Ever thought how hard it was for companies earlier to analyze the feasibility of their products in the market — to know if there was ample demand for their offering, or if they were pricing it right? Many great products failed because either they were launched ahead of time and customers were not ready for it, or sometimes they were a bit late to make an impact in the market due to heavy competition. Problems like these had little to no solutions, the only thing which could’ve been done back then was to rely on manual analysis and assumptions, which was a headache and not totally reliable, because an ultra-small sample of potential customers doesn’t speak for all.
Have times changed?
That time is now gone, with the new era enriched with technology-driven processes of Data Intelligence. Now, a huge amount of data is being collected and assembled, making all of it ready for data analysis. Business Intelligence organizes all that data to make the necessary forecasts about the future feasibility of product lines and to expand the business. Business Intelligence is helping companies transform meaningless data into knowledge banks that add value to their decisions.
Do we really require Business Intelligence in the Retail industry?
With fast growing economies, higher purchasing powers of customers, consumer demands and needs are increasing every day with increasing disposable incomes. Customers are looking for quick indulgence, excellent service and the latest products in line with ongoing trends.
Business Intelligence is coming to the rescue of these companies by helping them understand not only the needs and demands of their customers but their behavior as well. Now companies are creating demand by putting needs in the minds of customers. They make customers feel the necessity of their products. Better buying and selling experiences are provided these days because times have changed to the philosophy of “Customer is King”.
Advancements in technology have made it possible to forecast what the consumer will be using next. Companies that are making maximum use of business intelligence are getting ahead of the competition in terms of understanding their potential customers and their future needs.
Major benefits of Business Intelligence in Retail industry
- Understanding consumer behavior: Companies are using the history of frequent searches and the shopping patterns of customers to understand their needs and preferences, and they post individual ads or personalized offers to those potential customers to increase sales revenue.
- Easier analysis of trends: Reporting tools such as Power BI can create customer reports and dashboards to show customers’ current popular trends in the form of charts, making it easier to evaluate and analyze consumer attributes.
- Tracking moves of customers: By tracking every click, addition to cart, removal from cart and actual buying pattern, it has become easier for companies to see the popularity of their products. Companies are finding patterns in these tracking results and using them in a fruitful manner.
- Handling non-performing products: After in-depth analysis, companies are now able to push non-performing products by making great combos, without losing any money on unnecessary discounts. Companies also get an idea of how much to stock during which season or time frame.
- Strategic product placement: In a retail store, you can always notice that cold drinks are kept near chips and other snacks, because studies suggest 70% of consumers who visit the store just for cold drinks will think of buying a nearby snack, and vice versa. Chewing gum and chocolates are kept near the payment counter, so customers waiting in the billing queue will notice them and be tempted to buy.
Revolutionary usage of Business Intelligence in Retail
Amazon Go entered the global market with a bang: its stores don’t have any billing or checkout counters. You can just enter, pick up products of your choice and walk out of the store. Integrated cameras, multiple sensors and weighing scales do the work of checking your shopping cart, and money is automatically deducted from customers’ Amazon Pay accounts via facial recognition technology. This is the pace of the future of the retail industry, ignited by Amazon as a starter. Many more ground-breaking technologies are yet to come to boost experiential retail.