2 Reasons Your Retail Analytics Software Might Be Inadequate

The ability to analyze what is happening in a business is an essential function. Retail data analytics solutions can greatly enhance retail analytics, but if that software is inadequate, it can cost a business time and money in countless ways. How can you count how many opportunities are missed? How can you count what might have been done, and the results of a different strategy not utilized? How can you count what you don’t realize is possible?

Retail analytics software needs to be carefully chosen, and if your retail business currently is utilizing retail data analytics solutions, look to see if these two warning signs are present:

Operating In Isolation

Any software that operates in isolation needs to have all the data from operations put in specifically. That means if you want to look at some aspect of your business and assess it, somebody has to go find that information and plug it into the software before you can look at it. There are better ways to analyze — look for software that is part of an integrated solution utilizing a central database. This way the information is at hand, both historic and real-time, from every channel and layer of the business.

When all the information is accessible, the analyst can choose the data that is pertinent to the task at hand. In the future, all the data continues to be at hand for analysis of whatever comes into play. No software works well in isolation. If yours is running solo, you have a problem.

Inability To Customize

Any software program that is limited to templates where numbers and letters must be filled in belongs in a museum of outdated technology. Today’s retail analytics software is capable of being completely customizable, with intuitive and flexible views that enable users to see key information in the way that works for their unique needs. Look for built-in business intelligence software that can collect, integrate, analyze, and present your financial and operational data in historical, current, and comparative views. This ensures that no opportunity will be missed in your retail analytics because your software will be able to do the job.