Brick-and-mortar retail meets big data — and there’s no turning back

Featured in InsideBIGDATA

Cutting-edge technology and brick-and-mortar retailers have never gotten along perfectly. The relationship is complicated, but it can be incredibly harmonious — despite the knee-jerk opposition of many retailers to things like online shopping, mobile apps, bluetooth beacons, and now big data. Business owners who reject these ideas are often left behind as the natural selection of capitalism demands better, smarter, and cheaper strategies. But what about those who embrace these revolutionary technologies? This is where we see an elegant integration of ancient and modern, providing customers with the best of both worlds: the familiarity and convenience of brick-and-mortar retail, enhanced by the actionable and dynamic insights provided by machine learning.

Location intelligence has earned its keep as an invaluable tool to anyone with retail space. In fact, it’s a total game changer, not just because it helps businesses find their perfect location and understand their client base but also because it’s becoming increasingly effortless to integrate into both new and long-standing companies.

We’ve seen a huge variety of companies in all sorts of industries take interest in our platform. It’s not just for big retail chains or restaurants. Anybody who needs a physical space needs to understand the parameters of the space they occupy and its surroundings. People are starting to see how drastically this knowledge can shape success.”

Hannibal Baldwin, SiteZeus CEO

Retailers don’t need to waste time wondering if location intelligence is right for them — because the answer is yes. Machine learning is no longer just for the computer scientists.

Here’s how it’s elevating the retail industry

1. Where

   The first and most obvious major advantage of location intelligence in retail is that it significantly reduces the inevitable risk associated with opening new locations, in both familiar and totally new markets. Site selection has, until now, been a gamble, with business owners relying on word of mouth and gut instincts when deciding where to set up shop. But as many retailers know (or have learned the hard way), choosing the perfect location is a science as well as an art. Location intelligence platforms are analyzing massive data sets to help any business determine its sweet spot between too much competition and not enough foot traffic. And they’re doing a good job. At this point, retailers who reject location intelligence will struggle to find optimal locations as their competitors jump on and flourish from the insights of big data.

2. Who

   Location intelligence can answer a lot more questions for a business than just where to open its storefront. In fact, as more massive and comprehensive data sets are being integrated into location intelligence platforms, retailers can learn the nitty-gritty details of who makes up their target area and what they buy. This provides obvious benefits for targeted advertising, a tried and true method in today’s technological economy. Targeted ads save money and hit the nail on the head when it comes to reaching your ideal clients. A thorough understanding of your client base will also reap massive rewards when it comes to making inventory decisions, as retailers can tailor their stock based on who they serve and what their spending habits are.

3. What

   Beyond the basics, location intelligence is built to understand complex relationships between the variables at play in your retail area. Machine learning can help your business in massive ways even after you’ve picked a location and stocked your shop. Next-level number crunching of data unique to your business combines with overarching insights derived from global and regional data sets. All of this comes together to help you understand the factors that drive and limit revenue. Once these key drivers are identified, retailers can use location intelligence to look even deeper and see how they interact to make real and estimable impacts on revenue.

   We’re past the honeymoon phase of big data. We know that it’s accurate, comprehensive, dependable, and not going anywhere. It’s no longer a matter of whether or not retailers can afford these fancy technologies — it’s whether they can afford not to embrace the most effective methods of success.