As part of their capstone project, 36 UConn graduate students in the MSBAPM program were asked to provide data analysis, customer

insight, and e-commerce support to consumer giant Henkel, whose North American headquarters is in Rocky Hill, Conn.

UConn has developed a strong partnership with Henkel, a consumer company whose three U.S. business units include: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care, and Laundry & Home Care. The students were assigned to the latter business sector. The projects involved creating competitive analysis and effective strategies for omnichannel branding, reviewing data to gain insight and recommend innovative areas to exploit sales. A second project addressed aggregation of data from e-commerce marketplaces to help make business decisions and process efficiency.

“Partnering with UConn to advance the data analytics and tools for our eCommerce team was a great way to tap into local talents, fresh perspectives, and hopefully provide a great learning experience for the students,’’ said Laura Hyland, vice president of eCommerce for the company’s Laundry and Home Care division, whose products include Persil®, Purex®, and all® laundry detergents as well as Snuggle® fabric softeners. “We are richer for it and look forward to adopting some of the work that the students completed.’’ Yiyao Zhang, Henkel’s platform manager in data and analytics, and a UConn alumna, said the students had innovative ideas and fast-track solutions.

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