A recent survey at the big data Retail forum summit in Chicago suggests 80% of the retailers are aware of big data and 67% are either already in the process of building a big data strategy. With data collection at various touch points ever-growing, and technology enabling data collection and analysis, companies have raced towards adopting BI (Business Intelligence) and big data solutions to earn competitive advantage. The term big data refers to solutions that can handle data that characterizes 4Vs viz., Volume, Velocity, Variety and Veracity. While insights on to merchandising, procurement was nothing new, customer analytics has unleashed the real big data capabilities enabling companies to arrive at insights that were earlier close to impossible. In retail parlance, consumer shopping behavior, preferences etc. are data that was a rarity in itself. Thanks to changing consumer mindset. Consumers are increasingly ready to share data and also allow data capturing by retailers; but a recent IBM study concludes that all such acceptance is with expectations that the retailers would honor their privacy and provide value in return. Big data solution provides have been able to demonstrate ROI (Return on Investment) for retail firms that have invested into these technologies. Changes in consumer buying modes, increased purchasing power in a hypercompetitive industry has coerced the industry to adapt to such changing patterns. Omnichannel retailing is the norm of the 21st century. Retailers are continuously bothered by this multichannel importance that customers showroom but yet dynamically change the channel where the ultimate sale is completed. The intrinsic change in patterns around shopping behavior has been a source of research for retailers and their big data solution vendors. CRM (Customer Relationship Management), loyalty programs and corporate data responsibility are some of the key focus areas today.Keywords: Omnichannel retail, consumer shopping
References: Big data – Calculating ROI http://www.bigdataretailforum.com/FormDownloadThankYou.aspx?target=http://www.bigdataretailforum.com/media/7832/14512.pdf&eventid=7832&m=14512#Connecting consumer experience across all retail touch points http://www.retailbiz.com.au/2013/03/11/article/Opportunities-along-the-digital-breadcrumb-trail/GJNDBBKEALBig data uses for retail http://www.ngdata.com/solutions/solutions-and-use-cases-for-retail-companies/http://wikibon.org/wiki/v/Big_Data_in_the_Retail_IndustryRetail efficiency using big data http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/173001/docs/boosting_retail_revenue_wpp.pdf?t=0Personalizing in the world of Omnichannel retailing http://in.teradata.com/retail/?LangType=16393&LangSelect=truehttp://www.slideshare.net/srinivasbobby/big-data-trends-in-retail-industry-31724077http://www.forbes.com/sites/barbarathau/2014/01/24/why-the-smart-use-of-big-data-will-transform-the-retail-industry/Result of IBM Retailers survey, originally Published January 13, 2014 on Retail-Merchandiser.com The dark side of customer analytics : A HBR Case Study Video Analytics for Retail http://www.securitymagazine.com/ext/resources/2012/September-2012/Retail-Video-Analytics---feat.docVolumes of information on big data for retail www.bigdataretailforum.comhttp://theinnovationenterprise.com/summits/big-data-analytics-retail-2014-chicago#sthash.odh83E3y.dpufIdeas economy: Finding value in big data http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/big-data/finding-value-in-big-data-1991047.pdf?ssSourceSiteId=ocominGartner research reports CMAC at McKinsey http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/retail/expertise/~/media/mckinsey/dotcom/client_service/retail/articles/cmac_creating_competitive_advantage_from_big_data.ashx