MG413: Data Insights for Strategic Business Decisions in Retail

This presentation provides an overview of data insights for business decisions within the retail sector, focusing on the types of data collected, market research methods, and the impact of technological development. It discusses the differences between traditional market research and big data, emphasizing the importance of real-time analytics and diverse data sources. The presentation also covers methods of data capture, storage solutions like cloud computing, and the role of AI and software solutions in enhancing business operations. It highlights how data is used in day-to-day operations, the importance of strategic alliances, and strategies for improving data capture and use in the retail sector. The presentation uses eBay as a case study to illustrate these concepts, concluding that data insight is crucial for understanding customer behavior, making informed decisions, and maximizing profit margins.

DATA INSIGHTS FOR
BUSINESS DECISIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
•INTRODUCTION
•TYPE OF DATA THAT IS COLLECTED AND USED BY COMPANIES
•MARKET RESEARCH METHOD AND HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM BIG DATA
•DEFINING HOW INFORMATION IS CAPTURED AND STORED
•DEFINING IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT ON ROLE AND USE OF DATA
•HOW DATA IS USED WITHIN DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS OF ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE
SECTOR AND IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
•OUTLINING RESEARCH FOR IMPROVING DATA CAPTURE AND USE IN RETAIL SECTOR
•CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
• Data insight is the approach of gaining insight by analyzing
information on a particular issue.
• Data insight in retail industry focuses on various aspects, which
are- price optimization, future performance prediction,
accommodate small-scale retailers, demand prediction, create high
return on investment, forecast trends, identify customers, discount
efficiency, reduction in churn rate, and product sell through rate.
• eBay is an American international company that is based is San
Jose, California which offers consumer-to-consumer and business-
to-consumer sales by using their website. The international
company was founded by Pierre Omidyar since 1995 which offers
an e-commerce platform that is providing medium to retailers to
run their business all around the globe.

TYPE OF DATA THAT IS COLLECTED AND
USED BY COMPANIES
Sector- retail
• Retail industry focuses on sale of goods and services and
these activities ae carried out directly to consumers or end-
users. Retail industry offers retail banking, tourism,
insurance, private health care, private education, private
security firms, public transport and others.
• The retail industry in UK is operating with more than
3,00,000 business on the country and represents around 8%
of jobs in UK.

Contd.
Type of data collected by retailers
• The data which is collected by retailers can be divided
into 4 categories which are listed beneath:
• In context of eBay, the company collects personal data
with the use of cookies and similar technologies. The
company use cookies or web beacons and similar
technologies to collect data in connection with the
services offered by the company. The data is gathered
from the devices that use services offered by the brand.
Personal Data
Engagement
Data
Behavioural Data
Attitudinal data

MARKET RESEARCH METHOD AND HOW
IT IS DIFFERENT FROM BIG DATA
•Orthodox/traditional market research-Traditional marketing
research focuses on advertisement and marketing.
•Big data-Big data is the field that is used to analyzed,
systematically extract information and deals with sets that are
complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing application
software.
•In context of eBay, the company uses big data for various
functions of organization through which they can enhance their
performance and detect fraud which can hamper the operations of
company. This helps the company in gathering more knowledge
about the consumers and how they can be targeted.

Contd.
• Differences between traditional market research and big data
BASIS ORTHODOX/TRADITIONAL MARKET RESEARCH BIG DATA
Flexibility A typical database is based on a static, pre-defined structure. Only data that is
well-organized and fits neatly into relational databases or tables should be used.
The great bulk of data is, in fact, unstructured. The enormous volume of
unstructured data needs the creation of new storage and processing methods.
Big data makes use of a flexible schema that can handle both organized and
unstructured data. The data is preserved in its original form, with the schema
being applied only when it is accessed. In big data analytics, datasets from
many sources are contributed, and subsequently activities such as storing,
cleaning, distributing, indexing, manipulating, searching, analyzing, and
displaying are completed.
Real time analytics Analytics has always been done after the event or time period that was being
studied.
With big data, analytics happens in real time, as the data is collected, and the
results are delivered almost instantly (
https://treehousetechgroup.com/big-data-vs-traditional-data-whats-the-differen
ce/
). This capacity allows for advancements in the fields of medicine, safety,
smart cities, manufacturing, and transportation.
Multitude of sources Data sources used to be fairly restricted in the past. There is a data explosion
nowadays as a result of a plethora of sources that collect data almost every
second.
Medical equipment readings, air particle counts, crowd density calculators,
and embedded electronics in autos are just a few examples of the massive
amount and diversity of big data coming from a wide range of sources.
Enables exploratory analysis Users had to identify their queries from the outset in the traditional method to
data analytics. Data was organized so that they could discover the answers to
their inquiries, and then reports were created.
Big data, on the other hand, allows for a more exploratory and iterative
approach. The goal is to provide a platform for creative discovery that allows
users to experiment with different types of queries. In a company setting, the
old technique resulted in monthly reports, productivity analyses, and customer
survey results, among other things. Big data may help with sentiment analysis,
product planning, asset usage, and equipment preventative maintenance,
among other things.

DEFINING HOW INFORMATION IS
CAPTURED AND STORED
Methods of capturing data by companies
• The process of data capturing is followed to collect
information and by digitalization the usefulness of
such data is enhanced.
• Some of the methods of data capturing that can be
followed by companies to capture data are
discussed beneath:
• In context of eBay, the company makes use of IDR,
cookies and digital firms through which they can
capture data of consumers. Such approaches of
data capturing support companies in collecting
personal data of customers when they use the
service of company by creating account of the e-
commerce platform of eBay. The company also
captures data through web forms where they
interact with customers and participate in
community discussions.
Cookies
Barcode/ QR recognition-
Digital forms (web or app)-
Intelligent Document
recognition (IDR)

Contd.
•Programs and software’s used by company for data collection
Some of the software’s and programs that are used by retail companies
for collection of data are- My Phone, Mix panel, QuickTapSurvey,
UserTesting.com, Google forms, and many others. While talking about
eBay, all the operations of the company are based on data where The
E-Commerce company deals with structured, unstructured and semi
structured data.
•How data is stored through using MIS
Cloud computing- By storing data on cloud, this eliminates physical
server by which data gets stored on the servers with in data centers.
The information is retrieved as per the need to a web-based interface
where users can access the data shooting their needs and demands.

DEFINING IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT ON ROLE AND USE OF
DATA
Discussing how technological innovation
influence business and their sectors
• AI in retail industry- as technology is
rapidly advancing, this has been the major
source of information and source of
creating an impact on the companies that
are operating in retail sector. By making
use of AI in day-to-day activities of
business, this assist companies in making
firm price deciosn, optimize product
placement and increase demand
forecasting.

Contd.
How software solutions help business
• Innovative retail technologies have made sector fast faced
and highly competitive. There are various retail software
solutions which are adopted by companies that are
operating in retail sector.
• In case of eBay, the software solutions that can be used
by company and other companies in retail sector are
listed below: Retail ERP systems, Payment processing
software, Inventory management software, Point of sales
(POS) software and e-commerce software.

HOW DATA IS USED WITHIN DAY-TO-DAY
OPERATIONS OF ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN
THE SECTOR AND IMPORTANCE OF
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
How information and data is used in operations of business
• Gathering data is essential which helps in better understanding
of customers in business through which opportunities and
threats can be identified. With the help of data this will help in
understanding and improving business processes that can
reduce cost that will be incurred by the company.
• The data and information that has been collected by
companies, support them in support the organizations in
performing effective risk management strategies, reducing the
cost that will be incurred by the company through which they
can generate higher revenues.