Case Study: REI achieves clear customer insights and personalized retail experiences with Tableau Software

REI stays competitive with clear customer insights for a personalized retail experience

REI, the nation’s largest consumer co-op and specialty outdoor retailer with 150 stores and 16 million members, faced the challenge of turning vast customer data into a more personalized, competitive retail experience across digital and brick‑and‑mortar channels. With members driving over 90% of purchases and data scattered across systems and spreadsheets, REI needed faster, clearer insights to drive acquisition, retention and omni‑channel strategy.

By adopting Tableau and formalizing IT–business collaboration, REI centralized data from its warehouse into accessible dashboards and evergreen reports. The change cut analysts’ prep time by 10–15 hours per week, scaled to over 1,200 shared dashboards, improved email and direct‑mail performance by more than 20%, and enabled a turnaround in new member acquisition while informing store vs. digital investment and lifecycle programs.

REI

Clinton Fowler

Director of Customer & Advanced Analytics