Approach
Understand the business. Establish the solution. Put it into use. Support and improve it.
An engagement has two parts: a one-time implementation that establishes your analytics, BI and AI capability, and ongoing support that keeps it accurate, used and improving. Both are tailored to your business; neither requires you to hire.
The first step is always the same: a 30-minute discovery call. Nothing to prepare.
Part one · Implementation
- Step 1
Understand the business
We learn how you make money: your retailers and their terms, your range, your supply, your data sources and the decisions that need to be better. We review a sample of your actual data, not a description of it.
Outcome: a written scope with the questions, sources, deliverables and timeline, for you to approve
- Step 2
Establish the solution
Consolidate the data and agree definitions. Build the model, the dashboards and the automations. Run the first analyses. Everything is reviewed with you in working sessions as it takes shape, so there are no surprises at the end.
Outcome: a working system on your data, with first findings
- Step 3
Put it into use
Train the people who will use it, inside their own routines: the Monday trading meeting, the pre-call check, the monthly scorecard. Adjust what gets in the way. Write the documentation so the system does not depend on us or on one person.
Outcome: adoption, with evidence that the views are being opened and acted on
- Step 4
Support and improve
Part two, below. Monthly or quarterly, depending on the pace of your business.
Outcome: a capability that keeps pace with your retailers and range
Part two · Ongoing support
We stay close, because retail does not stand still.
New SKUs, new retailers, a portal that changes its export format, a question the board asked last week. Ongoing support keeps the system accurate and keeps a commercial analyst in your corner.
What support includes
Data checks and fixes when a source changes. Adding retailers, SKUs and sources. New analyses as new questions arise. A standing review, monthly or quarterly, of what the numbers are saying and what to do about it. Preparation support ahead of major account reviews.
How it is arranged
Support runs monthly or quarterly, matched to your trading rhythm. The scope is agreed up front and reviewed as your needs change. It is designed so you can rely on it without being locked into it.
Pricing
Scoped to your business and your data, set out in writing before you commit.
Implementation is priced as a one-time engagement. Support is priced as a monthly or quarterly arrangement. Both reflect the size of your business and the volume and complexity of the data involved: a supplier with two retailers and one distributor is a different engagement from one with twelve portals and store-level inventory feeds. After the discovery call, you receive a written scope and proposal with the specifics.
- What you will not findPackages you must fit into, licence resale, or pressure to buy more than the problem needs.
- What you willA clear scope, a clear price for it, and a plain statement of what we think the work is worth to you.
Questions suppliers ask first
The practical questions, answered plainly.
If yours is not here, ask it; the answer will probably end up on this page.
How is this different from buying a BI tool or a POS analytics subscription?
A tool gives you a place to look. Most suppliers who buy one still spend the week collecting and reconciling files, and still face the question of what the numbers mean for the next line review. Riparian does the consolidation, builds the views around the decisions your roles actually make, and puts a commercial analyst's judgment on the result. Where a platform you already own fits, we build on it rather than selling you another.
What data do you work with, and what if a retailer gives us very little?
Retailer POS and inventory portals, hardware co-op and distributor reports, syndicated or category data where you have it, and your own order, shipment and deduction records. When a retailer provides only shipments or warehouse withdrawals, we work with that and are explicit about what it can and cannot tell you. Thin data is a reason to start, not a reason to wait.
How long does the first engagement take?
It depends on the number of sources and how much reconciliation they need, which is exactly what the discovery call establishes. The scope you approve states the timeline. We work in stages with reviews along the way, so you see working views on your own data early rather than a reveal at the end.
Do we need someone technical on our side?
No. You need someone who knows the business and can give us access to the portals and files. We handle the technical work and document it so the system does not depend on us. If you do have an analyst, the engagement is designed to give them their week back and extend what they can do.
Who owns the data, the model and the dashboards?
You do. The data is yours throughout, the model and dashboards are built in accounts you control wherever possible, and the documentation is written so another analyst could maintain them. Ongoing support is something you can rely on without being locked into it.
Can you prepare us for a specific line review?
Yes. Account review preparation is one of the most common starting points: an evidence pack built around the merchant's decision, in the retailer's definitions and periods, with a working session to rehearse the questions you will be asked. Many suppliers then keep it as a standing quarterly preparation under ongoing support.
How do you price the work?
Implementation is a one-time engagement and support is monthly or quarterly, both sized to your business and the volume and complexity of the data. You receive a written scope and proposal with the specifics after the discovery call, before you commit to anything.
How we handle your data
Your retailer data is commercially sensitive. We treat it that way.
Suppliers share information with us that their retailers and competitors would value. These are the working rules, in writing.
Yours, throughout
We work under a confidentiality agreement before any data moves. Data is held in accounts you control wherever possible, and returned or deleted at your instruction when an engagement ends.
Never pooled, never trained on
Your data is not combined with any other client's, not used to benchmark other suppliers, and not used to train AI models. Any AI tooling runs on your data only, within limits agreed with you.
Access you can see
Named-person access, retailer portal credentials handled through your own accounts, and a record of what was built and where it lives, so nothing depends on us holding the keys.
How to start
A 30-minute discovery call. You talk; we listen, then tell you plainly.
You describe the business and the problem. We tell you whether and how we can help, what we would want to see, and what a first engagement would look like. If it is not a fit, we say so.