Analytics
News, events, thought leadership and more.
I just got back from 103rd NRF Convention and Expo and am exhausted and energized all at the same time. The show was huge—after all, there is a reason it is called the “Retail’s Big Show”. Everything was big-- display screens, booths – some even two stories high, and crowds. This year over 27,000 people attended the show. Despite all the hustle and bustle, one thing was clear – retail analytics rule!! Didn’t matter where you turned—the message was all about retail analytics – how to get more value from your customer data, how to make your supply chain more effective, or even how to make location analytics work for you in online vs. brick & mortar battle.
The key messages and trends around retail analytics that definitely stood out are!
- Growing importance of in-store shopper analytics: There was a great deal of interest in in-store technologies such as smart shelf labeling, sensor monitoring, as well as in collecting and analyzing in-store shopper data to make better product and promotion placement decisions. In fact, Alteryx partner iInside.com, that specializes in indoor location analytics such as indoor traffic volume, dwell times, shopper path-to-purchase, and, return visits to specific spots etc. garnered a lot of attention. With conversations revolving around connecting in-store shopper data with online purchase behavior, it was apparent that both vendors in the space as well as retailers interested in in-store analytics recognized that harnessing in-store insights without connecting them to online and other sources of customer insight can only deliver sub-par returns, tying it neatly to my next observation.
- Omni-channel is more than Marketing: Omni-channel is not a new topic at NRF. What was interestingly new was an acceptance that to succeed, omni-channel has to go beyond just cross-channel marketing to a seamless transaction environment, where the retailer has connected order management, POS systems, inventory systems for cross-channel inventory visibility and fulfillment. Retail experts like Anu Brookins, VP of CRM at Belk, who was also a co-speaker at the Alteryx/Belk Big Ideas session highlighted how leveraging omni-channel customer insights not only for marketing decisions such as which channels to promote through and media mix planning based on customers’ channel choices, but also for merchandising and supply chain decisions such as stocking right merchandise for right channels has helped Belk.com, the e-commerce arm of the company, see high double digit growth and gain market recognition. You can download a copy of the complete presentation here .
- Re-emergence of Location Intelligence: Location has always been of paramount importance in retail. Where you situate your store had a lot to do with your success or failure in retail. But with rise of omni-channel retailing, could the importance of geo-spatial data and location analytics be going down? Not so—said both retailers and industry experts. In fact, Gartner’s retail industry analysts highlighted what Alteryx retail customers like VF Corporation, Levi's and Belk already know and are capitalizing on -- the importance of geo-spatial data and trade area information in optimizing marketing and merchandising decisions such as which store formats (higher-end, mid-range or discount) to position in which area, which customers to promote to where based on drive time distance and competitive proximity, and localization of assortments based on ethnicity mix and other trade area demographic information.
What did you see or learn while you were at NRF? Share your comments and thoughts with us.
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