Enhancing the Value of Data with Operational Reporting

Providing real-time insights into business operations — operational reporting is a critical component to increasing the value of data. Operational reporting enables businesses to make informed decisions and respond quickly to changing market conditions by providing a clear and up-to-date picture of key performance indicators. Companies that use data analytics and operational reporting to optimise business processes and decision-making are up to 23 times more likely to acquire customers and up to 6 times more likely to retain existing customers, according to a McKinsey & Company study.

The Value of Data in Retail

Data's importance in retail cannot be overstated. With the rise of e-commerce and growing retail competition, retailers need to use data more than ever before to gain a competitive advantage. Retailers can gather information about their customer's shopping habits, preferences, and demographics to personalise their marketing efforts and provide a better shopping experience. Personalisation can assist retailers in increasing customer loyalty, boosting sales, and driving revenue growth.

Retailers can leverage data to optimise inventory management by determining which products sell well and which do not. This enables retailers to make educated decisions about ordering, pricing, and promotions, ensuring that the right products are available at the right time. Furthermore, retailers can create forecasting reports that provide insights into future trends by analysing sales data and supporting metrics. This enables retailers to make more informed decisions about product development, marketing campaigns, and inventory management, improving their ability to meet customer demand and remain competitive.

Finally, retailers can identify areas for improvement in efficiency and cost reduction by analysing operational data. This can range from optimising staffing levels to improving supply chain management, all of which result in a streamlined and cost-effective operation. Data analytics, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report, can boost retail productivity by 60%, resulting in significant cost savings.

Data Challenges

The issue that retailers face with data is that they are unable to fully utilise it. Without context, data is just a bunch of numbers. It's like a puzzle with all the pieces scattered around — retailers must piece them together to see the entire picture. One issue that retailers face is a lack of data literacy among their workforce. This means that many employees may be unable to interpret and apply data to make informed decisions. Retailers must invest in data literacy training to ensure that their employees can convert data into insight and insight into action.

Retailers today deal with vast amounts of data from various sources, such as sales transactions, customer interactions, inventory movements, and supply chain activities. They require integrated solutions that can automate operations across all platforms and eliminate the need for manual data entry. This is because manual entries are time-consuming, error-prone, and result in data inconsistencies. Retailers can benefit from an integrated solution — saving time, reducing errors, and ensuring that their data is accurate.

Retailers require a comprehensive view of data in one location, but data is frequently siloed across departments and systems, making it difficult for retailers to get a complete picture of their business. According to Treasure Data's Customer Journey report, silos are the biggest problem for 47% of retailers when it comes to gaining insights from data. Retailers frequently face the problem of their solutions not operating in real-time and data not being updated continuously. This makes it difficult for retailers to make decisions based on the most relevant data, resulting in missed opportunities and revenue loss. A comprehensive view of data can assist retailers in making informed decisions, identifying trends and patterns, and optimising operations.

A Tool to Enhance the Value of Data

Retailers require a solution that delivers automated reporting, customised reports, and real-time functionality. They need an analytics and reporting tool that offers a range of features. One essential function would be for users to be able to create custom dashboards that display the KPIs that are most important to their business. Furthermore, they require a tool that provides detailed sales reports that allow them to analyse sales performance across different channels, locations, and periods. With the ability to view sales by product, category, and customer.

For inventory visibility retailers need a solution that provides real-time inventory reporting, allowing retailers to monitor stock levels and identify trends in product demand. As well as insight into customer behaviour and preferences, allowing retailers to identify their most valuable customers and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. Finally, any solution should be mobile-responsive, allowing users to access their data and reports from any device, anywhere, at any time.