Retail Analytics: Driving Success in Retail Industry with Business Analytics

Abstract

As retail market becomes extensively competitive, the ability to optimize on serving businessprocesses while satisfying customer expectations has never been more important. Therefore, managingand channelizing data to work towards customer delight as well as generate healthy profits is crucial tosurvive prosperously. In the case of big retail players internationally as well as in India, data or ratherbig data analytics is now being applied at every stage of the retail process - tracking emerging popularproducts, forecasting sales and future demand through predictive simulation, optimising productplacements and offers via customer heat-mapping and many more. Alongside this, identifying thecustomers likely to be interested in particular product types based on their previous purchasebehaviours, working out the best way to approach them through targeted marketing efforts and finallyworking out what to sell them next is what forms the core of data analytics. This article is the outcomeof a descriptive research on the past, present and future of retail industry and the application ofbusiness analytics in shaping appropriate marketing strategies.