Casey’s launches real-time data analytics for store owners
Editor’s note: This is the second of three features profiling winners of the 2024 Prometheus Awards and going behind the scenes of how the winners are selected.
At the 2024 Prometheus Awards, the Technology Association of Iowa debuted seven new award categories, a move the industry association said was in response to marked evolutions in Iowa’s tech landscape.
“Iowa’s tech sector has evolved significantly in the past few years with advancements in AI, automation, cybersecurity and data analytics driving progress in our leading industries like agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing,” Nick Donovan, TAI’s vice president of marketing and communications, said in an email. “These changes, along with a growing focus on talent and leadership development, inspired us to add new categories to reflect and celebrate the innovation that is shaping … Iowa’s tech ecosystem.”
Donovan said each category’s finalists are evaluated with a focus on key achievements, business impact and contributions from the organization or individual. Judges determine both the finalists and winners for each category and receive specific criteria, he said.
The new Data Solution of the Year category was created to recognize innovative approaches to managing, analyzing or leveraging data that drive meaningful business outcomes.
Casey’s received the award for 2024 and was recognized alongside finalists Hy-Vee Inc., Kingland, LCS, Strategic America and Tractor Zoom.
David Ziemann, senior director of software at GlobalVetLink and a judge for the Data Solutions category, said the criteria emphasized the novelty of the solution as well as how data is collected, managed and used to innovate and how the solution improved efficiency or the speed and quality of decisions.
Ziemann said Casey’s stood out because it “built out a data solution that enabled store owners to make real-time decisions rather than relying on monthly or quarterly reports. Casey’s was also able to quantify the impact of their data analytics solution in terms of cost and time savings for their employees.”
Below, Casey’s data and analytics team leaders, Matt Weber, Pierre Hakim and Ryan Fye, share more about the solution and data initiatives across the company. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Provide a brief explanation of the data solution Casey’s was recognized for.
Casey’s made a significant leap in its mission to drive impact for stores, operators and guests when the data and analytics team launched Power Business Intelligence (BI) and self-service analytics across nearly 2,700 stores. Before the introduction of Power BI, Casey’s store leadership relied on delayed reports and intuition, which was both time-consuming and costly. Leaders had to wait until the end of the month to understand their financial standing, leading to a lack of responsiveness.
The new data solution transformed operations by providing a one-stop shop for all key performance indicators (KPIs). Simple, focused dashboards enabled leaders to identify opportunities and risks early, allowing for proactive decision-making. This shift saved store leaders an average of eight hours per week, reducing time spent on analysis and improving overall efficiency.
How does this solution support Casey’s organization? How will it be applied in practice?
The introduction of Power BI empowered over 8,000 field and store leaders with actionable performance indicators. This initiative revolutionized a 50-plus year approach to data usage, providing a single window into insights and achieving over 100,000 views per month.
Introducing simplified dashboards focused on specific business areas saved store leaders an average of eight hours per week and reduced printing costs by over $100,000. This transformation not only improved store performance but also enhanced guest satisfaction, setting a new benchmark for operational excellence in the retail industry.
What was the most challenging or interesting part of creating this solution?
The most interesting and rewarding part was partnering with the field leadership team. We formed a cross-functional steering committee with multiple levels of field leadership to guide the build process. Having this group lead the discussion on what is useful, actionable, and impactful at the store level and beyond was the highlight of this process. The team engaged in spirited debates on what works and made tough decisions along the way, resulting in an amazing end product for our team. Transforming their business knowledge into usable dashboards with daily and weekly feedback became the foundation for not only our operations team but also how we interact with other business units moving forward.
How does this solution fit in or support Casey’s technology and innovation work across other parts of the company?
Casey’s data initiatives have significantly supported innovation across the company. The journey began with hiring the first vice president of data and analytics and a three-year plan to modernize data technology, introduce enterprise capabilities and enhance analytical skills.
In the first year, the focus was on modernizing data technology by migrating to the cloud, which improved processing times and data quality. The second year introduced the Community of Analysts, empowering business units to leverage their own data while the central team deployed enterprise-grade capabilities. The transition to Power BI was a key milestone, with the final decommissioning of the old BI environment — completed in August 2024.
These efforts have embedded insights-driven decision-making into Casey’s culture, supporting strategic goals like growing store count, accelerating the food business, expanding private label offerings and enhancing digital engagement and operations. This comprehensive approach has set a new standard for innovation within the company.
How does Casey’s define innovation?
For us, innovation means breaking away from “the way we’ve always done it.” Casey’s has thrived for over 50 years by operating lean and conservatively. However, with our recent significant expansion and vision for further growth, we must embrace new approaches focused on efficiency, scalability and data-driven decision-making across all areas of our business.
As a data and analytics group, we play a crucial role in this transformation through data governance, data democratization, and our analytical and data science capabilities. We continuously find new ways to collaborate with our business partners, helping them turn data into actionable insights for their daily operations.