Retailers Improve Performance Using Event Stream Data

Analyst Viewpoint

Streaming data is transforming how retailers operate. Retail’s evolution from brick-and-mortar to omnichannel has provided organizations with better information about customer behavior while also increasing the expectations of consumers regarding their customer experience. Online and mobile applications have become the norm and shoppers now expect real-time information about inventory levels and prices along with personalized recommendations and offers. Streaming data provides operations managers at both the brand level and store level real-time visibility into the supply chain and it can help detect and prevent inventory shrinkage. It can also be used to tie together information from the legacy systems that are needed to make many of these capabilities possible, but without the significant investment that would be needed to rewrite these systems.

Our research shows that more than nine in ten organizations (93%) consider it important to speed the flow of information and improve the responsiveness of their organizations. Even just a few years ago, capturing and evaluating this information quickly was much more challenging, but with the advent of streaming data technologies that capture and process large volumes of data in real time, organizations can quickly turn events into valuable information that improves customer experiences and the bottom line. The most common use of event streams identified in our research is for customer related information and processes (43%) and nearly one-third (31%) of organizations are using event streams from their supply chains.

Retailers have continued to enhance their understanding of individual customers, developing a 360-degree view to boost sales via more personalized, real-time interactions with those customers. Bringing that information together in a timely fashion is critical since the buying moment is often fleeting. Targeting customers with the right offer at the right time for an item that is in stock results in increased conversion rates and average order values. Knowing in real time which items a shopper has viewed and which items are in their cart can be used to drive cross-sell and up-sell offers. This knowledge can also be used to offer discounts to prevent abandoned shopping carts. Many of these real-time offers originated within the e-commerce channel, but they have now also been extended as supplements to in-store shopping experiences.

Extending these concepts to in-store customers generally requires a mobile application. The information available to retailers from these applications is valuable, but it must also deliver value to consumers so they are motivated to use the application. Streaming data about inventory status, location of items and personalized offers of discounts can provide just such motivation. Personalized offers can include not just information about consumer behavior, but streaming location data can be used to make offers for nearby products and services while there is a greater opportunity to influence the buying process.

Event stream data can also be used to increase customer satisfaction and improve retail operations. Data from RFID tags provide better visibility into supply chain and distribution processes. Within stores, RFID data can help ensure shelves are restocked in a timely fashion so consumers are never faced with a stock-out situation. RFID data also helps retailers detect and prevent shrinkage by identifying suspect movements of inventory or sources of damage to goods.

Many of these capabilities, ranging from appealing mobile applications to world-class customer services, will require access to systems based on legacy technologies that are not easily modified or integrated. Streaming data can provide the glue that brings together information from disparate legacy systems such as supply chain, order entry and billing without requiring any modification of the existing systems. The combined information can feed more modern systems such as the e-commerce site and mobile applications.

For most retailers, customer service is now an omnichannel process. Purchases may be made online and returned in the store. Or stock outs in the store can be averted with an online order delivered to the home. To provide the type of service today’s customers expect and strengthen customer loyalty, customer service employees—whether in the store or in the contact center—need immediate access to a 360-degree, up-to-date view of the relationship with the customer and the status of inventory. With visibility into timely information they can resolve customer issues more quickly and more thoroughly resulting in a better customer experience.

Retailers have many opportunities to exploit real-time streaming data to transform their operations and improve their bottom line, and our research shows customer information is the most common type of event data that organizations collect. Some of these uses represent new products and services to enhance customers’ experiences, while others represent ways to access more timely and consolidated information from existing systems. In either case, to be competitive in today’s retail market, your organization needs to embrace streaming data and the benefits it provides.