If you are wondering how Business Analytics can impact the business world, our team at the International Institute in Geneva is here to answer you.
Let's breathe, let's focus, because there is a lot to say, so for you to read!
Impact on companies
On sales: Sales are often difficult to predict, their evolution is sometimes volatile, but a company that decides to implement a dashboard can largely hope to stabilize or even increase its sales. That's the objective of a retail analytics business intelligence oriented strategy.Guiding or orienting the sales strategy in response to data brings confidence, serenity and attractive prospects to the company. Retail data analysis provides metrics and answers directors can use to manage their performance.
On marketing strategy: Data analytics are used in business more than you think! A better demographic knowledge of its targets thanks to the analysis of data also largely allows the company to meet the expectations of the targets. By better segmenting buyers, and customer behavior, with more relevant factors, the company will be able to propose more personalized and therefore more convincing marketing strategies. Business Analytics allow managers to understand and synthetize a large amount of data, either with predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics or descriptive analytics.
On perspectives: Business Analytics also allows to project into the future thanks to the collected data. Knowing what proportion of people will terminate their commitment in the coming months and why, allows the company to offer solutions to these people even before they have expressed their desire to leave. Analysts use metrics dashboards and data visualization reports to anticipate future problem, supply chain failures, and other scenarios, in different fields. For instance, BA can be used in a social media analytics strategy using data to optimize business performance.
On financial efficiency: Understand why after a strong increase a company experiences a decrease in sales. Adjusting the focus thanks to the analysis of the behavioral data collected and cutting out communication investments that were no longer convincing, in favor of new ones that are particularly effective and less costly... this is how Business Analytics can impact the financial health of a company and its business process.
On productivity: Having access to data that allows you to understand the life cycle of your products among end-users to resurrect differentiating insights... Here again, Business Analytics can get a company out of a bad situation it was not aware of, boosting activity and productivity, and make business decisions easier
How companies use data analytics in their business?
Here are few examples of real-life applications for Business Analytics
Microsoft - Improving productivity and collaboration
One of the most notable examples of data analytics project was observed at Microsoft when in 2015, the offices of its engineering groups were relocated.
The company understood that it desperately needed more face-to-face interactions with its staff to enhance performance by boosting collaboration.
The Microsoft Workplace Analytics team postulated that if a group of 1,200 people moved from 5 offices to 4, it could enable better teamwork since it would reduce the distance staff had to cover for meetings.
The relocation resulted in a 100-hour workweek savings and a net savings of $520,000 per year in employee time. A great example of Business Intelligence.
Coca-Cola – Improve customer knowledge and refine the advertising strategy
Along with 35 million Twitter followers and 105 million Facebook fans, Coca-Cola is leveraging its social media networks data. Using AI-fueled picture matching technology, the organization can see when photos of its drinks are posted over the Internet thanks to a good social media analytics strategy. This raw data, combined with the strength of business intelligence, provides the company with important insights into who is drinking its beverages, where they happen to be and why they are referring to the brand. This information helps to deliver more tailored ads to consumers, which are four times more apt to get a click than a general ad.
Tesla – Predict and suggest
The innovative automotive company uses business intelligence to connect its cars wirelessly to corporate offices to collect data for analysis. This approach connects the automaker to the client and enables them to predict and correct problems such as component damage or traffic or road hazard data. The result is high customer appreciation and more informed decisions about future upgrades and products.
Netflix – Analyze data, understand and act
By understanding that viewers have not been responsive to the photo used to showcase a program on its app, Netflix is able to adjust photos based on other programs the viewer has watched and enjoyed, in order to grab their attention and entice them. As a result, the user is subjected to images that change much more regularly and therefore has the impression that the programs change more frequently.
Uber - Machine learning and natural language processing
Uber improved its customer support with Business Analytics - by developing COTA (customer obsession ticket assistant) back in 2018. It helped agents to increase their precision and the quickness to respond to support tickets. The first round of iteration helped them decrease ticket resolution time by 10%. Uber then introduced COTA v2, which was centered on the deep learning architecture and conducted A/B testing before deploying it.