Online retailers have used analytics data to drive business for years. Now it's time for retailers to take full advantage of all the benefits offered by analytics. It's never been easier to capture customer data in real time, giving retailers the opportunity to engage shoppers and optimize the retail experience.
Here are a few ways robust analytics can benefit retailers of any size.
Become more efficient
Tracking and utilizing all the data a store generates in a day is a superhuman task. From tracking shopper habits to managing inventories, retailers need a sophisticated solution if they want to get the most benefit from their analytics.
Cloud technologies are likely to play an important role in the continued growth of retail analytics. In fact, a report from Markets and Markets predicted that the retail cloud market will grow to be a $28.53 billion industry by 2021. As more retailers begin to understand the benefits of powerful cloud solutions, the demand for the technology is only going to grow.
Learn to anticipate customer needs
Analytic data has a number of advantages for the average retailer, but perhaps one of its most important uses is the ability to predict customer needs. Predictive analytics uses past data to anticipate future requirements. In doing so, retailers can control their budgets better and manage inventory in a more efficient manner.
For example, let's say a shop owner installs a motion sensor on the front entrance of the shop to track the number of people who enter and leave the store throughout the day. Over time, this data will begin to paint a picture with broader implications. A predictive algorithm can use this data to determine when the store will be busy. Armed with this information, the shop owner can optimize employee scheduling and adjust inventory management tasks to an appropriate time of the business day.
Control costs
When retailers have advanced insights into how customers interact with their products, they have the ability to adjust prices based on real-time data. In fact, a report from Deloitte indicated that analytics-driven profitability management solutions can improve margin performance by two to four percent, with sale growths of around one to two percent.
According to the source, analytics can help store owners break down their retail space into zones, and then adjust profit management endeavors based on each zone's unique need. Combined with a robust inventory management system, retailers can leverage this data to get maximum profitability from their merchandise without taking on additional customer attrition risk.
Advanced solutions also make it possible to uncover hidden customer needs so that they may be met in a profitable manner. For instance, analytics may discover that certain items often end up in the same cart. Therefore, the retailer may decide to move those items closer together to increase the likelihood that more shoppers will purchase them together.
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