The CRM Analytics for Consumer Goods application requires a foundational data structure to build its datasets and dashboards successfully. The core of retail execution analytics is understanding product performance at specific locations. Therefore, the system requires that at least one product is associated with a retail store. This product-to-store relationship, typically managed through the Store Product or Assortment objects, is a mandatory prerequisite checked by the app creation wizard. Without this link, key metrics related to sales, inventory, and assortment compliance cannot be calculated, rendering the analytics app non-functional.

B. Retail Visit KPIs must be created: While the app analyzes visit KPIs, their pre-existence is not a prerequisite for creating the app itself. The dashboards would simply be empty until KPI data is generated.

C. Retail Store KPIs must be created: Similar to visit KPIs, store-level KPIs are data points for analysis. The app can be created without this data being populated beforehand.

D. Promotions must be created and associated to retail store locations: Promotions are an important aspect of consumer goods, but not a mandatory data component for the initial setup of the core analytics application.

1. Salesforce Help Documentation: Create and Share the CRM Analytics for Consumer Goods App.

Reference Details: In the "Prerequisites for Creating the CRM Analytics for Consumer Goods App" section, the documentation explicitly states: "Make sure that at least one product is associated with a retail store." This confirms that the product-to-store association is a mandatory prerequisite for the app creation process.