Data Analytics and the Retail Industry In order for a business to maintain a competitive edge, they need to be able to understand in real time the needs of their customer base. With the advancement of social media, information that once was a trickle has now become a flood and businesses who want to remain competitive must be able to capitalize on information quickly. By analyzing data, businesses are better able to directly focus their marketing efforts and prices to gain their customers notice and stay ahead of their competitors (Savitz, 2012). Data Analytics Defined The data analytic process is one in which a large amount of information is collected using software specifically geared towards collecting, identifying and storing information for use by the company. The information is gleaned from different forums, with social media being the most rich and useful. The information is then quickly sorted and organized for use by the collecting agency (Turban, Volonino, Wood, & Sipior, 2002, p. 6). The use of data analytics really took flight in 2010 when different companies offered software that enabled a company to implement their own data analytics. This led to better marketing campaigns, improved customer relations and it gave companies using the software a bigger advantage over their competitors (Savitz, 2012). The retail industry has seen an increase in revenue as a result of their use of data analytics. The department store, Macy’s, implemented the use and
Social media being an ever growing industry, companies have incorporated their marketing and strategies to better their businesses. We explore that the reasons for the importance of incorporating this is: The daily use of handheld devices to access social media on a daily basis amongst computer use, Big data: online tracking produces oceans of data, challenging business analytics programs, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest
One of the key roles of social media from a marketing perspective is the development of a client based platform. It is becoming an increasingly important part of any business’s marketing. Businesses can utilize existing online platforms to build networks of current and potential clients. By being active online allows businesses to connect with their customers in innovative ways to become a trusted source of information and convey the passion they have for their industry.
It is interesting how social media today is influencing the marketing role of many companies and how it’s playing a big role in their success. The more the company advertises on social media, the
It has recently come to my attention that Target Co. utilizes data mining to extract a wide spectrum of information about its customers by accumulating, analyzing and storing data about customer purchases. While I understand that this practice enables Target Co. to simultaneously deliver individually targeted advertisements across its diverse customer groupings, thereby increasing the potential for sales and improving customer retention, I also understand that large amounts of data unearthed by data mining can be manipulated to uncover hidden purchasing patterns to predict and shape future purchase decisions. Therefore, although there are significant benefits to using data mining, there are also serious costs associated with data mining that
One of the main functions of any business is to be able to use data to leverage a strategic competitive advantage. The use of relational databases is a necessity for contemporary organizations; however, data warehousing has become a strategic priority due to the enormous amounts of data that must be analyzed along with the varying sources from which data comes. Company gathers data by using Web analytics and operational systems, we must design a solution overview that incorporates data warehousing. The executive team needs to be clear about what data warehousing can provide the company.
Social media is not new. Facebook has been around since 2004, YouTube since 2005, and Twitter in 2006. What is new is how social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are affecting the way businesses market their products and services. Never before in our history have consumers been able to communicate so effortlessly with each other and with the businesses they frequent. Never before have businesses been able to interact and react to customer feedback so quickly and efficiently. However, just because businesses have the ability to use social media for their marketing and advertising efforts, does not necessarily mean they should. This paper intends to
The latest technological development in data analytics and implementation helps organizations gain insights and how to deal with informed decisions.
Savvas (2015) stated that the reasons why Marks and Spencers uses big data because it helps them to gain a better understanding of the customers of multichannels. It also helps them to understand more about the shopping habits of their customers, which in turn helps them to understand about inventory turnover. The higher the inventory turnover, the better their sales are. Marks and Spencer also uses big data because it helps them to answer key questions about IT support, even if they do not have any IT backgrounds, and at the same time, it helps empower their
Data collected by a business includes internal data, such as financial or operational information, as well as external data, such as customer or website usage information. Properly analyzing and acting on this vast amount of data can transform the way companies do business and can become their biggest competitive advantage. Leaders of the organization no longer have to rely on their “gut instincts” to make key decisions, instead they will make decisions off historic data and will be able to more easily measure and track the effectiveness of those decisions.
We cannot deny how big of an impact social media has on our lives now, not only on people but businesses too. It has opened a whole new door to the business world and given them a big opportunity to interact and attract a larger amount of customers. It’s given us a new and faster way of communication by exchanging pictures, stories, news, blogs, online discussions, etc. In exchange businesses have benefited by a long shot just by the click of a button. With the help of the Internet a company no longer is dependent on a particular customer base to survive because now it can reach out to a worldwide audience within seconds. It’s imaginable the countless business attributes of all social media to this day and still is growing. Social media
Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world and handles more than one million customer transactions every hour and generates more than 2.5 petabytes of data storage (Venkatraman & Brooks, 2012). To put this into perspective, this data is equivalent to 167 times the number of books in America’s Library of Congress (Venkatraman & Brooks, 2012). So how can Wal-Mart use this massive amount of data and what useful information can this data provide? This paper will provide a brief overview of the importance of Business Intelligence (BI) and how the largest retailer in world, Walmart, is using it.
In today’s business world, more than 90% of businesses engage in social marketing. Social media ‘…when it is done right, can lead to more customers, more traffic and more conversion (DeMers, 2014).’ Big Data can be used to extract customers’ information that can shed light on patterns and behavior. This information can lead to product
Organizations collect data. This raw data must be analyzed to tease out useful information. The software used to analyze raw data is known as Business Intelligence (BI). BI is comprised of theories and processes such as data mining, online analytical processing, querying and reporting. BI improves decision making, cuts costs and identifies new business opportunities (Mulcahy, 2007). The web data extraction company, Connotate, uses BI systems, specifically dashboards, to focus on more profitable business, saving them time and money while also boosting customer satisfaction rates (6 Real Life., 2013).
Today, many businesses are experiencing the effects of social media. Government, businesses, and communities interact through social media and use it to access their investors and potential customers. According to Donovan (2016), “Most types of businesses today make use of different tactics and techniques to make a significant exposure of their website to its target customers.” The goal is to use social media to maximize their potential in order to be one of the strongest participants in the business world.