Businesses overtime collect lots of data on their customers, operations, and strategies. The issue lies in companies not knowing what to do with the data once they have it. A company must be able to read, understand and apply data to maximize on their full potential; otherwise, this data can end up costing your business in the form of lost revenue opportunities, lower productivity, efficiency, quality, and more. Companies are not intentionally misusing data; however, considering the high volumes of complex data the company gathers, the downfall typically stems from not understanding the data they have at their disposal.
The goal of most companies when utilizing big data is expense reduction; however, that is not the only thing big data can be used for. Companies are now focusing their attention on new ways to innovate using data. No longer do companies have to go through piles of sales data to gain insights, with the introduction of machine learning-based detections, they would reap more financial benefits. Big data has changed the way companies market to the customers, and there are numerous ways big data can be utilized to help your business, particularly as it pertains to advertising.
Companies should be using data to target and predict downtime, which can result in a considerable reduction in productivity. By using the data to predict downtime, they could then plan how to increase or maintain their productivity. To do this, the company must determine what anomalies to look for.
Another way companies can use big data is through consumer predictions. There are many times I have seen product recommendations on my favorite skincare site and thought, “Wow, that was the next thing I wanted to try to go along with my current line.” Companies that utilize their big data can use your prior purchase information, purchase ratings, what other customers are purchasing who have similar buying habits as you, to recommend the exact type of product you may want to buy in the future. This can also help the company make trend predictions such as persons who buy a specific day cream always buy the accompanying serum. This can help guide upsell promotional techniques such as bundle packages.
Mitigating operational risks is another way big data can help your company. For example, in January, the company I work for alerted us to a trend in sales for a particular product in bulk quantities. Our system highlighted these trends, assuming it was positive; however, it turns out that the orders were fraudulent, valued at thousands of dollars. Luckily, security measures put in place by the company were triggered, and the order were held. The quick identification of the fraudulent trend allowed us to react quickly and block further attempts.
Big data can be used to ascertain how to get the consumer to make essential decisions once they have landed on your page. The data can be used to learn and understand the patterns of the consumer and allow you to determine how to get them to convert. For example, there are times you visit a website to view an item such as clothes or cosmetics, just as you are about to close out of it by going up to the “X,” you receive a pop up offering you 20% off your purchase, similarly, you add items to your basket and leave them, and within 20 minutes you receive an email reminding you about your items and offering 20% off. This is where big data comes in handy. The predictive software can predict the consumers’ actions and decide to entice the customer to follow through and convert.
Technology is the future. Companies, big or small, can now utilize big data to increase revenue, boost customer base, and expand the business in unimaginable ways. Using big data in these three ways will get your company on the right track to success.
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