Critically evaluate the role of ‘analytics’ in the Retail and Services Industry.
“Analytics are used to give a better understanding of the effectiveness of online initiatives and other changes to a website” (Murphy, 2014)
Introduction
The retail and services industry has changed drastically over the past number of years due to many factors, the main and obvious factor being online shopping with the vast majority of retailers choosing to run an online store as well as a physical store. The competition between retailers has become more prevalent as they can now compete online where it is easier to target customers due to the introduction of web analytics.
“Every time shoppers make a purchase at a store or browse a Web site, customer behaviour is tracked, analysed, and perhaps shared with other businesses” (Hope B. Corrigan, 2014)
For instance Target in the US
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Understanding why a customer chooses a competitor has always been an issue for retailers as for example grocery retailers are generally all the same nowadays in many ways such as price. Major grocery retailers have adapted many different aspects to add to their store, eg Tesco now have Tesco Mobile along with the clothing and home ware section of the store which have been important assets for Tesco for many years now, they were generally always the leading grocery retailer in UK until Lidl and Aldi came along with such long prices it was impossible for the general public not to adapt to doing their weekly shop in either Lidl or Aldi. This is an example of why it is so important for retailers to understand why their loyal customers are now choosing their competitors and how they can directly market these customers to drive them back to their store. (Donaldson,