Ben Sprecher

Insights at the Speed of Shoppers' Lives

June 30, 2010

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Listening to professionals in the area of shopper insights and marketing, it's easy for the uninitiated to get the impression that we've entered something of a Wild West era when it comes to bringing order to the information chaos that surrounds us. How much of a competitive advantage would retailers have with the type of timely delivery of deep consumer insights?      [more...]

Yes, the technology exists today to make this type of data analysis manageable, and yes, it is (finally) within the reach of retailers of any size (not just Kroger, Tesco, and Target).

As others here have pointed out, just because a technology exists doesn't mean that it's a magic bullet--chains that want to get full value from their shopper data need to incorporate it into their business decisions at all levels. Also, to paraphrase Nikki's point, chains need insights, not just algorithms. The best way to increase the quality and quantity of actionable shopper insights is to engage brands in the process and leverage their deep knowledge of their own products, categories, and shoppers.

Our company provides the technology to enable chains to both analyze their own data much more rapidly and easily than is generally possible today, while at the same time to share appropriate data with outside brands and let them do the same. And we do it at a price point that any chain--large or small--can afford.

But whether a chain works with us or with someone else, one thing that won't work (at least, without having a huge and expensive data analysis and shopper marketing execution team) is to try to do all the analysis on their own. The data sets are too vast, and the nuances of shopper behavior are too subtle, to manage without help.