Case Study: Barnes & Noble achieves faster, more accurate store testing and increased profitability with Alteryx

Barnes & Noble Drives Profitability Using Test and Learn Macros

Barnes & Noble, a 150‑year‑old retailer with roughly 600 stores, faced slow, error‑prone retail testing that made it hard to get clear, statistically defensible results—especially for short or single‑store tests. The built‑in A/B tools couldn’t be easily customized, often lacked enough data for traditional 95% significance thresholds, and produced indexed outputs that were difficult for business partners to interpret.

The analytics team built a modular Alteryx “test and learn” suite—using macros plus R and Python packages (MarketMatching, CausalImpact)—to generate matched control stores, run group and per‑store analyses, and export results to Power BI. The reusable BN Control Match, Group Analysis, and Store Analysis macros connected directly to the EDW, cut analysis time from hours to minutes, let one analyst manage dozens of tests, and delivered faster, clearer, statistically grounded insights for rollout decisions.

Barnes & Noble

Jack Palmer

Senior Manager, Analytics