Analytics for Marketing and More

We tend to associate data analytics in business from a marketing perspective. Naturally we look at it in that manner because data is normally gathered and analyzed to improve on product offerings or to check on customer shopping trends and so on. Data mining is also used to create more opportunities and improve on customer satisfaction.  If we take for example the fast food industry data is gathered to determine the most consistent spot for ordering food; the time it takes to deliver; customer satisfaction feedback and areas that present new opportunities. For There are multiple ways to get this kind of data, for eg tracking credit card purchases, geographic location for orders, delivery times and online customer surveys. These are all done with the intention of improving customer service and growing the customer base.

Inventory.

Focusing on marketing is great however there are other areas of the business that benefits through good data analysis. The fast food industry serves as a perfect example of how data analysis helps to discover needs or helps in future planning.  Data that reveals a purchasing trend by consumers for a particular food item can help a company to decide how much inventory to keep in stock or the amount needed from suppliers. Information obtained to help with sales and marketing will also help the purchasing officer to determine the amount of food supply to order and helps to eliminate waste from overstocking.  Data analytics gives insights into gaining an understanding of the competitive marketplace my growing market share and increasing the consumer base. But we also realize that it helps another area of the business and can save money as well.

Human Resource Management.

Another area outside of marketing that can be impacted is that of human resource management.  Because data can be used to determine the busiest times for service in the fast-food industry, the information helps with scheduling of staff members to ensure customer satisfaction.  There has to be enough employees at the right time to ensure customers are served in reasonable time. Data revealing the busiest periods also helps management in determining the best time to give lined staff their breaks and lunches so that serving customers are not impacted negatively.  On the flip side it also helps the company to save money by reducing hours worked that are not really needed. The use of data can also eliminate mistakes of overscheduling in the slow periods and under scheduling in the busy periods.

Employee scheduling is an important part of how most businesses operate. Apart from the food industry, companies that have direct or face to face contact with customers are keen on providing excellent customer service. There are special dashboards set up for scheduling breaks, lunches and other time-off needs based on the flow of customer traffic  which is provided through gathering and analyzing data. Places like banks, department stores and in general the retail industry is doing their best to provide exceptional customer service in a competitive marketplace.

It is definitely easy to allude to the fact that data analytics impacts multiple areas of business operation.  This helps with making decision at a strategic level when the heads of departments or executives meet to make decisions on company focus and growth. On a weekly basis I have written about the importance of understanding the impact that business analytics will play in the world of doing business. We are at a point where we cannot wait and see but we have to put things in its proper perspective to ensure that the use of data analytics become part of our business priorities.