In this first article we will try and understand why a company should invest money in business analytics.
In this modern era, to make profits a company has to differentiate itself from its competitors. A company that can make decisions based on solid information can make better decisions compared to a company that does not have access to information. consider a company that makes and sells ready made garments. Such a company would set up a network of franchisee throughout the country. Its main marketing strategy to attract customers would be to announce a series of discounts on its product. But how does that company differentiate itself from five other companies that has the same strategy? How would access to information help it?
Lets take the first question. We need to find out what strategy would make the company and its product more attractive than others. How should the product mix be distributed. Which location or class of cities buys more jeans than trousers. Which part of the city sells more casual shirts than business shirts. If a company could make these decisions, then it could reduce the quantity of dead stock and bring in more customers. Access to information would help the companies to make this decision. Data from all its offices can be collated and a monthly report generated. This report would give the decision makers an idea of what each location needs.