Why Does My Retail Business Need Self-Serve Business Intelligence?
Today’s retail market is more diverse and complex than ever before. Brick and mortar stores compete for revenue against global and online retailers. Perhaps the greatest challenge is to sustain profit margins in a market where profit margins are traditionally small and shrinking rapidly.
It is imperative that the retail business choose the right product, price point, suppliers and shipping options and that the business is able to manage customer expectations, anticipate and forecast stock and inventory needs and manage seasonal shifts in demand. In order to manage the shifting market and competition, every retailer must have the ability to analyze data, customers, trends and patterns, etc.
Business Intelligence for Retail is crucial to the success of your enterprise. An out-of-the-box solution that offers self-serve analytics for retail can help a retail business get up and running with sophisticated, easy-to-use dashboards for retail that can be used by business users with average technology skills. Without the assistance of a business analyst or a programmer, a suitable reporting tool for retail can provide insight into how actual results compare to plan numbers, revenue by store, location, region, product line and other factors.
The retail industry is awash in best of breed, enterprise and legacy systems to manage everything from point of sale (POS) to resource allocation, facilities management, shipping and inventory, equipment and assets, financial results, sales and marketing campaigns, pricing, coupons and discounting and more. If the retailer is to remain competitive, executives, managers and business users must have access to the most complete information with full insight into results and critical issues and the ability to quickly analyze, present and report these results to support decisions and adapt to the changing market.
No matter the industry, data democratization and the evolution of Self-Service Business Intelligence is here to stay. Businesses that do not have the ability to quickly and easily analyze data and make decisions will suffer delays and missteps in the market. Every team member can add value to their role and achieve objectives if the enterprise provides the right tools to help them identify issues and opportunities and determine the root cause of problems.
If your retail business can use a competitive edge in your market, Contact Us to explore BI for Retail
