Increasing Use of data science in Retail due to Covid-19.

As in all walks of life, Covid19 has created New Normal in the Retail Industry world-over and UAE and this region is also no exception.

So here are some of the most significant changes that I believe all Retailers have to  adapt to remain successful and relevant Post Covid .Since there are quite a few , I will cover them all in a series of separate articles for better understanding.

1. It is no longer Re-tail , rather it is E-tail or E-Retail

   1. With Covid lockdowns and restrictions retailers have to learn how to attract ,sell and delight customers in e-commerce space .
   2. Earlier most retailers had their Physical stores as the main profit centre .Online presence if at all ,was there as just a small extension of the physical presence . It was not usually considered as a separate store. Many Retailers had online presence but not necessarily geared for online sales and transactions. Some especially the smaller ones did not even have an online presence.
   3. There were only few exceptions of e-commerce giants like Amazon etc. whose business model was completely e-Retail based without any physical stores.

2. New Normal: Get E-Enabled or become disabled

   1. Today this scenario has changed and now that customers have got used to shopping from comfort of their home , it is expected that they will stick to this newly formed habit .
   2. So all retail businesses however small will have to create a virtual presence and hence it is essential for them to digitally transform their retail business.
   3. Even smaller retailers now are quickly adapting the Only Online /Virtual business model without investing into physical stores to save costs.

3. New Normal :Growing need for Sophisticated Retail Analytics and Customer Analytics

   1. Today Retailers have to not only attract the customers to their online stores, but also understand which products customers are liking or disliking and fulfil their choices accordingly.
   2. The trick to remain sustainably successful in the increasingly crowded e-commerce space is to be able to take these customer centric decisions quickly and accurately .
   3. There is huge volume of data which is being generated every minute on digital behaviour and preferences of the customers ,their profile ,their reactions and comments on social media and much more.
   4. So Retailers have to learn how to use all this data using sophisticated analytics and data science models and predict correctly and quickly what the customers are looking for online and provide it at the right price and promotion.

Hence, not surprising the use of Data Science for Retail Analytics and Marketing Analytics to understand customer behaviour, preferences and desires is becoming more and more crucial in today’s scenario .

It can easily be considered as the fundamental ‘Need of the Hour’ for the retailers to smoothly  sail into the New Normal in Retail Business and remain afloat.

If you wish to know how to use Retail Analytics in your business, do contact us for any consultation or training needs related to it.