Using numbers to drive numbers

Data from Physical Retail Stores

At Kepler Analytics, we strongly believe in the power of data-driven decision making. The e-commerce market has had the luxury of customer behavioural data for decades when it only commands 5% of all retail spending. So it’s mind-boggling to think that, while 95% of all spending is still done at brick-and-mortar stores, there is no reliable and effective method to measure in-store customer behaviour at all!

In fact, the average spend of Australian retailers on marketing alone is 10% of turnover. That’s a grand total of $28.6 billion per annum. With little to no in-store customer data on marketing campaigns, at least half of that spend is wasted not knowing which ones worked and which didn’t. That’s $14.3 billion down the drain. $14.3 billion. Our mission is to save the industry that $14.3 billion each year by providing concrete, actionable data to determine campaigns with positive or negative ROI. I refuse to believe that retailers will say “no” to that.

The Heart and Minds of Shoppers

However, some retailers imagine that being data-driven takes away the emotion and human side from retailing. That all the fun in retail will be replaced by numbers and graphs.

I beg to differ.

I think that data should instead help improve how we connect with customers. By truly knowing how customers react in-store to any change or new initiative, retail executives can more readily create experiences that touch the hearts and minds of shoppers. And when shoppers love your brand, they spend more money in-store more often, and may even bring more of their friends with them. So, I strongly believe that being data-driven can actually hone in and amplify the positive emotions shoppers associate with physical retailing.

The End of Pure-Play Online Retail

HERE is a fantastic short talk by Scott Galloway of L2 on the topic of physical stores and why pure-play online retailing is disappearing. Scott talks about four companies in total, but the section about Amazon is relevant to this post. He goes on to illustrate how the most successful online retailers in the last decade are those who have embraced physical retail stores in prime locations globally. There is clearly no better way to communicate strong and memorable retail experiences than in a store.

You can follow us on twitter at @KeplerAnalytics, call us: 1800 300 892 or email us at: info@kepleranalytics.com. At Kepler we believe that privacy is most important. Secondly, understanding your foot traffic and visual merchandising is the start to bridging the gap between the physical and digital. Understanding your customer behaviour can help you understand what types of communications are working. Linking your foot traffic to digital and traditional marketing campaigns will allow you to see how your marketing efforts actually affect sales. As always, do your research and use a solution that helps you achieve the goals of each new project.