Using Retail Analytics for Your Brick-&-Mortar Store
eCommerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce have made it fast and easy to gather customer data and monitor online shopping trends. But if you operate a brick-and-mortar business, you might wonder which tracking tools can help you learn more about your “in-store” shoppers.
In this article, we’ll highlight a few POS tools that may help you harness such valuable data, so you can improve the in-store shopping experience and drive more sales.
But first, let’s make sure we all have a basic understanding of what retail analytics are and why they matter.
What Are Retail Data Analytics?
Retail analytics, or often referred to as in-store analytics, offer business owners greater insights into their customers’ behaviors, as well as how their retail campaigns are performing in store vs. online.
This can range from the amount of foot traffic that enters your store to inventory management and promotional campaigns (e.g., in-store events, in-store discounts, loyalty programs, etc.)
WHY ARE ANALYTICS IMPORTANT?
Using this collected data, brands can take the guesswork out of what’s working [and what’s not] and start focusing on optimizing their in-store sales experience, thus improving customer retention and sales.
“Retail is about making sure that the right products are available to the right people, at the right time…the more data that retailers collect about their customers, products, and shopping behavior, the better they can optimize for a shopping experience that customers will love.”
RETAIL ANALYTICS EXAMPLES
According to retail industry experts, in just 2021, over 68% of retailers started investing in retail data analytics to help improve their in-store shopping experience. That number has likely grown, too. As it’s reported that over 93% of retailer decision-makers admit their technology investment plans have evolved in the last two years.
With the increase in demand for more in-store data solutions, it shouldn’t surprise us that more software development companies are in the process of launching better tracking tools to gather this essential information about customers.
Advances in POS systems, for instance, now allow you to integrate data from different retail operations. This includes foot traffic, inventory management, and even employee performance.
Here’s a few honorable mentions:
Lightspeed
This POS software developer offers many cloud-based tools for retailers, restaurants, and other industries to track, monitor, and interpret data. The best part is their retail analytic tools allow you to collect and streamline data into one easy-to-read dashboard report.
This means if you manage both a brick-and-mortar store and eCommerce platform, you can monitor this data in one place.
Top Features:
- Helps you optimize your stock
- Identifies customers’ shopping habits
- Sets KPIs for employees and monitors performance
- Track sales and trends
Square for Retail
You might already be using this popular retail POS system. But are you taking full advantage of its advanced reporting capabilities and tracking tools?
From helping you manage inventory and finances to building authentic customer relationships, this tool also auto-generates customer profiles and history across all channels. These features can help you create the best shopping experience for your customers and environment for your employees.
Top Features:
- Generates sales and vendor sales reports
- Forecasts potential stock outs
- Tracks in-store and online orders
Vend
Looking to take the guesswork out of making the right decisions that affect your business? Vend (also by Lightspeed) offers real-time reporting to helping you set and track KPIs right from your tablet or smartphone. This advanced tool works to help you understand your customers better.
You can also set sales targets for your team and build your own custom reports to see how your store is performing, which products are selling faster, and how long products take, on average, to sell.
Top Features:
- Generates easy-to-read custom reports
- Tracks customer history and spending habits
- Identifies important trends and areas to improve
- Provides deeper insights into the performance of promotions, discounts, and product categories.
As you can already tell, there’s a lot to consider before investing in the right tools to help you understand your retail analytics.
The decision is entirely up to you. Just remember that the main goal of such features is to help you provide a more personalized shopping experience. That’s really the best way to keep customers coming back and staying loyal to your brand.
WANT MORE RETAIL INSIGHTS?
We hope you enjoyed this article on the importance of retail analytics for your brick-and-mortar store.
Looking for more tips, trends, and retail news? Stay connected to our blog.