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Big data may be a term that we hear every now and then. But how many actually understand what it is and how is it beneficial to your business?
- What is Big Data?
According to Google, big data is essentially an ‘extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions’. Simply put, it is the collection of data from multiple sources, be it traditional sources (customer records, stock count, transactions, etc.) or digital sources (browsing patterns, social media interaction, app usage, etc.) used to analyse behaviour. The amount of sources for big data is getting more diversified these days and it is a rather complex set of data to analyse, usually done by experts. The data is beneficial for almost any business, be it media, medicine, automotive, or retail, and it is up to the company how they want to use the data to improve their business. To understand more about big data, click here to view a simple video by Forbes explaining what it is all about.
- How is it beneficial for my business?
So after understanding what big data is, as a retailer, how are these data beneficial for you? A few major benefits you can get out of it is allowing you to understand your customers and also predicting future trends. Being a retailer, almost everyone is trying to stay ahead of anyone. Through big data, you can analyse customer’s shopping patterns, popular items, social interaction, customer’s interest, trending topics, etc., and by using these data, you can predict what product or campaign you can launch in the future to cater to their needs. Or perhaps if you are planning to expand your business, it can help analyse where most of your customers come from to help you plan your next store’s location. Furthermore, understanding your customers will also help you serve them better, as you now know what interests them or what type of personalisation they value, making the overall shopping experience much smoother and pleasant. The possibilities and usages of big data are endless. While big data is not a sure-fire method that guarantees sales, it is a powerful tool that provides you access to all sorts of information, and it is up to you to determine how to make use of it to your benefit. It gives you a heads up and let you better plan your business, providing you with more insights into your subject matters to understand their behaviour and needs, keeping you ahead of the game to keep customers coming.