Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Small Business

    Data Analytics Pose Opportunities, Challenges for Businesses

    By
    NATHAN EDDY
    -
    July 26, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      forrester and data

      Businesses are incorporating more data sources, leveraging new analytical techniques and applying insights beyond the marketing department, according to a survey of 142 analytics and measurement professionals conducted by Forrester Research and Burtch Works.

      The survey found demographic, transactional and behavioral data continue to be the most popular sources.

      However, many companies also are leveraging unstructured data from social media (35 percent), internal feedback channels (27 percent) and Internet of things (IoT) data (11 percent) to gain a deeper understanding of their customers.

      “From a customer analytics perspective, mobile technology is incredibly exciting because it provides location and other rich customer context data that can help companies better market to key audiences and/or understand the customer journey,” Brandon Purcell, author of the report, told eWEEK. “However, that is only in theory. In practice, we’re seeing companies struggle to incorporate digital data in general and mobile data specifically.”

      Purcell said he was surprised that only 64 percent of companies are using digital data from owned Web and mobile properties, as revealed by the survey.

      “Why aren’t the other 36 percent? I completely understand and respect the difficulties behind linking known customer data to anonymous cookie data, but companies should at least be capturing and analyzing their digital data in aggregate,” he noted. “That’s table stakes in the age of the customer.”

      In addition to improving the customer experience, analytics and measurement professionals are applying insights to product development (39 percent), pricing decisions (36 percent), operations management (25 percent), customer service (24 percent) and merchandising (15 percent).

      According to the company’s previous survey in 2014, the average business used only four data sources, but today, companies are using six sources on average, an increase of 50 percent.

      “It is very difficult to get started with customer analytics, from a data, business case and skills perspective,” Purcell noted. “However, once you have those pieces in place with your first successful project, it becomes much easier to build on that foundation.”

      Purcell said the next big trend is customer journey mapping, wherein companies take their time-stamped event data and use it to understand the volume of customers on different journeys, the average duration of those journeys and, most importantly, the key performance indicators (KPIs) attached to each journey.

      “Using journey analytics, companies can identify journeys that are broken, such as one that results in higher than average churn, and either fix the journey or route customers onto a more optical one,” he said. “IBM and Teradata have rolled out journey analytics solutions to address this demand, as have smaller players like Pointillist and Indicative.”

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×