Do more with your Omnichannel Data
Tags: Omnichannel, Data, Data Science, Analytics

Our world is omnichannel. Customers will use any channel (and any combination of channels) to shop at any time, both on and offline.

With the explosion of channels, so too comes the explosion of information. We have access to more data on our consumers, and into their behaviours, than ever before.

But access to information is just the beginning. You must then be able to garner this insight to better understand your consumer, to market to them in the right way and to develop propositions that will speak directly to their needs.

Today this seems so obvious it’s almost a cliché. Yet a surprising number of businesses still struggle to do this.

Last year, Station10 and E-consultancy co-created a report on multichannel insight, in which 66% of CEO’s interviewed said that having a single customer view was vital. (The only real surprise here is that the figure is not higher. I’m sure it would be if we were we to re-run the report now.)

Interestingly, what our report identified was the difficulty that businesses are facing when trying to monetise that highly coveted, single customer view.

Nearly four fifths of the organisations surveyed struggled to turn their analytics into actionable insight and a similar proportion was unable to combine data from online and offline sources.

One thing that has advanced in the last few years is the technology and tools that are available to collect, and effectively merge, large amounts of data from a range of different channels.

If the technology and capability is there, why are so many organisation’s analytics capabilities still wanting? What are the most common roadblocks when it comes to gaining effective customer insight?

Put simply, delivering a successful data analytics program is less about technology and more about people and process. This is where many businesses today fall flat.

Firstly, many businesses (while they may have the tools) do not have the expertise in-house to use them most effectively. Supplementing your internal skill set with a data analytics partner is an easy solution.

But there is often a bigger problem in play. Many organisations are still far too instinct-led, rather than data-led.

This means that they use data to back up decisions that they have already made, instead of using that data to tell them things they didn’t know and inform decisions.

The ‘insight’ becomes a prop to support their existing ways of working rather than a stimulus for thinking differently or taking a fresh approach.

Not only does this mean it often takes a long time to actually do anything, it also devalues the data that you have (and the investment in analytics that you’ve made).

Smart organisations are changing the way they think and work to ensure they are getting the most value from their data insight programs.

Having collected reams of data, those businesses who have not yet worked out how to capitalize on all that insight, turn to external partners to help them join the dots, and deliver the best ROI on their analytics spend.

They often have the tools in place to gain advanced insight, and they know (better than anyone) what their business needs to achieve. What they lack is an expert (or team of experts) to help them connect the two.

At Station10, we operate as a bridge, connecting (not just your different data sets!), but also aligning your data insight tools with your wider business objectives.

We plug any gaps in your analytics skill-set through effective data insight delivery that aligns with business strategy. Bringing those two into line is crucial.

One way that we do this at Station10 is by running Insight Sprints. This agile approach allows us to deliver insights back into the business extremely quickly, and to turn those insights into action, even while the program is still in flight.

This means that strategic business decisions can be made off the back of real data insight, almost immediately.

In today’s ever-evolving digital world, the ability to adapt quickly is critical to business growth. There’s now a greater need for organisations to stay two steps ahead at all times.

To do this, business leaders must empower themselves to use data and insight effectively, so they can make timely, fact-led decisions that drive real business innovation. Cultural change is a crucial step in this process.

At Station10 we work in partnership with many clients, helping them to collect and respond to insight in the most effective manner. We help them to ask and answer the questions that are most important to them.

Turn your business into a data driven organisation. Let your data lead the way.

If you want to find out more about how Station10 teams with clients to help them take their data further, why not check out our case studies.