retail-analytics
retail-analytics
Retail Analytics and Growth of a Company
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retail-analytics · 2 years ago
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YRC Explores the Possibilities of Metaverse in Retail
YRC, a retail and eCommerce consulting firm with a strong global presence and extensive experience serving over 500 clients in 20+ industries, is sharing its vision for the application of the Metaverse concept in retail.
Metaverse refers to any digital or technological platform that can provide users with a virtual or lifelike experience, and potentially allow users to interact with the platform and other users. YRC believes that the concept of Metaverse can offer exciting possibilities for retailers across various sectors, including
Department stores and supermarkets could offer customers a live view of their inventory via their official apps or websites, providing a Metaverse shopping experience.
In fashion retail, retailers could leverage AR, VR, and 3D avatar technologies to offer customers a more immersive and interactive shopping experience.
In the beauty and personal care industry, simple videos displayed on in-store screens could help customers assess products and make purchasing decisions.
In health and wellness, Metaverse could help professionals provide services to clients remotely, reaching those in semi-urban and remote areas more effectively.
For automobile and auto accessories, virtual showrooms can provide a glimpse of the products, but experienced consultants know that big purchases like cars are unlikely to be made online.
In the hotel and restaurant industry, Metaverse could offer a platform for interacting with customer support, placing orders, and raising concerns.
YRC emphasizes that the shift to Metaverse will lead retailers to take their businesses online, offering more opportunities for innovation and growth.
To learn more about YRC's retail consulting services or to speak with one of their experts, please visit https://www.yourretailcoach.in/.
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retail-analytics · 5 years ago
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Role of eCommerce Strategy Consultants
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If you are into the eCommerce business or contemplating getting into this online selling revolution, you might be oblivious to the humongous challenges faced by the players in this game on various fronts. You cannot figure out everything at once. It takes some experience to get a grasp of running an eCommerce channel. The abundance of opportunities lures businesses to jump into the eCommerce space. What goes wrong with most of them is a lack of vision and a sustainable eCommerce business strategy. Most businesses simply do not focus enough on eCommerce business models and strategies.
Ecommerce strategy consulting is highly important for your business in this VUCA world and it has become much more important in the present context than it was ever before in history. In this article, we have listed a few apparent reasons to go for eCommerce consulting services.
Better decision-making
Sometimes as the owner of the business, you take certain decisions based on past trends or market research results that have a small sample space. Also, at times emotions dominate your rationality and you make decisions that don’t work out the way you expected. An eCommerce strategy consultant can give unprejudiced opinions and feedback to help you make an informed decision. This reality check is necessary for your business to grow and reach greater heights. Whether on a personal level or in business, decisions are capable of influencing your destiny.
Target market segment
Being into an eCommerce business, a big challenge is to identify your target market segment and define it. As a business entity, it is not always easy to visualize the big picture and be aware of your business’s true potential. An eCommerce business consultant will help you in identifying the right target market for your business and chalk out ways to reach out to your potential customers. A good understanding of your target market segment will help you fine-tune your offerings and also help you carve out an effective digital marketing strategy.
Social Media Strategy
Social media simply cannot be ignored in the eCommerce business space. With the growing dominance of social media in our lives, it is extremely likely that your audience is already on any or some of the popular social media platforms and reaching out to them via one or many of these makes strong sense.
As an online business, you need to take full advantage of the potential of these social media platforms. It may be the case that you are present on some of these platforms but still, you need to work out a definite strategy for each platform to come up with the right content on time, improve traffic and organic visibility, reaching the right audience, use of sponsored content and advertisements, etc. This is where an expert eCommerce strategy consultant can chip in and help you design the right social media strategy for your business.
Mentor for the basics and partner for growth
Ecommerce is a relatively new channel for business. Nobody knows for sure what works here; with experience, the odds get slightly better.
An eCommerce consultant with the relevant expertise and experience can play the role of a mentor and a growth partner. The right one can help place your business on the right track or help your business endeavor on a fresh growth curve. They can get the basics right for your business and come up with unconventional but practical ideas as well. They can bring fresh perspectives to the table or help you identify eCommerce niches.
Create a sustainable strategy
It takes time for an eCommerce business to flourish and prosper; success does not come overnight for any business which is why a sustainable strategy is required for the long-run. If you are a novice in the eCommerce space, then an eCommerce strategy consultant can create a long-term roadmap for your business to follow and grow with time. In creating these strategies, a good consultant will always take into consideration your business goals and growth expectations and help align your business’s present with its future.
Operational efficiency
With fierce competition outside, one way to enhance performance and profitability is to work on the internal performance of your business. Ecommerce consultants with expertise in business process management can help you improve the operational efficiency of your business. This may involve rigorous audits and analyses of your existing business processes and operations like supply chain, inventory and warehouse management, vendor management, CRM, HRM, etc.
Ecommerce surely looks enticing and business entry to it is easy. But surviving there is tough. It’s different from the brick-and-mortar format. The 4Ps change quicker. There’s hardly any time for market research. Marketers have a tough time defining their segments. Add digital marketing and social media to it, and most businesses are found spraying efforts all over the place except where it matters. There is no harm in getting a second opinion or to have a consultant associate by your side for keeping the basics right and help your business to be on a growth trajectory.
About us
Your Retail Coach (YRC) is a retail consulting and outsourcing company in India offering a wide range of services in retail offline, retail eCommerce, and retail omnichannel, catering to a multitude of industries.
Your Retail Coach (YRC) helps retail enterprises set up their eCommerce business.
Source: https://www.yourretailcoach.in/role-of-ecommerce-strategy-consultants/
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retail-analytics · 5 years ago
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Effective Visual Merchandising in Retail
10 best tips and tricks for visual merchandising for retail stores and showrooms.
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Did the thought of dropping sales of your business ever cross your mind? Have you contemplated on the reasons behind the same as a retailer? There can be many exogenous reasons behind this reduction in sales, but the problem starts when your competitor’s top line is shooting northwards and yours is nose-diving. This blog can help you to understand one of the vital aspects, which if implemented properly can help you turn around your business performance.
As Marty Neumeier once said, “Branding is the process of connecting a good strategy with good creativity.” Visual Merchandising is an ideal blend of these two things since it involves strategizing about ways to sell more by showcasing your creativity in your retail store. What customers can see is what they will buy, thus in a retail business, it becomes the primary responsibility of the owner or manager to show the customers what they are looking for. Putting the best of your products on display to lure customers to pay a visit to your store is the key. Half the battle is won if he enters your store, the other half depends on your products and sales skills. Here are 10 effective tips and tricks for visual merchandising:
Know your customer: Customer is King is the first lesson taught in marketing and even today there is no shadow of doubt behind its veracity. As a retailer, you should be aware of your target segment and the customers in that segment. Customers these days have the luxury to order online with just a click and save time by not visiting a brick and mortar store. But still, he is visiting your store then per se insinuates that he wants to have a touch and feel of the product, try different sizes for best fit, etc. Thus, you need to add value to his buying journey by knowing upfront what he wants and pitch him the same. Now the obvious question arises, how to better know your customers? The one-size-fits-all answer to that is just by interacting with him and getting to know his liking.
Products on display: Now that you know your customers, place your products on display based on their interests. The dummy wearing clothes at your store’s entry is the first thing a customer observes in a store and if that entices him, he will surely walk into the store. Try and put your best-sellers right in front of the customers’ sight. This display becomes very crucial in this entire exercise of visual merchandising to attract more footfall and boost sales. Also, you should change your display regularly and try out new combinations based on your customer segmentation.
Store layout should be perfect: This is another thing that catches the eye of a buyer. The placement of your merchandise, use of the store space, the furniture and fittings, the billing counter, and almost everything that gets noticed. Planograms, which is a visual merchandising tool, can be used for optimum space utilization and encouraging sales. There should be enough free space in the store for personalized attention to each customer and his needs. This is one of the best and time-tested practices in visual merchandising all over the world for an immersive shopping experience.
Premium shelf space: This is one of the key issues with retailers and the companies, Planogram can be used for this purpose as well. You walk into a supermarket for groceries; you will only focus on what there is in your visibility on the shelf in front of you. Customers do not like to bend to the bottom row to see a product or go on his toes to check the product on the topmost shelf. A study was done by the University of Chicago which says that moving juice bottles from the worst visibility location to the best location increased its sales by 79%. This premium placement can be done by being in good terms with the retailer and asking for premium spots even by paying some extra dollars.
Bundling is important: Figure out what goes best with your offerings. Make combinations of denim and shirts that complement each other or try putting cheesy dips with chips, etc. which saves customers’ time and incentivize him to buy more from you. This is another key merchandising technique to sell more both in terms of volume and value. You can also create some categories of your own from the past sales data.
It is show time: Good lighting in the store, the color of the décor, and soothing music that is not loud impress customers. It enhances the credibility of the store in more than one way and music in the background subconsciously keeps the customer engaged. Using spotlights which are focusing on the best sellers or new arrivals drive customers to have a glance on these products. The pictures in the collage below show two contrasting themes when it comes to lighting your retail outlet to effectively implement visual merchandising.
Change is the only constant: Remember this saying? This is an essential lesson of life that is commensurately pertinent in the retail space. Experimenting is the key to keep riding on the juggernaut of success in any business. Here, you can play with what is on the display replacing it with new inventory, keep changing the dummy’s attire, tweak your store layout, switch the music genres, change the light setting by adjusting its brightness levels. These are some of the things which you can change to expect better results and internally track your sales performance after every change.
Product specifications: You would not want the customer to keep searching for the price tag on the product he is looking at. And then he calls one of your employees to apprise him of the price of that product with other specifications. If possible, attach a note citing the product’s specifications with other important information. The devil lies in the detail and to build and nurture your relationship with the customer, inform him about all the necessary details. This is another less talked about facet of visual merchandising.
Avoid stock-outs: This is the last thing you would ever want as a retail business owner. A customer liked something which is not available in the store, or his size is out of stock. In such a scenario, your customer will turn to your competing brand or store. This is one of those situations which retail consulting will ask you to be cautious about.
Strike the right balance: There are other visual merchandising techniques apart from these which the retailer can try. But this goes with a caveat that not every strategy will work perfectly for your business. There will be some which will create magic and some others which will fail to show its impact in your context. Thus, you should strike the right balance with all the merchandising tricks to create the perfect synergy which will work wonders for your business.
Conclusion
These were our 10 best tricks for visual merchandising for you and your business to be future-ready in this much-hyped VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world we live in. There are some other visual merchandising techniques as well to drive your sales, but we chose the best of the lot to help you with your retail business keeping in mind the best practices in visual merchandising.
About us
Your Retail Coach (YRC) is a retail consulting and outsourcing company in India offering a wide range of services in retail offline, retail eCommerce and retail omnichannel catering to a multitude of industries.
Source : https://www.yourretailcoach.in/how-to-do-visual-merchandising-for-your-retail-store/
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retail-analytics · 5 years ago
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Trends in retail eCommerce, future of retail eCommerce
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The eCommerce industry has truly and fully arrived. A report published by UNCTAD found that the industry is estimated to be worth $29 trillion. There is no independent country that has not been affected by this sudden upsurge in retail sales due to the convenience and reaches offered by retail eCommerce platforms.
The rise of smartphones worldwide has fuelled the growth of online shopping as now consumers from all around the world can directly order from their smartphones. Companies have started building dedicated mobile apps to tap the potential of eCommerce and also to know their customers better.
But wait, the party has just begun; new eCommerce trends are defining a new direction for the entire industry. In this article, we shall try and understand a few such trends that we believe have already begun to shape up the future of eCommerce.
Increased use of social commerce
The rise of social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter has helped in increasing the reach of eCommerce many folds leading to the emergence of social shopping. An average user spends about 153 minutes per day browsing through his/her social media feed which is a significant chunk of a day. That is why brands are reaching out to customers on social media platforms. Tech-savvy brands understand the power of social media and have dedicated social media strategies that are handled by expert professionals. To stay ahead of the competition, it has become imperative for businesses to have effective social media strategies.
With their advertising power, social media channels have evolved from just being communication channels to media powerhouses. They have the power to influence buying decisions. With the emergence of the “buy” button on various popular social media platforms, brands are now one step closer to their customers. Tapping on a shoppable post lets the audience view the product description with images, prices and applicable discounts (if any), etc. This has helped businesses in improving the visibility of their brands and products and the likelihood of converting a customer directly from a social media platform. A travel brand, for instance, can easily improve their sales by adding their product stickers on a beautiful photo of a beach or a countryside resort.
Another major trend that is happening right now in social commerce is the rise of influencers. According to a survey, around 17% of internet users reported that they were influenced by social media influencers while making an online purchase decision during the past one month.
Overseas shopping
In this connected world, people are realizing the perks of globalization in the retail industry.
According to a report, around 20% of shopping will be overseas shopping by 2022. This trend is likely to continue as it creates the elusive win-win situation for
Many eCommerce websites are already gearing up to address this challenge by adding multi-currency and multi-language functionality to their websites. This is helping customers in navigating through the website with ease. With global trade increasing by leaps and bounds each year, the trend is expected to continue.
ECommerce personalization
According to ‘The 2017 State of Personalization Report’, around 4 out of 10 consumers in the USA purchased something more expensive because the product was targeted to them in a personalized manner. This is the power of personalization. And let’s face it — we all like attention. It’s this buy button in our brains that gets pushed whenever our favorite brands listen to our needs. Even the smallest adjustments, special prices, personalized notes, or publishing our review on their site holds much importance.
By using omnichannel personalization, brands are building an effective sales funnel, one which caters to both online-aficionados and old-school brick and mortar types.
With the help of sophisticated algorithms, brands are becoming adept in identifying the searching and buying patterns of customers. This helps them in providing targeted advertising, which in turn drives sales. For example, a young mother will be targeted with discount vouchers on diapers as the algorithms know that this is the current top preference for her.
Businesses are going the extra mile in delivering personalized experiences by engaging with customers on their social media handles even after they have made their purchases. Brands are retargeting solutions and re-engaging customers with personalized product recommendations. This is done by tracking the social as well as the online behavior of the customers.
Many tech-savvy brands are utilizing the power of re-targeting on social media by reminding customers about the products that they have left without further action in their shopping carts.
Global business and delivery models
With the fast-changing digital landscape, many innovative businesses and delivery models are taking shape. These models are expected to take a pole position in the future.
One of the most promising business models is dropshipping. This is highly profitable for small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses. The reason for this is that the capital costs are low and you do not have to keep a huge inventory of your products.
Under this model, you either work as a middleman between the producer and the consumer or you are the manufacturer who ships the product to the destination after you receive an order from a seller. The risk of the seller as well as the manufacturer is minimized in this process and hence the model has soared in popularity.
Another popular business model gaining traction is the subscription model. The trendsetter in this domain is one of the pioneers of e-commerce, Amazon. With Amazon Prime, the company has proved that it is possible to get loyal customers using the subscription model. Many e-tailers are expected to follow suit. The beauty of the model lies in its convenience.
Video is the future
With the emergence of video apps like TikTok and growing interest of brands in promoting their products and services in such apps, it is becoming clear that in the future more and more consumers will be targeted for advertisements and making purchase-decisions through video-based advertising apps. The shorter video clips are proving too good to avoid and the time is not far when retailers will be able to directly sell their wares from these video apps by placing targeted advertisements. Making a short video as opposed to lengthy text and presentations about your product is much easier.
In China, we are already witnessing this trend, as TaoBao — China’s largest eCommerce platform, already has 4 out of 10 pages filled with short videos and the company generated more than $15 billion in revenue using the power of live streams. Even Chinese farmers are showcasing their organically-grown food items directly to the consumers via short videos on TaoBao.
Increased usage of AR and VR
Phygital is the new buzzword in eCommerce. The idea of a phygital store is to essentially blur the line between a physical and a digital store.
According to a survey, most of the customers are interested in trying VR (Virtual Reality) shopping. VR shopping is exciting and the immersive experience it provides adds a new dimension to our shopping experience.
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With the emergence of affordable hardware options like Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear and Oculus Rift, the sky is the limit for e-commerce firms who want to ace the VR game.
Retailers such as Westfield are already leveraging the power of VR by letting their customers experience the upcoming fashion trends of the season via Oculus Rift.
AR or Augmented Reality is a much affordable option for e-tailers as opposed to VR. It does not require the use of sophisticated technology. In AR, an image is superimposed on a real scene.
The AR catalog app of IKEA is a shining example of AR in action. A major complaint of furniture buyers over decades has been that they do not know whether the furniture they are buying will look good with the interior of their homes or not. IKEA has solved this problem by allowing the customers to select a furniture item from its huge catalog and then superimposing it in their living room. This way the customer can get a much better idea about the aesthetics of the furniture.
Role of retail consulting and eCommerce consultants
Retail eCommerce is a relatively new domain. The already successful models are saturated like that of Amazon or Uber or are barely imitable by SMEs at such scales. Staying afloat requires ideas and thinking that are fundamentally-correct and sustainable whether it is marketing or operations.
A retail eCommerce consultant or an eCommerce agency need not be your guide or mentor. If you see them as business associates, it brings a whole new paradigm into perspective. You need not know everything about retail eCommerce. The same is true for your consultant. But using one another’s experience and expertise could bring in the synergy and a win-win situation for both.
You can also read eCommerce books or follow eCommerce blogs to learn the basics and remain updated. However, considering the option of retail eCommerce consulting might lead you to better identify areas for improvisation in your business.
About us
Your Retail Coach (YRC) is a retail consulting and outsourcing company in India offering a wide range of services in retail offline, retail eCommerce and retail omnichannel catering to a multitude of industries.
Your Retail Coach (YRC) helps retailers and retail enterprises set up their eCommerce business right from planning (eCommerce business plan) to implementation. Our experience and expertise in both offline and online retail channels will help businesses overcome challenges in adopting and running the eCommerce route.
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retail-analytics · 5 years ago
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How to Enter the Indian Retail Market
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The promising Indian retail market
India is the fifth largest retail destination in the world and its retail market is projected to grow from USD 672 billion (2017) to USD 1200 billion by the year 2021 with almost double the growth rate. However, India’s consumer expenditure is far beyond what its existing domestic and foreign retail players could cover. India’s consumer expenditure is expected to reach from USD 1824 billion in 2017 to USD 3600 billion in 2020. That’s a strong reason why many foreign and domestic retail players will seek to enter the Indian market.
The online retail market in India is currently one-fourth of its organized retail market and is growing at a CAGR of 23%. It is expected to reach USD 170 billion in the next ten years. And these figures are like nothing as compared to the ever-growing retail market appetite of India.
Source: www.ibef.org
Let us have a look at two big entry-strategies for entering the Indian retail market.
Going solo
The ‘company-owned, company-operated’ model is the most straightforward format of entering a market. In this model, the business is established, managed, and operated by the company itself. The company goes through the official formalities, builds the infrastructure, hires employees, establishes the supply chain network, manages its finance, and carries out the production, sales and marketing activities, etc. all on its own. The company enjoys absolute control over how it exists and functions. This model works best for businesses conversant with operating a retail channel in India; a tough ask that redirects businesses to ‘team-up’ or find a business partner in India.
Teaming-up
Different possibilities of business model structuring open up when two or more companies, with mutual interests, decide to work together. Such associations could be mergers and acquisitions, amalgamations, strategic alliances, partnerships, franchises, etc. But the bottom line is that it is no longer a solo model. For example, a local restaurant with a strong brand name may prefer to extend their operations to an adjacent city using a franchise model. Or a domestic tour and travel company may enter into a strategic alliance with local travel agencies in different cities to strengthen its customer base across the country. Or two local travel agencies in a city may merge to form a bigger entity to do better business.
So, whether it’s a startup or an existing business, in India or any other country, planning to enter the Indian market, ‘teaming-up’ in one way or the other, if done right, will help these businesses in resource acquisition and sharing, mitigating business risks, sharing of technologies, reaping the synergies (experience and expertise of both the businesses), and most importantly, making business possible.
In both cases, there are regulatory stipulations and norms to be adhered to and followed.
Decisions on the business model and strategy, channel decision (physical, eCommerce or omnichannel), ownership, operations control, basis of profit/revenue-sharing, how the finances are going to be managed, adherence to regulatory norms, quality standards, HR, supply chain management, etc. would depend upon the business arrangements between the two (or more) enterprises who have decided to do business together.
YRC as a business associate
Your Retail Coach (YRC) is a retail consulting and outsourcing company in India offering a wide range of services in retail offline, retail eCommerce and retail omnichannel catering to a multitude of industries.
Your Retail Coach (YRC) helps retail businesses with their e-store and online marketplace sales management strategies and practices with a focus on developing brand awareness. Our experience and expertise in both offline and online retail channels will help businesses quickly establish their retail operations and set their brands in motion.
YRC assists retail businesses in managing their supply chain via services and support in warehouse management, procurement, inventory management, dispatch and team management riding on proven models of logistics and use of technology.
YRC provides the necessary assistance to businesses in setting up and maintaining a robust distribution network across the country.
With its domain experience and expertise in the retail sector, YRC not only helps retail players in managing online sales channels but also assists in setting up brick and mortar stores and provide a range of operational assistance services.
Source: https://www.apsense.com/article/how-to-enter-the-indian-retail-market.html
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retail-analytics · 7 years ago
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ARE YOU BARCODING YOUR PRODUCTS??
How important is the naming ceremony of your child?? What if you were not given a name when you were born? What would you be called?? Similarly, how do we refer to your products when they were not barcoded? 
Barcoding is nothing but “Naming Ceremony” for your products. A barcode consists of Category, Sub-category, Brand, Colour, Size, Model/Design No. & all the other applicable details which makes the product unique from the other products of the similar kind.
How does barcoding help??
IDENTIFY PRODUCTS:
Once your products are barcoded, it is very easy to identify which products are available at the store, which ones at the warehouse. It identifies the products which are fast moving, whose stock is about to get over; due to which we might lose our customers otherwise. It identifies the products which are slow moving whose stock is getting dead over months since purchase.
MAINTAIN STOCK:
Stock Taking is one of the most important aspects affecting the profitability of the stores. If the stock is not being maintained, you are losing more than what you earn while you sell. It is a silent killer for any Retail Organization. To maintain Stock & perform regular Stock taking, you must barcode your products. It is faster, simpler & accurate.
EASE IN PURCHASE:
Purchase becomes easy when we have reports like “Supplier Wise Stock Movement Report”, wherein we have the list of suppliers with the sale of their products & the accurate duration. Eg. For XYZ Supplier, only 100pcs have been sold out of 1000pcs purchased, in 30 days which means only 10% Stock Movement in one month. Do you have this data for all your suppliers?? Can you rate your suppliers as per their stock movement %???
Aren’t all these aspects much more important than the time we save in not barcoding our products? Barcoding means investing your time for accuracy,
YRC is a Management Consulting Company with head office in Pune, India. We work across 03 verticals, Startup, SME & Corporates. Our expertise lies in developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for companies and helping them organize and expand. We have a cumulative experience of more than 15 years. Our holistic approach helps us to devise the best of the management practices for the organization.
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retail-analytics · 8 years ago
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Retail Analytics and Growth of a Company
By organizing data, managing them and presenting relevant insights, retail analytics provides a crucial form of assistance to the companies in their decision-making process which, in the long run, and in the larger picture, helps them not just to survive but also strengthen their potential for growth.
With the availability of real-time, accurate and relevant functional information, retail analytics simplifies the decision-making the process for a company at all the levels in its retail, marketing, and inventory management. The enhanced efficiency, effectiveness and integration in this decision-making process leads to better performance and growth of a company on several parameters.
Enhanced brand loyalty
Retail analytics help companies better understand customer behavior and customers’ needs, tastes and preferences not just in terms of product features and utility but also information and knowledge. The customer decision-making cycle involves several considerations like how much to pay, where to buy from when to buy, whether to repeat purchase and so on.
With retail analytics, companies can study relevant data and gain valuable insights on customer behavior and their cycle of experience with a product or service. With these insights, companies can adopt a proactive approach in reaching out to the customers and provide them with necessary information and create product awareness at the early stages of the customer decision making cycle. By doing so, companies can create a bonding with their customers and create brand loyalty.
Improved sales
The sale is a function of several processes for which it can be broadly said that they are aimed at ensuring the availability of the right product, at the right place, at the right time and in right quantities and quality. Sales can take place only when these conditions are fulfilled.
In order to figure out what is a right product or what features constitutes it, companies heavily rely on data and information pertaining to the product levels in terms of customer value hierarchy, customers’ needs and preferences and performance of similar and existing products and associated services.
Similarly, when it comes to product pricing, companies need to make use of statistical models and tools which can process vast volumes of data involving complex variables (also considering the pricing strategy) to close in on determining the price of a product or in making necessary adjustments to it or to ascertain price sensitivity.
The product must also be made available to the target market segment via the appropriate channels of distribution. The selection of the channel(s) of distribution involves several considerations like efficiency and effective of the available channels and channels adopted by competitors.
Retail analytics executes these analytical functions and companies make use of the insights and forecasts to ensure that the platform and the conditions necessary for sales are created and sustained.
Operational Efficiency
There’s always a cost (time, money and manpower/hours) attached to purchase, procurement and usage of various resources put to use by a company or business enterprise. Add to that rising costs, competitive pricing and narrowing profit margin. It becomes imperative for the companies to achieve operational efficiency and effectiveness that might give them a little space to breathe and introduce some innovation or expand their operations or pay bonuses etc.
With retail analytics, companies can evaluate the performance and profitability of the various cost centers (product wise, function wise or geographical or store wise). By doing so, they can identify the divisions and the areas where there is scope for improvement based on growth potential and market share.
Access new markets
Retail analytics help companies better understand its existing products and markets. With the knowledge, insights, and understanding of the market dynamics, products’ performances, customer behavior, the functioning of suppliers and vendors and its own strength and USPs, companies can explore new markets based on similarities with the existing - product line, market characteristics and customer demographics. Product-market development strategy may include introducing existing products in new markets or launch new products in existing/new markets.
Counter competition
Competition does not always arrive with an official intimation. It forays into a company’s market share and thus, needs to be identified and countered at the early stages. Fortunately, if not anywhere else, competition always leaves traces in the business statistics and figures.
In countering competition, pricing is a strategic tool for companies. Retail analytics significantly help companies in determining the degree of flexibility they can afford to tease with to eliminate or at least negate the effects of competitors’ pricing strategies.
In the short run, by providing functionally relevant and real-time information, retail analytics can prove to be a very helpful tool in operational decision-making in the day-to-day functioning of a company. But in the long run, this same tool can provide crucial statistics and analytics to assist companies in corporate planning and building marketing strategies towards the accomplishment of its goals of growth, expansion and value addition. About YRC: YRC is a Management Consulting Company, especially for the B-C Sector. Our expertise lies into designing of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Franchise Development, Strategy & Operations services, Process Audits & Training. We help companies to organize their operations and expand through best management practices.
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