app · POSExecution rate
Ward
Insight
Dispatch
Feedback
Evaluate
Learn
01

Insights surface

Ward’s agents detect what changed, why it matters, and what to do about it. Every insight includes a recommended action. Not just a chart to interpret.

Real-time detection Root cause + recommendation
02

Insights become actions

Any insight card can be turned into a tracked ticket or task. Dispatched to the right person, on the right channel: mobile push, text, or email. Not every insight needs a ticket. When one does, it has an owner.

Tickets created automatically Dispatched to the right person
03

Your team responds

Insights get voted up or down with reasoning. Tickets get completed or rejected. Every response is a signal. Ward learns what worked, what missed, and why.

Vote up / down Ticket completed Reasoning attached
04

Outcomes measured

Ward evaluates real results: revenue, margin, fill rate, labor cost. Did the action actually improve the number it targeted? Measured outcomes, not assumptions.

KPI impact tracked Results vs. prediction scored
05

Agents get sharper

Every vote, every completed ticket, every measured outcome feeds back in. Ward learns from your team’s judgment and real-world results. Each cycle sharpens the next. Then it starts again.

Cycle repeats, sharper each time
$1.8T
Projected global AI market by 2030
0
×
Customer acquisition lift for data‑driven orgs
0
+
Foundation models shipped since 2022
0
Guarantees any single model stays on top

Control AI spend by department and user.
Without skimping on the outcome.

Give every department and every user a compute budget. Ward routes each question to the cheapest model that clears the quality bar, so finance caps the spend without capping what the business gets back.

Compute budgets, this month 68% used · on pace
Merchandising
14,200 / 20,000
Supply Chain
9,800 / 15,000
Store Ops
6,100 / 10,000
Ecommerce
4,700 / 5,000
Finance
3,400 / 5,000
Per-user caps. Alerts at 80%. Hard stop or overage approval, your call. Ecommerce flagged at 94%, before it became a surprise invoice.

Managing 800 stores from a spreadsheet is insane.

See what Ward finds for Store Operations leaders, with root causes and recommended actions.

Get a demo

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
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