3 ways to boost sales using data analytics in retail

Thanks to the rapid advancements in technology, there is an avalanche of data out there on retail consumers. The sheer volume, velocity and veracity of this big data is worthless if it isn't analysed to unlock actional insights on consumers and get trends and patterns on the market. This brings to light the need for data analytics deployment to cull out consumer insights that aid retailers in framing their sales & marketing strategies.

So how exactly does data analytics benefit retailers? Using patterns and insights derived from data analysis, retailers can strategically price their products and offer an unmatched personalised experience for existing and potential customers. According to a Google commissioned BCG study, a well conceptualised and personalised retail strategy can benefit retailers greatly. For example, a consumer survey conducted in the same study indicated that when the shopping experience was highly personalised the consumers were 110% more likely to purchase more items and 40% more likely to spend a greater amount of money than they had planned¹. These statistics substantially define the criticality of using data analytics trends to strategize effectively for business growth.

Therefore, if you are a retail merchant, here are three ways in which you can leverage data analytics to enhance the personalised experience of your customers and boost sales in the process.

Behaviour analytics

Data analytics tools available today can help acquire and analyse data to deliver insights about consumer behaviour. These tools can help identify high value buyers, decipher the motivating factor behind their purchase, and find out the consumers' preferred communication channels. Websites, loyalty card data, mobile apps, PoS systems, in-store sensors and supply chain systems can help you obtain this data. For example, Pine Labs' smart Android PoS called Plutus Smart can be integrated with their myPlutus app to help retailers get store-level payment and customer analytics.

Data-driven price management

Retail companies can leverage data analytics to develop effective price management strategies such as personalised discounts and segmented pricing. These pricing tactics can facilitate retail firms in retaining customers, increasing sales and earning customer loyalty. According to a Deloitte² report, price management strategies can increase profit margins by 2-7% within 12 months while generating an ROI between 200% to 350% on average.

Intelligent up-sells and cross-sells

Cross-selling a small- ticket item intelligently can turn around and result in huge profits. Data analytics can help upsell products by offering customised offers to varied customer segments. For example, it is easy to upsell a tie or cufflinks to someone who regularly purchases shirts by presenting it as a combo offer. Understanding and analysing consumer spending patterns will allow you to analyse when to cross / up-sell to accomplish business goals.

Data analytics - the modern growth driver for businesses

Explore and integrate large sets of structured and unstructured data to discover hidden buyer behaviour with Pine Labs Analytics. Unveil new correlations between consumer insights, trends and other critical business information to compete effectively in a dynamic marketplace. We assist you to make smarter business decisions by leveraging analytics power. Our analytics platform delivers access to real-time customer insights, business metrics and KPIs to frame data-driven strategies, personalised experiences and geotagging to target potential customers. We can provide the much-needed data-driven intelligence to get a deeper understanding of consumer data and get actionable insights to help even a market laggard close the gap with the market leader.

¹ BCG

² Deloitte