Alex Scandurra
The disruption caused by the global pandemic was felt across all industries. Stationary retail was one of the hardest hit countries by the pandemic and suffered immensely from various public health measures.
From Stone & Chalk, founding CEO Alex Scandurra.
In addition, consumer behavior and social unrest have changed rapidly and retailers have been exposed to a chaotic business environment.
However, 2020 also brought retailers into the digital age and rapidly accelerated innovation.
Last year taught us that you can never be too prepared – and one of the keys to being prepared is using data analytics effectively to quickly turn insights into action.
While viewing historical data can help secure the future of your business, data analysis should be a critical and ongoing process in your business.
When considering where to start, the answer can be found in your own data. While the effectiveness and value of the data you can secure and use will depend on your existing infrastructure, it is also possible to collect information from manual sources and legacy systems.
Engage the startup ecosystem
Good technology is an investment, and for many smaller retailers, the expense of implementing new technology can be a major barrier. Global providers can tie you to ongoing subscriptions or contracts that your business may not be financially viable. Given the cost of customizing large software systems, this may not be feasible for a large vendor. If you are not careful, you will get a solution that is below expectations.
Think of partnering with emerging tech startups and scale ups in your local market. Working with a smaller player can mean working with a team that is ready to work with you to develop bespoke solutions and that is better able to respond to functional and development needs. In addition, you can grow together through partnerships with emerging companies. This means the solutions are likely to be scalable and, as an added bonus, you will be adding to the growth of other local businesses like yours.
Tap on your own data
Existing data can be used from e-commerce, POS, social media and email marketing systems.
Those with access to more robust ecommerce platforms can gain sales insights, including the average value of orders, orders, and revenue by product, and even reveal sales patterns (i.e. products that are frequently bought together). Gathering these insights can help you create a well-informed business plan that enables risk mitigation through careful planning, while delivering the hyper-personalized experiences customers have been expecting.
Most modern POS systems have reporting functions. Common metrics like customer numbers, profit margins and sales trends can influence predictive marketing, ERP and inventory.
Even the most rudimentary email marketing platforms provide basic data that you can use to optimize your existing marketing campaigns. Open rates, click-through rates, and engagement time statistics can be useful starting points for analyzing your email marketing performance.
Don't overlook offline data sources. Pedestrian traffic, roadside pickup rates, phone orders / inquiries, and in-store retail purchases will also be key sources of information that can be of immense value when planning for the year ahead.
In the end, the most powerful strategies will be those that combine online and offline data sources. An integrated approach enables your company to implement a well-thought-out omni-channel offering that meets and exceeds your customers' expectations.
Predicting trends and patterns has always been critical to business success, but has never been more important than it is today. Coupled with human insights, well-coordinated partnerships and a concrete digital strategy, data analysis should be a crucial element of your business planning this year and beyond.
About Alex Scandurra and Stone & Chalk
Alex Scandurra is the founding CEO of Stone & Chalk, Australia's largest emerging technology incubator and impact network. As a former captain in the Australian Army, he is also a member of the ASIC Digital Advisory Committee and the NSW Government Advisory Board for the Digital Analytics Center.
