Data in Retail: How Much Does Your Store Know About You? -John Katzmarek

Every little aspect of retail stores now have been revamped using data and analytics, from the layout of the store, to the way workers are trained, to the little signs placed around stores, All of it has been created specifically using data to optimize each little moment to maximize sales. But what do they know about us? What could they possibly know that would affect me as a consumer enough to buy 5 times more than I was planning to when I went to the store? Well they know quite a lot.

Retailers pull a lot of data from our online habits, things like cookies and social media and other bits of data can be used to build demographic information and help retailers get a better understanding of their consumer. But it also goes beyond our internet habits, retailers can do much more tracking than we think within their own stores. With video monitoring systems retailers can see how long people spend not only in their store, but in each section. They can also see what people buy and their walking patterns. Stores like Target have built apps that encourage mobile phone engagement to create better data about in store habits and connect people's online habits to their in-store ones. They also have their own in house metrics that measure how fast certain products are selling and the value of each transaction. All of these things are tracked and measured to help retailers tailor their layout, advertising, and even employee behavior to their consumers. Come back next week as we take a deeper look at what retailers can do with all this raw data! Thanks so much for reading!

By John Katzmarek