Analytics

Retailers are strongly committed to leveraging innovative technology to create a meaningful experience for their customers — particularly as more customers interact with them digitally. Think about all of the companies that enable you to order items online and pick them up in-store, order food through mobile apps, and/or watch video via streaming services. These…

On average, U.S. households have 11 connected devices and consumers consistently engage with multiple touchpoints before making a purchase. It’s no surprise then that many retailers are struggling to organize and make use of the increasingly high volume of available data. Truly understanding the many types of both first- and third-party data is essential for…

Retail has been completely flipped on its head. An industry, which once solely relied on brick-and-mortar locations, has undergone a massive transformation with the introduction of the digital ecosystem. The shift to online and in-app purchases may lead some to believe that physical store locations have been rendered obsolete. However, the reality is that couldn’t…

Welcome to this week's Retail Resources, which features a curated list of the best content and resources that I hope will help you navigate the coronavirus pandemic. This week, I offer information and resources about leadership, interesting data, information on returning to work, and more. If there's anything you would like me to share in a…

There's no more critical time for businesses to leverage advanced analytics than now. Even as companies cut back on non-essential spending and reassess their priorities, doubling down on analytics in shaping strategic decision making can perhaps yield the greatest return on investment.

Some retailers have said that the buying trends among their U.S. customers since the outbreak of the coronavirus and its resulting COVID-19 spread in North America match those that they saw in China when the crisis started in that country. As such, they're using China as a model to gauge how the current health and…

Shhh! Don’t make any noise. The 800-pound gorilla is distracted. Now is your chance. I’m talking about the fact that Amazon Prime delivery delays are as long as a month now. Now is your opportunity to serve your customers like never before. Now is the time to make up ground and become a digital force.…

Frictionless checkout is rapidly becoming the future of retail, especially with Amazon.com's push to expand its checkout-free “Amazon Go” stores, which leverage digital imaging to redefine the checkout experience. We can expect to see increasingly fewer cashiers, registers and lines as more retailers turn to frictionless checkout to improve efficiency, convenience and satisfaction. While retailers…

Baby boomers are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States, and households aged 55-plus control more than 70 percent of total net wealth. In 20 years, the population aged 55 and over will account for almost one-third of the U.S. population. Unlike millennials, who are often burdened by student debt and the costs of supporting…

There are few industries as well-positioned as retail to use data-driven systems to improve their bottom lines. Retail analysis is flush with sources of data, including information that can be derived from sales, inventory, traffic and marketing. Turning all this information into something useful, however, requires an understanding of where retail data systems fit into…