How Data Analytics is Advancing in Retail Digital Transformation?

PRIMARY CONCEPTS:

The application of data analytics is enabling the Retail Digital Transformation through digital all the way from Supply Chain management and in-store inventory management , to the customer experience and interaction. This report will provide crucial insights into the rapid acceptance of analytics within retailers:

Analytics enable retailers to gather and analyze information about the supply chain, operations, and consumers. This information helps in making strategic and operational decisions.

Analytics adoption is thought to be a top priority for retailers and nearly 90% of retailers across Europe have already adopted advanced analytics tools in an earlier Core sight Research study. Technology, data availability and competition are driving more adoption of analytics within retail.

Analytics is the foundation that is the foundation of artificial intelligence (AI) that is the technology that lets retailers to accelerate digital transformation using strategies for price optimization in addition to the rationalization of their inventory as well as to improve interaction and retail experiences according to Brisk Logic  Research’s CORE framework to implement AI for retail.

Further adoption of data intense technology including:

• AI
•  Internet of Things (IoT) 
• 5G mobile connectivity
• analytics in retail

Introduction

Analytics is the gathering and analysis of information to help in making decisions for operational and strategic planning. This ability is driving the transformation of retail through digital technology which makes operations more efficient across supply chain and store operations, to the customer experience and interaction. Analytics is likely to play a more and more of a role in the industry as advancement of technology that is data-intensive and demands increase for tools to make use of larger quantities of information.’

The report, which is sponsored by the retail commerce optimization and return reduction firm BriskLogic details the ways that analytics can be used in the retail industry to improve operations including supply chain and inventory management, to the management of customers and their personalisation pricing and promotions strategies and management of layouts in store. We will discuss the extent to which retailers see the use of analytical capabilities in data to be a top priority and the factors that are facilitating this.

The report also explains the importance of analytics as an element of the digital transformation of retailers through our CORE framework to support AI within retail. We will also see the ways in which the use of new technologies that are data-intense is likely to increase the importance for data analysis in the retail industry.

Retail Analytics Informs Strategic Decision Making

In the retail industry, data on the operations of the store, its Supply Chain, consumer and shopper behavior are the base material for analytics. Based on the purpose of the analysis as well as the information gathered it is possible to distinguish three kinds of analytics in retail:

Analytics in Real-time:

Monitoring real-time retail operations to detect potential problems and allow for the timely implementation of the correct action.

Behavioral Analytics:

Forming customer insights based on the interaction that shoppers experienced with the retailer across various channels, including online and physical browsing, buying history as well as interactions with social media.

Predictive Analytics:

Information built on data relating to historical sales and operational performance and pertinent external factors such as economic indicators, weather conditions and seasonality to provide precise and reliable forecasts of the future demand and assist in the strategic strategy.

The various types of analytics can be combined to create applications. For instance the use of behavioral analytics can be applied in a manner that can predict the behavior of future shoppers.

Analytics Applications in Retail

Analytics can be used for many applications in the retail industry. The most important of these are listed below.

Adoption of an Analytics Capability Is Key for Retailers:

The use of analytics in retail will provide an understanding of the preferences of consumers to create an approach to sales that is personalized. This is designed to build an ongoing relationship with the customer, which will increase customer loyalty and conversion rates. Additionally, analytics for retail can improve efficiency of operations due to increased transparency over the operations.

The implementation of analytics capabilities is essential for retailers in order to maintain an edge in the current competitive environment and prepare for the future problems. 

A variety of factors are urging retailers to take advantage of analytics in their stores, including:

Large Datasets:

The volume of data that retailers can access has drastically increased due to the widespread use of technology that is digital in the retail industry. Businesses now interact with shoppers through multiple channels, and the interactions create digital footprints of shopper’s behaviour and history of orders which can then be used to feed analytics capabilities. For brick-and-mortar shops the potential of tracking customer behavior has been made easier with the help of cameras and sensors along with apps for mobiles that are installed on customers phones, all of which produce data that can be used to analyze.

Advancement in Technology:

The development and introduction of technology that is advanced like AI has enabled it to gain actionable insights from the huge amount of data that is accessible to retail stores. However older technologies, such as radio frequency identification are becoming accessible and reliable, meaning they are able to be used in large numbers across all retail operations to collect data that feeds artificial intelligence-powered analytical platforms.

Competition Pressure:

The highly fierce competition of the retail industry makes it imperative for companies to implement analytics strategies to increase their competitive advantage. Real-time analysis of their operations helps retailers identify the best method to achieve efficiency and efficiency gains, while reducing expenses and boost profits and increase their chances to meet the demands of their customers.

The competition is a major driver for the use of analytics by retailers. To remain competitive and achieve more market share, companies need to equip themselves with tools that allow them to compete against top-of-the-line companies like Amazon, which are at the forefront of in the research and development of analytics technology.

A Key Component of Digital Transformation

Analytics is a crucial element of the Retail Digital Transformation of retailers since it is a crucial element of AI, a technology that is revolutionizing the way that retailers work and interact with customers. AI expands the scope of retail analytics to include the analysis of market conditions as well as consumer behavior , allowing computers to make autonomous decisions that is based on data. Research’s exclusive  model highlights the importance in AI in four crucial areas of competitiveness in retail:

Communications:

AI is key to provide personalized communications to consumers. By analyzing the data regarding customer preferences and browsing history and shopping preferences retailers can communicate more specifically to customers.

Enhance price:

AI can assist in the formulating and automated pricing choices, by analyzing various variables like sales, market conditions promotions, weather and other events. With AI the retailer can determine the best price points for sales conversion.

Rationalize inventory :

AI improves the management of inventory by monitoring stock levels in real-time and providing information for purchase decisions predictive analytics are able to anticipate the probable level of demand from consumers based on the influence of seasonality, external factors and sales historical data.

Experiential retail:

AI allows retailers to improve customer engagement through personalization , and enhance customer experience through many channels. With the help of AI retail stores can make the connection between online platforms and brick and mortar stores providing a more uniform experience for customers across all touchpoints.

Future of Analytics in Retail:

Brisk Logic expect that retail analytics to become more important in the near future, combination with the increasing use of digital technologies that are data-driven that retailers use, such as AI, IoT and 5G.

AI Data analytics that are efficient platforms will be needed for a greater acceptance of AI and machine learning in retail. Analytics feeds from data sources support AI as well as machine-learning, and helps these sophisticated technologies get the information required to make decisions based on a learning and testing cycle , which is performed independently by computers.

IoT Growing adoption of IoT systems in retail demands sophisticated retail analytics capabilities in order to be as efficient as is possible. The connected devices in IoT systems are able to collect and share information about their operational status with other components in the system. In the retail industry, major applications that require this level of connectivity are logistics management, inventory management supply chains, operations in the store. The flow of data is analyzed by analytics platforms which create actions for the devices to carry out.

5G:

More powerful data analytics capabilities will be required to process the massive amount of data 5G connectivity allows. For brick-and-mortar shops, 5G offers faster data transfer rates as well as the possibility of processing more data. This will allow for greater use of technologies that are data-rich like image recognition or computer vision, as well as reality technology. It will be able to detect, react and engage with shoppers according to their actions while shopping. This will lead to greater shopper interaction in the store and more personalization of the shopping experience.

Key Insights

Retail analytics allows companies to collect and analyse information on operations, supply chain management and the behavior of shoppers to aid in decision-making for operational and strategic reasons. Three different types of analytics–real-time, behavioral and predictive–can be used to transform retail operations, including inventory and supply chain management, customer engagement, pricing and in-store layout management.

Retailers are increasingly focusing on the use of analytics technology as a top priority. For instance, around eighty percent of retailers across Europe have already embraced advanced capabilities for data analytics as per an earlier  Research study. There are many factors driving businesses to take advantage of analytics more effectively due to the availability of an enormous amount of information; advent of new technologies that require the analysis of huge datasets; and competition pressure within the industry as major industry players are investing heavily in development and research of technology for analytics.

Conclusion:

Retail analytics are a crucial element of the sector’s digital transformation because it is the basis of AI which is the technology that allows retailers to increase communication, implement strategies for price optimization to rationalize inventory and deliver the same shopping experience across all channels.

With the growing adoption of data-intense technology including AI, IoT and 5G we expect retail analytics to play an increasingly important role for retailers in the future. Implementation of these advanced techniques will demand the capacity to handle massive data and continually improve the capabilities of data analytics.