Apr 19, 2022

This month we’ve been looking at the value of using insights from data to inform retail strategies and business decisions. Here are four stats that show what’s happening in data-driven commerce.

Customers Want Retailers to Use Data for Personalisation

A huge 74% of customers want companies to customise their experience based on what the company knows about them, according to a 2022 study by Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

In particular, 67% said they want companies to use predictive analytics to send communications at the right time based on expected needs.

This shows that gathering data isn’t enough; retailers need to act on it to improve the customer experience.

Only a Quarter of Companies Feel They Have a Data-Driven Organisation

In a new survey of leading organisations, including retailers, by NewVantage Partners, 97% of companies said they were investing in data initiatives.

However, only 26.5% said they had successfully created a data-driven organisation, which shows how much work there still is to do.

Especially as a 2020 cross-industry report from Accenture and Qlik found that 48% of people frequently defer to a “gut feeling” rather than data-driven insights when making decisions.

Gathering data isn’t enough; retailers need to act on it to improve the customer experience.

Using Data Can Boost Retail Sales by as Much as 50%

According to McKinsey, fashion and luxury companies that use data to optimise their store operations have reported sales increases of up to 10%.

Even more significantly, fashion companies that use data to personalise the e-commerce experience have seen digital sales grow between 30 and 50%.

This demonstrates exactly how big an opportunity data-driven commerce is for retailers across all channels.

98% of Retailers Say Location Data is Important

An overwhelming 98% of retailers said that location data is important to their business performance in a 2020 survey by Boston Consulting Group. 90% also said that it would become even more important over the next 3 to 5 years.

The survey also found that two of the biggest use cases for location data among retail are enhancing the digital customer experience (65% of respondents) and geomarketing and targeted communications (78%).