Analyzing Retail Transactions: Avoiding Obstacles

Analyzing Retail Transactions: Avoiding Obstacles: "Don�t copy the POS data model into the data warehouse�Take the time to create ETL processes that actually transform the data into more usable models. De-normalize and pre-calculate information without leaving out necessary information. For example, adding a field for the number of items in the Transaction Header table saves you from accessing Transaction Detail. This also eliminates the need for counting rows at analysis time. You should also solve the transaction primary key problem to avoid complex, multi-column joins for the reports that need to access multiple transaction-related tables. Create good aggregate tables (you will need these even if your vendor says otherwise) for item movement analyses that don�t need to be recreated upon a product re-class. "