As the world has increasingly moved online, people’s activities have left a trail of data that has grown into a mountain. Many organisations look at data to understand what has happened and use that knowledge to help provide insight into the future. However, in this fast changing landscape, it is standard practice to collate and store all data, but is data from last year really that relevant?
The answer is no – it is no longer relevant.
When it comes to retail especially, due to the amount of customer data collected, being able to harvest, manage and analyse this vast volume of data is not an easy task. The biggest challenge for retailers is processing data in real-time.
Stores are now equipped with lots of different sources that collate real-time data, such as Wi-Fi analytics, and when you multiply this with thousands of customers per day in every store, there is a huge amount of data to crunch through. Over the last few years we have seen personalisation become an important part of the online shopping experience, but in reality most retailers just don’t have the infrastructure to process customer data instantly to personalise their offerings in-store.
But consumer demand for personalisation has never been higher. There is now a huge opportunity for retailers to rethink how they track and analyse customer data and now is the time for marketers to change their game plan.
With consumers using smartphones more than ever before to access digital services and shop online, devices have become an important tool for retailers to take advantage of. Through the anonymous detection of Wi-Fi signals emitted from smartphones and beacon technology, retailers now have the ability to understand far better their shoppers behaviour in-store better than ever before. Everything from where they go, what they look at, how long they engage with a product and whether all this ultimately results in a sale, can all be anonymously monitored and used to make each experience more personal, through real-time location-based analytics. Last month it was revealed that retailers in the US are already using beacons to help in-store shopping mirror online success.
By analysing this data in real time, retailers can improve the shopping experience, understand how the in-store experience impacts conversion and tailor in-store advertising – creating the ultimate personal experience for the customer. And most importantly – companies will not feel overwhelmed by the large volumes of data to analyse.
As the use of online and offline media continues to grow, retailers need to embrace new analytics to help crunch through the masses of data it collects on a day-to-day basis. By analysing data in real-time, retailers are able to embrace the benefits and be smart about how they use in-store advertising and create a personalised customer experience. Especially in today’s increasingly competitive landscape, it is vital for retailers to fight back and take advantage of online and offline data effectively to create an enhanced experience.
