Business intelligence and analytics: recent trends and benefits in retailing

Abstract

Today retailers are focussing on solutions oriented capabilities which create value and convert information into knowledge. While Business Intelligence (BI) provides a way of amassing data to find information primarily through asking questions, reporting, and online analytical processes,business analytics takes advantage of statistical and quantitative data for explanatory and predictive modelling. Business intelligence and analytics have emerged as principal tools that guide decisions and strategies for disciplines like marketing, research and development, customer care, credit and inventory management. By using these tools, retailers are analysing data to improve in optimization and performance. Present study is an exploratory study with an aim to learn issues and challenges
faced by Indian retailers; BI concepts and tools and need for BI in retailing. The study identifies that BI plays a crucial role in insights about customer behaviour; thereby helping the retailers meet their ever-changing needs and desires. The recent trends observed in retailing are - spending more on technology, embracing high capacity computing tools and recruiting people who can combine business and analytics to learn more about customer insights. The study discusses various benefits resulting from implementation of BI and analytics in retailing.