Retail

ANALYTICS: THE SECRET WEAPON IN RETAILERS’ ARMORY
How retailers can drive traffic and footfalls to their outlets using Analytics

Rising GDP growth rates, increasing disposable incomes and growing consumer spending sentiment have driven the global retail industry uptake. The market is expected to be worth approximately $20,002 billion in 2017, according to Lucintel (a leading global management consulting and market research firm).
Evolving technological advancements, such as the Internet, social media and mobile, have emerged as powerful engagement mediums for buyers, and have brought a seismic shift to the retail landscape. Customers are more informed and hence are becoming more selective in their buying decisions. Approximately 60% of respondents in the Deloitte Annual Holiday Survey 2013 believed they were better informed than store associates about available merchandise, coupons, and competitive pricing.
The retailers have taken a cue from the changing consumer buying behaviour, and have adopted an omnichannel approach. All touch points—such as brick-and-mortar stores, online shopping sites and mobile shopping—are tapped for providing a consistent shopping experience.
So what does this mean for you- the retail community? To begin with, it means identifying how you can continue to offer a superior customer experience across all channels; and at the same drive customer loyalty. And, the key to this is, to understand the consumer psyche and offer the right products and services, which will resonate with the evolving lifestyle and tastes of buyers.
CLICKS OR BRICKS, CUSTOMER INSIGHTS IS THE WAY FORWARD
The impact of changing consumer buying behaviour varies for the clicks and bricks retail businesses.
As multi-device use bec...

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...owth as well as:
• Design and deliver better products
• Identify focus areas for marketing spend by gauging the effectiveness of promotional campaigns
• Increase your customer base through better product and marketing strategies
• Drive loyalty programs
However, as a seasoned retailer, you first need to know what your expectations are; else you will waste valuable time and resources in capturing irrelevant data, that will not help you answer your core question- what does your customer want?
Although, the challenge isn’t the lack of data, rather it is how to deduce meaning from the sheer volume of data generated from multiple systems, channels and geographies. According to IDC, a leading research and consultancy firm, up to 90% of the world’s information, is hidden in formats beyond the competencies of the information management technologies used by retailers.