London, UK – 18 June 2013 – Retailers need to get a grip on Big Data or face being left behind by those that do, according to customer insight group Beyond Analysis. The company, alongside Ian Cheshire, Chairman of the British Retail Consortium and Group CEO of Kingfisher plc, issued the call to leaders of the retail industry at an exclusive breakfast seminar entitled “Big Data: Small Bites, Great Outcomes.”
The call-to-action comes at a time of unprecedented change within the retail industry. With the intense struggle resulting from the online retail boom and a growing pressure to adopt an omni-channel approach, it has never been more crucial for retailers to gain a real understanding of all customer information that exists throughout the business. Retailers now have access to unprecedented levels of customer data, but separating true value from the background noise is holding many retailers back.
Ian Cheshire gave the keynote speech at today’s conference at the Institute of Directors, London, which was attended by more than 40 leading UK retailers and comments: “Between the seismic shift in consumers’ expectations for their retail experience, and the on-going economic gloom, retailers are faced with an extremely challenging landscape today.
“Unlocking the value of customer data has emerged as the retail game-changer in this environment. Many big names have already disappeared from the UK highstreet this year, and there will be many more to come if retailers fail to address the Big Data challenge, understand their customers and adapt to their needs.”
William Beresford, co-founder of Beyond Analysis, comments, “Some companies give the analytics industry a bad name by simply dumping mountains of data on their clients without delivering clear and actionable insight – meaning that these ‘results’ go on to do nothing but collect dust.
“Analytical insights should be presented in a simple and striking fashion that will be meaningful to people across the organisation, enabling the kind of informed strategic decisions that will help retailers to thrive. To harness its true power, Big Data needs to be delivered in small bites and simple steps in order to produce truly powerful results.”
