Business Reporter: Why Understanding Data is Crucial for the Future of Retail Companies

Understanding, organising and using your business’ data is no simple task, but it is crucial for retail success, say Profusion.

The nature of retail is rapidly shifting, as online shopping thrives, and the high street suffers. How companies adapt to these changes will have a huge impact on the success of their business.

So what’s the key component of this transformation? Data. As Natalie Cramp, CEO at Profusion, a data service provider, says: “Data is not only accessible to everyone, but necessary for everyone to compete in this changing market.”

Even if you are a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), making sense of your data is essential for satisfying customer needs and creating a good return on investment (ROI).

To begin to use data effectively, companies need to ensure the building blocks are in place, which is to have a strong data architecture in place. Natalie warns: “It’s not always people’s favourite job to do, but if you skip it, you’ll regret it later.”

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Whilst it is important to know what the data tells you, it is equally crucial to identify its gaps and what it does not tell you. So why is understanding your data so important? There are many reasons, including:

• You can target customers effectively through personalisation
• You can speed up your supply chain
• You can learn to keep your data secure

Consumers can see when companies do not have the right data architecture in place. An example of poor data structure would be if a female consumer receives an email addressing them as Mr. Equally, from a business perspective, poor data organisation could mean investing heavily to create a campaign but not getting a good ROI, normally because customers aren’t receiving the right information in the right way.

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Nonetheless, Natalie is optimistic about the future of retail: “Consumer habits have changed, but the fundamentals of business haven’t,” she says. “If you have a good, well-priced product, an efficiently run business and a prospective customer base, you can succeed.

“Data helps you solve problems. The future is using the data to solve our problems.” SME retailers need to become data-centric organisations in today’s digital age.

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