Using Big Data To Improve Customer Experience & Results

Technology provides businesses across all industries with tools and capabilities that optimise operations in order to maximise revenue and minimise waste.

Many industries now have access to up-to-date information on customer experience, product acceptance, and financial transactions.

Organisations no longer have to wait in the dark until the end of the week, month, or quarter, to find out whether marketing campaigns are producing intended results. Instead, decision makers can view, analyse, and respond to results in real time.

According to a survey from Dell, companies that have added big data strategies have grown by 50 percent.

Although adding troves of digital information alone is not likely to be the primary cause of that growth, the correlation appears significant enough to demonstrate that thriving businesses see data as an integral part of their growth-oriented operational asset mix.

Because so many successful organisations recognise this, data science, the mining and utilisation of that information, has become a new economic cornerstone of enterprise success.

As data science has become a strategic necessity, information has made the corporate landscape more competitive than ever. Businesses of all sizes must find innovative ways to put data to use in order to remain relevant. What follows is a short list of companies that are gaining attention for their data-driven efforts.

MedAware

In the US alone, prescription errors cost thousands of lives a year, and MedAware aims to change that. The company’s data-driven solution helps eliminate those errors through the use of algorithms that analyse electronic medical records.

If a prescription deviates from standard treatment, it is flagged for review. MedAware offers several solutions that medical facilities and practices can put in place to catch costly errors. These include seemingly simple features like spell check and reporting that, while taken for granted on many levels, play a significant role in establishing the safety and accuracy of medication administration that can ultimately make the difference between life and death.

These functions can also be used to highlight trending issues in certain areas of operations and make continuous quality improvement adjustments as necessary.

AnyRoad

Successful businesses know one of the best ways to build customer engagement today is through in-person events and experiential marketing programs.

AnyRoad makes sure those entities are able to measure the return on investment out of each event with specialised data software designed to collect detailed information on participants and their quantifiably recorded degree of loyalty.

That information can then be put to use for follow-up emails and surveys that convert attendees into long-term customers. In addition to relationship management, AnyRoad also offers deep insights that can help brands A/B test different experiences and learn from past data to create better experiences in the future.

NBA

Sports organisations rely on deeply-engaged fans for success. The NBA now uses analytics as part of its drafting process, paying close attention to a player’s stats, as well as stats for entire teams.

Data has become such an important part of professional sports, the NBA regularly hosts hackathons where it invites students and developers to spend 24 solid hours crunching numbers and solving problems. Winners get prizes like lunch with the NBA commissioner and a trip to the NBA All-Star game.

Thinknear

Whole Foods (now part of Amazon) is already well aware of its specialized demographic that appears to include more affluent shoppers who appear to be on the lower end of being classified as middle-aged.

The company goes one step further in monitoring and winning customers, partnering with Thinknear, a location marketing firm, to deliver advertising to anyone searching for information nearby.

The same technology can be used for “geo-conquesting,” which targets customers at nearby stores of any given kind with attractive inducement offers that encourage them to visit a specific competitor in order to find and capture a great deal on whatever it is the customer may want.

As a result of implementing Thinknear technology, Whole Foods saw an immediate increase in its conversion rates, and that translated into both increased total revenue and increased profit.

Amazon

Amazon has long been using analytics and artificial intelligence to better serve its large customer base. The company’s new Echo Look device is only the latest example of this. It gathers data as it provides a service.

The camera-equipped style assistant not only offers advice from fashion specialists and machine-learning algorithms, it also collects information that can then be used to better serve customers.

By using Echo Look, customers are registering into a system where they agree to share their buying preference information with Amazon.

That information is then used to enable Amazon to deliver more accurate marketing messages and product offers the result of which can be measured and analysed to confirm accuracy of targeting as well as resulting sales and revenue.

Duetto

Hotels are constantly trying to find new ways in which to win over travelers looking for a place to stay. Duetto specialises in helping hotels maximise profit and minimise waste.

The company uses data to determine ideal timing for price surges and discounts that are a natural part of hotel finance. Each price takes dates, channels, room types, and other factors into account, ensuring each rate quote gives the best deal for the customer while also maximizing profitability for the hotel.

Since the software uses machine learning, the algorithms are constantly being updated to provide the best results for each hotel using the service.

This type of intelligent price and offer optimisation provides a transformative breakthrough to an industry that is constantly seeking to refine operational efficiency.

RetailNext

Retailers of all sizes have learned the benefits of tracking consumer behavior in their stores. One tech company behind this tracking is RetailNext, a solutions provider that specialises in monitoring customer traffic.

By gathering data on how often a customer visits, how long each stay is, and which displays he or she interacted with, stores can pinpoint areas that need to be improved for a better customer experience.

This traffic measurement also provides store managers with traffic measurement data that can be used to augment and improve employee scheduling. As a result, retailers can optimise resourcing-related operating expense in order to maximise profit and minimise waste.

As the examples above demonstrate, data powers many of the operations businesses conduct each day. For enterprises both large and small, it’s important to have a strategy in place to better serve customers using collected information. Once that strategy is implemented, decision makers can lead their organisation more effectively through innovative approaches to customer experience optimisation and improvement of financial results.

Infoworld:     Image: Nick Youngson

You Might Also Read: 

Get Your Data Strategy On Board:

Measuring The Economic Value of Data:

 

« Will Germany's New Social Media Law Kill Free Speech?
European Cyber Threat Summit 2017 »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

CYRIN

CYRIN

CYRIN® Cyber Range. Real Tools, Real Attacks, Real Scenarios. See why leading educational institutions and companies in the U.S. have begun to adopt the CYRIN® system.

LockLizard

LockLizard

Locklizard provides PDF DRM software that protects PDF documents from unauthorized access and misuse. Share and sell documents securely - prevent document leakage, sharing and piracy.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC - the first, easy-to-use, enterprise-grade information security solution for compliance and risk management - offers businesses efficient control tracking, testing, and enforcement.

Teradata

Teradata

Teradata is a leading provider of enterprise big data analytics and services. Applications include Cyber Security Analytics.

Computer Laboratory - University of Cambridge

Computer Laboratory - University of Cambridge

Computer security has been among the Laboratory’s research interests for many years, along with related topics such as cryptology

BSA - The Software Alliance

BSA - The Software Alliance

BSA is the leading advocate for the global software industry before governments and in the international marketplace.

App-Ray

App-Ray

App-Ray provides fully automated security analysis of mobile applications to find security issues, privacy breaches and data leaking potentials.

Appdome

Appdome

Appdome is the industry's first mobile integration as a service company, providing solutions for enterprise mobility and mobile application security.

United Biometrics

United Biometrics

United Biometrics is an anonymous and real-time authentication platform designed to stop the fraud for mobile payments, e-Commerce and applications.

CybeReady

CybeReady

CybeReady’s Autonomous Platform offers continuous adaptive training to all employees and guarantees significant reduction in organizational risk of phishing attacks.

Concentric

Concentric

Concentric Data Risk Monitoring and Protection. Deep Learning to discover, monitor and remediate risks to sensitive data on-premises and in the cloud.

Genius Guard

Genius Guard

Genius Guard specializes in DDoS Protection, DDoS Protected Webhosting, HYIP Hosting, Bitcoin Hosting, Cryptocurrency Hosting.

Data Privacy Office (DPO)

Data Privacy Office (DPO)

Data Privacy Office is a company that specializes in privacy and personal data protection, following the highest standards in its sector.

Kintek Group

Kintek Group

Kintek Group provides cybersecurity and managed services to protect organizations from threats that exist inside and outside their networks.

PROW Information Technology

PROW Information Technology

PROW is at the forefront of the technology and digital revolution with a focus and mastery in the cybersecurity, information security and data management realms.

Telesystem

Telesystem

Telesystem empowers businesses across the USA with a range of innovative network, communication and collaboration solutions.

Verisign

Verisign

Verisign is a Global Leader in Domain Names & Internet Security, providing protection for websites and enterprises around the world.

Oort

Oort

Oort is an identity threat detection and response platform for enterprise security. The Oort platform is API-driven, cloud-native and agentless for rapid time to value and high scalability.

Cyber Risk International

Cyber Risk International

Cyber Risk International offer CyberPrism, a B2B SaaS solution that empowers businesses to perform a self-assessment of their cyber security program.