2024 Predictions: Why Data Is the New Competitive Advantage in Retail 

By David Mah, Founder and Executive Director, Kepler Analytics 

Over the past few years, retailers have faced a unique set of pressures — everything from a global pandemic to economic volatility and rapidly evolving consumer demands.  

To overcome these factors, retailers are now undergoing a cultural shift towards data-driven decision making for their brick-and-mortar locations. In fact, the highest-performing retailers are leveraging data to move faster than the competition, expand their market share, and — even in a downturn — deliver amazing growth results.  

Using Data to Adapt to Customer Needs 

While there’s a lot of doom and gloom around the current economic environment, the retailers who are investing in data are actually experiencing abnormal growth. For example, with the ability to use data to adjust inventory to customers on a store level, retailers can have more relevant product range and less excess inventory. This means there is less need to discount or mark down products.  

We are also seeing many retailers use data to become more flexible in how they serve their customers. This can include using real-time foot traffic data to inform their roster, so they can better match staffing to the actual customer demand. This results not only in cost savings, but also in improved in-store customer experiences. 

Retailers Are Getting Back to Basics 

This recent push towards data-driven decisions is all about getting back to basics — ensuring that customers get the right product at a great value, and the relevant product at the relevant time.  

Technologies that enable retailers to uncover basic, yet effective metrics are seeing higher ROI and greater success, despite the current economic pressure. The metrics we’re talking about are as simple as knowing if your window display is effectively converting storefront traffic, or knowing the conversion rates of your fitting rooms.  

However, just because these metrics are “basic” doesn’t mean it’s easy to gather these datasets in a way that is both timely and accurate — let alone to put that data into action to improve your bottom line. If you’d like to learn more about Kepler’s approach to customer analytics and store traffic analysis, visit our product page or book a demo today. 

Even Simple Data Sets Can Pay Off Big 

For the retailers who believe data analytics will be a daunting undertaking, it’s important to remember that even very simple data sets can make a huge difference. Retailers should start by identifying a few key areas and gathering the right data, then enscomuring that your team is able to execute on that data.  

The good news is that a data-driven approach can pay off big time. The winning retailers today are carving out more market share than we’ve ever seen — in some cases, even 20-30% sales growth. Now is the time where retailers can actually gain enormous market share from the competition.  

While there still remains much uncertainty about the future of retail in the year ahead, one thing is clear — data will be the driving force behind the retailers that win in 2024.  

By David Mah, Founder and Executive Director, Kepler Analytics 

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