KPMG, a firm best known for providing accounting services, is looking to break into the software business.

KPMG’s U.K. affiliate wants to help lead the way with a new data analytics application called Dash. It enables retailers to understand the health of their business and find sales growth opportunities.

Under the hood, the software uses AI to find areas of improvement in a company’s business operations.

KPMG is one of the world’s top consulting providers by revenue. While the firm is mainly known for its accounting services, it also has a sizable IT business that assists companies with tasks such as custom software development.

The software know-how KPMG’s UK affiliate has gained through its IT engagements is what made the launch of Dash possible. Dash is one of several applications KPMG UK has built to capture a slice of enterprises’ software spending. 

To use Dash, a retailer’s employees must upload spreadsheets containing business information such as store sales figures. Dash then analyzes that data and turns it into visualizations to facilitate easier viewing.

An analyst using Dash can quickly find out how much money their company is making on the products carried by its stores. Dash also provides more sophisticated data: it automatically flags product categories that aren’t selling as well.

The other task for which the application can be useful is planning store expansions. In the Dash UI, an analyst can select a region where their company doesn’t yet have a store and quickly get information about local consumers’ retail spending habits.

Dash also fetches other data that can be useful for retail expansion initiatives, most notably competitor intelligence. The application shows how many stores closed or opened recently in a region where a retailer is considering setting up shop.

Behind the scenes, Dash uses AI algorithms to deliver insights. According to KPMG UK, it deduces those insights from retailers’ internal business information and three billion external data points.

“Understanding areas of improvement is important for retailers and to make a proper assessment, data is crucial,” remarked Paul Martin, the head of KPMG UK’s retail business. “In addition, understanding their customers is mission critical for retailers, and it’s a job that keeps getting harder.”

A notable detail about the launch is that KPMG UK says Dash is “initially” designed for the retail sector. That hints the consulting giant could launch new versions of the application for companies in other sectors.

Such a move wouldn’t be too surprising. The ability to analyze a company’s business data for information on new growth opportunities is a feature that can be valuable not only in the retail sector, but also practically every other industry.

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