Analytics
News, events, thought leadership and more.
Last week Alteryx had the opportunity to sit down with data artisans and analytic leaders of a few large enterprises at ICSC Research connections Conference in Philadelphia. Participants, who joined Alteryx in a roundtable discussion on Retail Consumer Analytics, came from prominent retailers like Ross Stores, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Tractor Supply Company, as well as companies with big retail operations such as TD Bank and CarMax.
In talking about consumer Analytics, three common themes emerged.
1. Data continues to bog down analytical efforts.
While all participating, ranked “data” as the top challenge in deriving customer insight, interestingly, the discussion did not go down the much hyped path of “Big Data”. Instead, participants talked about data issues around:
- Regulatory Compliance: Companies, especially ones with international operations talked about differences in customer privacy laws across countries and their impact on collecting and mining certain types of demographic and other customer information vital to improving business operations.
- Data Awareness: Partly driven by departmental silos and part by lack of access due to IT lock-down, participants discussed the lack of awareness amongst many business analysts of the types of data accessible to them to enrich their analysis, pointing out the huge gap between data collection and data utilization.
- Data Access: Not new, but data access continued to be a recurring pain. With IT still heavily regulating who gets access to what, how much and when, participants discussed the challenges of time lag and unnecessary justification exercises required to access the right data for analysis and decision making.
- And last but not least, the challenges associated with simple lack of data: Considering that data is being generated and collected in unprecedented amount, one would think that companies have all the data they need and possibly more to get to the finer nuances of customer behavior. However, just plain lack of right data still continues to be a reality. Retailers like Ross Stores talked about the unavailability of certain types of data such as loyalty card data to enrich customer insight.
Our take: Data can both be a “disrupter” and an “enabler”. Companies that succeed in breaking departmental silos and putting the data and analytical capabilities in the hands of the analysts closest to the problem will leapfrog ahead of competition.
2. Not all data is equal for all companies.
Tractor Supply Company brought up an interesting perspective on different types of data and contextual relevancy of the same to one’s customer base. A large retailer of home improvement, agriculture, gardening & maintenance and pet care supplies, the company talked about how its relatively older client base makes social media data unimportant in its decision making. With most of company’s customers not actively participating in social media activities like tweeting, or Facebook, social media adds little to no value in customer analysis.
Our take: As you go on your data journey, collecting and analyzing data, keep in mind the contextual relevance of that data to your customer base. Just because everyone is debating about how to best mine social media data doesn’t necessarily mean that it is an important data source for you. You don’t want to go down the path of companies that are investing way too much effort and resources in collecting the data and not enough in leveraging it.
3. Customer experience is paramount.
From analytics perspective, companies shared various ways they were leveraging customer data to improve operations. From using increased traffic data from outdoor sections (around camping, archery, kayaking etc.) in test stores to create “like” customer and store clusters to expand the program; to footfall analysis for parsing out real buyers from casual walk-ins. All, so they can stock appropriate merchandise, staff appropriately and focus on improving shopping experience of customers that matter the most.
Our take: Done right, analytics can help increase customer stickiness. However, with all the data available, you can quickly lose direction unless you start with an end in mind. To avoid getting caught up in endless cycle of low value analyses, clearly define your goals and focus your limited resources on the ones that give you the most bang for your buck.
To learn how Alteryx can help you enhance customer experience, build loyalty and improve operational efficiency, please visit our customer analytics page. You can also view this short, two-minute video to hear firsthand how companies like Kroger, Southern States and Michaels are using Alteryx to transform their business with deeper, faster customer insight.
Read latest industry perspectives on Customer Analytics in our 8 part blog series by my colleague Bob Laurent.
