Analytics

A crisis forces a change like no other. If retail enterprise debates centered around IT budget in pre-pandemic times, now it’s unequivocally for swift digitalization from customer point of sales (POS) to supply chain. The retail sector has learned some hard lessons from today’s uncertain business climate. However, some enterprises are ahead in their game…

Consumption and shopping behaviors have changed dramatically, leaving retailers with a challenging and dynamic planning process ahead — months after the start of the pandemic. Further complicating things, historical data is losing relevance, and it’s unclear which new behaviors will stick. Retailers must now juggle hundreds of constantly changing variables and answer questions like: With…

Many organizations believe they have an adequate understanding of how they're perceived in the competitive landscape because they have anecdotal evidence from talking to their customers or loosely collected data in-market. Others deprioritize brand awareness efforts because they don’t fully grasp the potential benefits. In reality, operating without understanding how the market truly perceives you across major customer touchpoints is like trying to cross an ocean without navigation tools.

Consumer behavior trends that were once predictable are now in flux as we begin 2021, leaving retailers in need of tools and resources to help navigate these unexpected shifts in habits — e.g., who is buying, when and what they buy, and how much they will spend. With this in mind, retailers are looking to…

The COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting store closures, drastically changed how retailers operate and interact with shoppers. Now, social distancing and phased re-openings around the globe are having continual impacts on consumer behavior. To navigate the ongoing upheaval, retailers need to supplement historical data with fresh insights, allowing them to better strategize with near real-time decision…

The holiday season is ramping up with a bang. And it will be a holiday season like no other. People will shop more because they're at home. People will give more gifts because they won’t be able to travel to see family and friends as the pandemic drags on without an end in sight. People…

Despite the sweeping changes the pandemic has made to our economy, today’s e-commerce brands are well-positioned to capture — or recapture — shoppers just in time for the holiday shopping season. During the pandemic, retail giants such as Amazon.com and Walmart reported astounding growth in e-commerce sales as consumers used online shopping as their new…

Up until the past year or two, most efforts with artificial intelligence (AI) in retail fell under the umbrella of “optimization.” For example, on the advertising side, AI is used to optimize ad placement, content and delivery based on various AI-reviewed inputs. For the online shopping experience, AI-powered tools provide retailers with product recommendations to…

While COVID has been an “unprecedented disruption” for business and consumers, it’s clearly been an accelerant for existing trends. For retailers, this includes “Retail Darwinism.” Retailers filing for bankruptcy is nothing new, but regardless of a vaccine or another “unprecedented” event, failure to understand the context that made COVID exacerbate retail’s challenges will only leave…

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies should be eager to reclaim the customer relationship from retailers and innovate through strategies such as direct-to-consumer e-commerce, especially given heightened urgency resulting from COVID-19. Strategically collecting and understanding customer data creates value for all parties through direct feedback on consumer behavior. Consumers are better understood and served, while CPG…