Big Data & Real-time Analytics in Reatail
The nature of retail, with the large number of variables in play, makes DataReady’s platform analysis ideal for a number of applications.
Predictive and Preventative Applications
Of all business types, few are as reliant on good logistics and risk management as retail, especially FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods). Predicting and understanding the dynamics in retails can be a game-changer.
Inventory shrinkage is a universal problem in retail and can add up to huge losses with very little warning, until post-hoc exercises such as branch-level stock takes are made. Using the DataReady platform, combined with appropriate data capturing systems (such as RFIDs for example), it is possible to detect and address shrinkage in real-time, much sooner than would otherwise be possible.
Few things are as frustrating as being unable to supply consumer demand, especially if the stock to do so is there, but simply not in the right place. Using the DataReady platform, stock allocations can be redirected to areas that are predicted to run out of supplies. This means that consumers who would have spent their money at your business, but were forced to go to a competitor, are now retained and that revenue is salvaged.
Revenue Generating Applications
The retail sector is likely the most straightforward area to utilize analytics in revenue generation. The DataReady technology allows for highly customizable solutions so your retail organization can put together optimized, heterogeneous strategies that maximize the number of units that move from shelves to consumer hands.
Blanket offers to entice consumers through your doors are a marketing technique that is now moving into obsolescence. DataReady analyzes the consumer behavior on an individual or clustered group basis allowing for targeted selling, increasing the percentile of the total consumer base that will respond to your special offers. In addition to this, you will now know exactly who to pitch low-selling items to, so that you can re-purpose that capital to improve your inventory.
Pricing is a key part of retail and knowing how to price items correctly in this age of price comparison tools and automated shopping software is no small feat. Using the DataReady platform, you can analyze pricing in relation to other factors such as sales numbers and competitor pricing levels to quickly determine the optimum balance between profit margin and turnover rate.
