2013-07-11

Customer analytics and other advanced marketing strategies can bring nuance to retail supply chains, one of most significant areas of business investment and anxiety. The proliferation of markets, selling strategies and buyer tendencies makes business intelligence essential for optimizing investment and distribution tactics. Insights gleaned from big data can indicate how people make  purchases more clearly than ever - as well as where, when, why and from whom they buy. Utilizing a systematic marketing analytics approach, retail enterprises can keep this extensive amount of expository data from overwhelming business decisions.

Personalized marketing

Consumers respond favorably to personalized marketing approaches. Smart businesses can use personalized analytics to maximize retail ROI by listening to what users are telling them with their data. As consumers become increasingly wary of meaningless marketing, this approach requires more nuance than just using the person's name in an email or deploying personal information in a way a consumer finds off-putting. In fact, some data can be better utilized on the operations side of a business, rather than the advertising side.

Business News Daily reported that many companies are applying data-driven insights to the infrastructure components of retail supply chains, improving store layouts and purchasing processes in an effort to increase shopper yield. For online retailers, personalized follow-ups and insights stemming from buying preferences can build customer loyalty. 

Pricing analytics

Brick-and-mortar retailers can utilize big data insights for improving operational efficiency. Some businesses, reported RetailNext, use analytics to reduce theft and improve personnel management, which can lead to a better customer experience and keep retail supply costs down. Companies can also practice scalable pricing, using consumer data that indicates what they expect to pay for a good or service in order to maximize retail ROI. Discounts and special offers concerning products relevant to the consumer unite personalized marketing and pricing analytics in an objective to make consumers happier with retailers and purchases.

Risk analytics

Another crucial component of marketing analytics is one that often doesn't get the attention it deserves, but can provide significant savings in retail supply chain economics: risk management. By using data concerning external and internal risk factors, businesses can help keep total costs down. One example is eradicating the 'zombie store,' a poorly performing retail location, InformationWeek reported. Organizations are developing data-based strategies that can offer better projections of a store's likely performance based on real-time trends and demographic information. Underperforming stores are a huge business risk, so cutting down on them will help companies save overall.

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