Microsoft Power BI + anybill

Microsoft Power BI is a service for data modelling, analysis and visualisation. Power Query connects and prepares data sources, DAX defines measures, reports are built in Power BI Desktop and shared through the Power BI Service. The service is closely tied into the wider Microsoft environment, from Excel and Teams through Azure to Microsoft Fabric, and ships with connectors to a large number of databases, services and file formats. In retail, Power BI is often used as the reporting layer over ERP, till and online data, down to store level.

Working with anybill

Power BI provides the analysis, anybill supplies a data source for it. Retailers building their reporting in Power BI can take in receipt data from in-store sales as an additional source. Power BI stays the reporting layer, anybill stays the service for the digital receipt. No certified live connector is claimed here.

The point of connection is the data model. Power BI is strong at joining different sources into one model, and in brick-and-mortar retail the purchase itself is often missing from it in any structured form. anybill can supply first-party data at receipt level that sits beside ERP figures, campaign data and online revenue. Modelling, measures and permissions stay on the Power BI side.

Who this is for

This is relevant for retailers already working in the Microsoft environment who run their reporting in Power BI. Anyone pulling store metrics from daily closings today gains a further level of detail with receipt-based data.

It also speaks to controlling and sales teams that build reports themselves and want to connect new sources without a large IT project. The audience stays retail with a store floor, not the pure online business whose data already comes structured.

Value in brick-and-mortar retail

In the store the digital receipt cuts paper at the till and makes the purchase analysable instead of letting it end on thermal paper. In Power BI that means sharper reports: basket sizes, product combinations, times of day and store comparisons can be shown on the same surface that already carries online and ERP figures. The receipt is created GDPR-compliant at the point of sale.