Committing to data quality and improvement is key to retail success, says Shopify Managing Director, APAC and Japan, Shaun Broughton.
Presented by Shopify
More Australian retailers are planning to increase their technology investment in business intelligence over the coming year than in any other area — even automation or artificial intelligence — according to new research by Shopify.
What’s fuelling this investment? By and large, retailers are in the midst of a pinch point, with profit margins being simultaneously squeezed by the more cautious spending habits of consumers and higher costs of doing business, among other micro and macroeconomic forces. In fact, inflation-related challenges were cited by 88 per cent of respondents in Shopify’s 2024 Australian Retail Report. In such an industry climate, retailers are increasingly conscious of business efficiencies that could help them to do more with less. And for good reason.
Enhancing efficiency with unified insight
Issues such as a lack of operational efficiency, inefficient supply chain practices and manual processes are a major contributor to retailers’ internal challenges in 2024. Together, efficiency-related issues impact some 61 per cent of retailers, according to the research.
But while retailers understand the need for business insight to drive efficiency, getting a handle on the data needed to get the most out of it can be a challenge. This is especially true in a retail environment with an increasing appetite for engagement across multiple channels, both online and offline. A unified commerce approach is needed to bring data on customers, inventory and sales together from all channels.
Getting your data in order
Retailers are taking action on this front, increasing investment in digital infrastructure that unifies data and provides insight across multiple sales channels. However, top-down strategies are also needed to make the most of data to drive efficiencies.
As a starting point, it’s important to ensure strategic alignment across the business. For instance, auditing the existing business intelligence capabilities will help to ensure initiatives are aligned with business goals and any gaps in capability addressed.
The better the data, the better the outcome. Committing to data quality and improvement is key, and can be achieved by implementing data governance policies to maintain data integrity, security and compliance, in addition to establishing KPIs to measure the effectiveness of data tools.
The drive for efficiency will only continue and consumers will want more personalised experiences across more channels as time goes by. This means unified data and strategic alignment are set to play an even more outsized part in retail success.
Access the Shopify Australian Retail Report here.
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