Data analysis is an extremely powerful tool for retailers looking to gain that all-important edge in what is a highly competitive industry. In fact, when collected and used correctly, data acts like a key, unlocking insights that can be used to bolster marketing effectiveness, sales and customer satisfaction.
The state of data in retail right now
Sophisticated new technologies are available that capture a wealth of customer data with every interaction and through any channel – demographics, geographics, and shopping preferences, for example. As a result, many retailers have started the data capture process. A recent report by RetailWire found that 81% of respondents gather shopper data and 76% recognise that the insights gathered are critical to their organisational performance. Despite this, many organisations reported that they were not adequately harnessing the data they collect – only 16% considered themselves experts, 24% said they are ‘newbies’ and 60% said they are getting there.
Even when a retailer is gathering data, many are doing so by manually cobbling together legacy, channel-specific systems and spreadsheets –most likely filled with duplicate data and riddled with errors. The time it takes to bring all this data together further hinders to extrapolation of insight.
Clearly, there’s a long way to go when it comes to collecting and making use of this valuable commodity. But for those who do jump ahead, there are plenty of benefits.
Understanding your customers
All of this data creates a unified view of the customer. You can view details about each customer or of customers at scale. Individually, you can see their lifetime order history and communications with your company and how they have interacted with your brand - online, in-store or with a particular sales representative, shaping interactions accordingly.
For example, access to real-time, customer and inventory data in-store will empower sales associate to sell and service better while ensuring the continued delivery of exceptional customer experiences.
Used right, this data helps you form a closer connection to the customer.
Personalised shopping experiences
Selling services and products has always been about meeting a need or providing a want. With insight into customers, you can better understand these drivers and create the kind of personal engagement that customers expect. And every customer interaction creates data.
Whether a shopper has abandoned items in their cart, viewed a product page on a retailer’s eCommerce site, made purchases online or in-store, or contacted customer support – you can get this data working for you to further drive loyalty or increase shopper purchases.
Tailored marketing
Data analytics gives merchants insight into who is buying their stock, and through which channel. This provides an opportunity to ensure their marketing efforts are relevant and targeted and that customer interactions are more tailored to their customer’s needs. Personalising email campaigns - based on their purchase history or demographics. This, in turn, creates higher conversion rates and a reduction in customer acquisition costs.
Inventory visibility
Efficiently managing an inventory landscape of warehouses, stores and third-party logistics providers is impossible without accurate, timely and complete inventory information. On the flip side, having a single, enterprise-wide view of inventory allows merchants to maintain perfect stock levels and avoid the costly mistake of overselling – or underselling - available inventory.
It doesn’t stop there. Having a 360-degree view of inventory enables retailers to spot potential problems and take action. For example, a retailer may choose to move the inventory of a slow-selling item to a store where demand is stronger. Alternatively, they could create a targeted marketing promotion to increase sales of these slow sellers.
From the customers perspective, seeing the words “out of stock” is frustrating. Today’s shopper expects an anytime, anywhere commerce experience. Again, having readily available inventory that can be shipped to a customer is a major competitive advantage in retail – plus you will never miss another sale.
Embracing data in your retail business
There is little doubt that data, by making information transparent, can unlock significant value for retailers. But effectively tapping into your data cannot be achieved by piecing together various applications. This approach lacks many of the capabilities that growing retailers need and provides minimal real-time visibility into essential business information.
Instead, you must get your foundation right by consolidating your core systems and initiating a one-system approach with your back-end Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and order and inventory management systems all operating within one program. This will deliver a real-time, single source of the truth for customer, order and inventory data, and get you on the path to data-fuelled selling.
Annexa is a leading NetSuite partner with extensive experience designing and implementing comprehensive and customised business systems, including payroll solutions, financial management, warehouse management and ecommerce solutions.
