Case Study: Bluestem Brands achieves faster, more accurate data-driven decisions with Coherent Solutions

Bluestem Brands Data-driven Bluestem makes faster, better decisions

Bluestem Brands, a catalog and online retailer that extends credit to over 95% of its customers (brands include Fingerhut and Gettington.com), struggled with fragmented, costly and fragile data warehouses that produced redundant, low-quality data and slow, manual reporting. To modernize its BI environment and support faster, more integrated decision-making across Credit, Merchandising and Marketing, Bluestem engaged Coherent Solutions to design and deliver a scalable analytics platform.

Coherent Solutions implemented a new data warehouse on Microsoft SQL Server and deployed MicroStrategy for self-service visual analytics, backed by an onshore/offshore team and architecture guidance from Coherent’s CTO. The solution included a shared metadata repository, data models and vetted business definitions, enabling automated campaign measurement, historical tracking, faster updates (now before the business day begins), and easy drill-down analysis. As a result, Bluestem sees faster, more accurate results, reduced manual work and improved cross-departmental alignment — with the project about 75% complete and key processes already automated.

Bluestem Brands

Jayme McBride

Director of Business Intelligence