South African Value Retailer Ackermans Licenses APT's Test & Learn® and Market Basket Analyzer Software to Optimise Strategic Initiatives Across the Business

APT Helps Ackermans Evaluate Key Programmes in Areas Including Merchandising and Expansion Strategy

JOHANNESBURG, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) today announced that South African value retailer Ackermans has signed an agreement to license APT's Test & Learn^® and Market Basket Analyzer software. Ackermans, with over 600 stores in six countries, will use APT's software to analyse and refine key programmes across the business in areas including merchandising, pricing, real estate, capital expenditures, and marketing.

"As we continue to expand, APT's software has enabled us to unlock maximum value from our data, quickly and accurately generating actionable insights to inform decision-making across many areas of our business," said Marchie Malan, Finance Director, Ackermans. "Test & Learn^® allows us to spur innovation, grow our top and bottom lines, and most importantly, identify key areas where we can offer greater value to stakeholders."

During an initial engagement with APT, Ackermans used Test & Learn^® and Market Basket Analyzer to address several critical business opportunities, identifying substantial return on investment improvement opportunities. Using Test & Learn^®, Ackermans focused on optimising its merchandising strategy, conducting tests to determine how to most effectively allocate space to different categories of items, particularly for categories with higher space requirements, like homeware.

Test & Learn^® also helped Ackermans continue to plan its network expansion strategy, identifying how best to add smaller format stores across the network. Additionally, Ackermans leveraged Test & Learn® and Market Basket Analyzer to identify how best to provide personalised offers to customers via SMS and other channels. Using Test & Learn^®, Ackermans identified the effectiveness of different promotional offers, including a lay-by sweepstakes and other high-value offers for customers.

"We look forward to continued collaboration with an organisation dedicated to enhancing its analytics programme across its business," said Anthony Bruce, CEO of APT. "As APT continues to grow its international footprint, we are thrilled to expand and partner with Ackermans, an organisation that is ahead of the curve and committed to adding value to the lives of its customers."

About Ackermans 
The Ackermans story goes back as far as 1916, when Gus Ackerman opened the first store in Cape Town, South Africa. His vision for the store was to create a place where customers could find quality products at affordable prices, which is exactly what Ackermans became. Ackermans was, subsequently, bought by the Pepkor Group in 1986.

Today Ackermans has over 600 stores in six countries, making it a leading value retailer and stockist of affordable family clothing, footwear, homewear, financial services and cellular.

About APT 
APT, a Mastercard Company, is a leading analytics software company that enables organisations to rapidly and precisely measure cause-and-effect relationships between business initiatives and outcomes to generate economic value. Our intuitive and proprietary Test & Learn^® software utilises sophisticated algorithms to analyse large amounts of data, enabling business leaders to conduct experiments and allowing them to make optimal decisions and implement business initiatives at scale. APT also offers products that support decision-making for specific business needs including transaction analysis, space planning, promotion design, category management, and location selection. Visit http://www.predictivetechnologies.com to learn more.

Media Contact
Carly Buchanan, Applied Predictive Technologies 
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (207) 332-2225