Making The Vision A Reality
RVS is a leader in providing innovative, flexible, and customized solutions for retailers to efficiently manage strategic pricing and comprehensive promotional planning.   Our best-of-breed solutions are a result of over thirty years of merchandising systems innovation experience.  Customers rely on RVS for its deep understanding of business objectives and how they can achieve and enhance them .


Contact us to learn more about our proven results!

What we offer
Tom Richardson
RVS offers a comprehensive solutions that work.  Our products and services include:
  • Information Management
  • Price Management
  • Price Simulation
  • Category Target Pricing
  • Promotion Planning
  • Promotion Modeling
  • Store Promotion Planning
  • Store Management
  • White Box Optimization
  • Modeling and Forecasting
  • Consulting

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Founder and president of RVS since 1998, Tom enriches the retail community with the exclusive blend of over thirty years of successful implementation of merchandising systems plus advanced academic degrees in mathematics, statistics, and operations research. Tom has been an industry innovator in the use of statistical analysis and modeling work with well known researchers.

By blending application systems along with statistical optimization, Tom enabled users to apply science in conjunction with the intelligence of category managers. As in all research, Tom recognized the right and wrong ways to implement the advanced statistical science.

Tom's smartSuite and whiteBox Optimization applications showcase his specialized, comprehensive expertise. These strategic solutions are world class in a way that is dynamic and unrivaled.

Tom first began optimization work as part of his thesis for the Optimal Distribution of Empty Freight Cars for the Railroad Industry. At SUPERVALU, he did advanced modeling work on their site location application (SLASH) and developed a new forecasting and buying system using a blend of statistical analysis and advanced algorithms.

At Jewel Food Stores, while refining his work on forecasting and buying, Tom also participated in innovative price elasticity research with University of Chicago professors Robert Blattberg and Ken Wisniewski. During the early use of scanning data for the industry, Tom was a frequent speaker for the Advertising Research Foundation, ACNielsen, and Information Resources.

The advanced work Tom did at Jewel provided him the opportunity to join ACNielsen to develop advanced analytical and application systems. When Ken Wisniewski also joined Nielsen, Tom and Ken were able to expand upon their original research. Nielsen developed Category Promotion Models, which Tom then integrated into the Nielsen's Promotion Planning System. This was the first use of promotion optimization in a production promotion planning system for the grocery industry.