A new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by Wipro and titled "The Data Storm: Retail and the Big Data Revolution" has revealed that nearlyall respondents’ businesses have seen a positive economic return from investment in data analysis for the strategy area. Also, the single biggest barrier to retailers making effective use of data is figuring out what is useful amidst the overload – a problem cited by half of the respondents.
The report based on a survey of C suite executives from the retail sector in North America and Europe examines how retailers are reacting to, and how leaders are benefiting from, increasing volumes of data.
Seventy-eight per cent of all the respondents’ businesses have seen a positive economic return from investment in data analysis for the strategy area. However, only 46 per cent are confident that their firms’ analytical abilities are keeping up with data volumes.
“This research shows that while retailers realize the value of maximizing their use of big data and analytics, many are still unable to utilize the data they are collecting in full. To get the full value from the data they are collecting, retailers need to explore new avenues to apply data analytics throughout the organization that will improve decision making, efficiency and interaction with customers,” said Srini Pallia, SVP & Global Head, RCTG (Retail, Consumer Goods, Transportation and Government) Business Unit, Wipro.
Nevertheless, all the respondents say their firms are prioritizing data collection, but still only 36 per cent of the respondents believe that they have a well-defined policy for analyzing the most valuable information.
