Today, people are surrounded by data. Everything we do online and offline generates data. The problem with raw data is that its sheer volume makes it difficult for businesses to use it to make informed decisions. Data is typically collected from many sources, including website analytics, sales metrics, customer leads, email, and so on. This information provides useful insights that retailers and e-commerce businesses can use.
E-commerce companies can now use information gathered from big data to increase revenue, gain new customers and simplify operations. Big data has changed the face of e-commerce over the past few years. Its specific influence includes the following aspects.
Shopping behavior
Big data is essential in developing consumer profiles. E-commerce enterprises can check which products are the most popular according to customers’ online purchasing behavior data. When e-commerce enterprises experience peak demand, they can use these data to formulate marketing strategies. For example, website analytics data might show that customers are visiting their website to find specific products that customers have not yet purchased.
Another example of analyzing shopper behavior is paying dividends. If an e-commerce business finds that the evening is the peak time for customers to shop, it can use the peak demand period in a useful way by allocating excess stock at the sale price. E-commerce companies can change pricing to reflect surging demand and run their social media marketing ads at night.
Customer service
Providing good customer service is the key for e-commerce enterprises. E-commerce businesses need to make it as easy as possible for customers to contact them to solve problems or raise questions. E-commerce customers abandon brands or websites due to poor customer service, so companies can improve user experience to boost sales.
We can also use big data to analyze key metrics to monitor customer satisfaction and track delivery times, such as how long it takes a customer to visit customer service or receive an answer to an email query.
Dynamic pricing and special offers
E-commerce retailers should make big data a key part of their customer retention strategies. Companies can use data to build profiles of customers and find out how much they like to spend and what products. Interact with e-commerce businesses’ online stores by tracking customer behavior. Use analytics to help them develop flexible pricing and discounts.
Supply chain management
Use big data to manage supply chains more effectively. Data analysis can reveal any delays or potential inventory problems in the supply chain.
Forecast analysis
Analyze various channels of e-commerce business and help e-commerce enterprises make business plans for future operation. Data from e-commerce companies could show new buying trends in their online store divisions or slow sales.
It’s never easy to keep abreast of the latest trends in e-commerce, but leveraging big data can greatly improve a company’s bottom line and help it build a successful forward thinking business. Big data needs to be well backed up before it can be used for these operations. Therefore, we need to find a good data backup solution in Malaysia.