The benefits of retail analytics

Retail analytics explained

Although the concept of retail analytics often gets talked about in technological terms, the process and its theory are actually very simple.

Each day retailers need to stay abreast of a whole host of things in store, including inventory, sales, pricing, marketing, the supply chain, ordering, customer trends and more.

As Retalon explains, retail analytics looks to solve some of this on a retailer’s behalf, collecting and studying retail data in real time to identify trends, predict outcomes and allow retailers to make better business decisions.

“Done well, data analytics allows retailers to get more insight into the performance of their stores, products, customers, and vendors — and use that insight to grow profits,” Retalon notes.

The deepening digital divide

Many retailers use analytics in some form, whether it’s sales reports generated from the Point of Sale in real-time, or RFID inventory tracking to determine what exactly is available in-store or where products are in the supply chain.

But as the customer journey embraces additional channels, payment methods and fulfillment options, the insight into exactly what’s going on in-store becomes more critical.

In short, a focus on retail analytics helps unite what was previously siloed information in one place to paint a true, accurate and immediate picture of what’s happening instore and online right now, along with helping retailers forecast and plan for trends emerging in the immediate future.

And this focus on retail analytics is no longer a ‘nice to have’. It’s becoming a necessity for retailers looking meet the new customer expectation and manage competition in the market.

Those who do will find themselves at a distinct operational and profit advantage. Those who do not embrace retail analytics will find themselves on the wrong side of the great digital divide.

So, let’s examine just some examples of how retail analytics plays out in the sector right now, along with the tools that are available to assist.

Improved in-store efficiency

At its heart retail analytics is all about improving in-store efficiency, allowing sales associates to step away from routine mundane tasks and concentrate on selling products, providing a great customer experience and offering unrivalled insight into the products that solve their customer’s problems.

Complete visibility of store operations

Retail involves a whole lot of moving parts. At any one time there is stock on the shelf, products in the warehouse, items in the supply chain and merchandise on order.

There are also items on display, sales taking place, and customers requiring service.

Retail analytics offer complete visibility into all these moving parts in real time. They allow management to see exactly what’s occurring, from sales volume to product displays, foot traffic, inventory volumes and more.

Manage store operations in real time

Ultimately retail analytics and the insight they offer allow a retailer to respond in real time.

They can maximise every available sales opportunity by ensuring products are on the shelf, the right number of staff are available to assist customers, products are displayed in an enticing and accessible way, and enough merchandise is in their inventory to cater to shopper demand.

Improved customer experience in-store

Together these elements create an improved customer experience both in-store and across the omnichannel retail environment.

They ensure the right products are in stock and available for in-person sales and online ordering. They help anticipate sales trends and identify what customers are interested in while offering the opportunity for associates to provide first-class customer service.

The tools available

The tools that tie into the retail analytics ecosystem range from simple and easy-to-implement solutions, to overarching software that brings this data together.

So, let’s walk through just a few of the options, and how they offer all the above benefits.

On-shelf availability sensors

This simple retail analytics solution involves a shelf sensor that alerts staff when items are running low and need to be re-stocked.

Quick to install and highly affordable, it helps a retailer avoid out-of-stock events that rank as one of the biggest bugbears for customers and one of the greatest detractors from a positive in-store experience.

TV Manager

For retailers selling big-ticket items like electronics and televisions, planogram compliance is a must, as is the display of these high-value items, to ensure each separate television set is being showcased in an enticing manner to the consumer.

That’s where connected technology like TV Manager assists. The system automates the management of all displays across one or many stores, delivers real-time status alerts and reports on planogram compliance.

The technology also connects to an app so retailers can check the status of a television and operate display TVs individually or collectively through a single function.

For retailers, this offers detailed insight that they can report back to their suppliers, and also takes the hassle out of managing multiple display televisions.

For consumers, it ensures they have all potential products on display to peruse, affording them greater choice and the ability to make a well-informed decision.

OneKEY

InVue OneKEY offers a single access solution for secure products and displays. Each key can be programmed for a specific staff member, granting them access to designated displays, cabinets and drawers.

The connected software then tracks which staff member has accessed what area at what time, offering an insight into customer engagement, conversion rates and staff performance.

In the process, it improves operational efficiency by removing the need for multiple keys that access different cabinets.

InVue Live

While the above solutions cater to individual products, analytics also involves overarching systems that connect all the dots and data within a retail operation in order to improve efficiency.

One popular system to accommodate this is InVue LIVE.

The technology is designed to connect a suite of software and hardware solutions across a range of areas, including merchandising, access control, security, and operations.

The system then allows retailers to gain in-store visibility across their estate by tracking, monitoring and managing their operation in real-time.

It works by connecting with InVue hardware such as secure electronics displays to track customer interaction and security.

It also connects with other tools such as:

• Smart keys that monitor which staff have accessed what cabinets and displays in a store.
• TV Manager to track the status and planogram compliance of television displays.
• On-shelf availability sensors to alert staff when popular SKUs are running low on the shelf.

Together this helps retailers understand what action needs to be taken and where to improve operational efficiency and the customer experience.

It allows them to understand planogram compliance, customer engagement and product-related information in one single software solution.

You can learn more about the range of analytics tools available here.