By Rodrigo Africani, Data Management Specialist at SAS Latin America
An adult person blinks, on average, 24 times per minute, closing their eyes for about 50 milliseconds before each blink. During that time we are totally blind. It may not seem like much, but for data analysis, it definitely isn't.
In less than a millisecond, thousands of data are generated from different sources of information, which represents one of the most valuable assets of companies. This data comes from tens of billions of devices connected to the Internet of Things, social networks and even those generated within company departments.
Dealing with this massive volume of data has given birth to more comprehensive technologies for data capture. For this purpose, Event Stream Processing (ESP) software, or Real Time Data Processing, has rapidly become popular in recent years.
With ESP, all data generated by tens of thousands of events is analyzed while in motion, before being stored, with virtually immediate response time and without interfering with processing speed. It's like having a hose running continuously, analyzing every particle of water in motion, without the need for filters and capturing the information that matters to make quick decisions.
This is a growing need in the Brazilian market, especially in the retail market, which is starting to keep pace with the speed of business, already adopted in other areas, such as telecommunications and finance.
In terms of competitiveness for the retail sector, Streaming tools have not yet gained prominence, as the pioneers in the country are the large hypermarkets, but many have the technology without knowing how to use it with the proper potential. This is because the profile of the Brazilian consumer is still a propensity to choose by price and not by the shopping experience. But what about in terms of potential?
With each retailer there are thousands and even millions of consumers, with particular needs and desires, seeking a differentiated service that, traditionally, does not receive large investments in IT. And mapping customers' purchase history and habits can provide valuable insights to predict and deliver products to them before they even realize they need it.
In the United States, Macy's Inc., one of the country's best-known retailers, with annual revenue in excess of US$ 20 billion, has a loyal customer base in physical stores and online. To continue this legacy in a highly competitive market, Macy's used SAS® Enterprise Miner™ to identify the characteristics of e-commerce customers and react quickly with marketing activities. With this adoption, email unsubscribes decreased by about 20% and achieved savings of US$ 500,000 per year, reducing review time.
Therefore, the biggest bottleneck in retail is still the evolution in sales specific to the customer, identifying customer needs and habits and, above all, reacting quickly to them. Sales without basis will cease to exist and the market tends to focus more on customers. As long as marketing bets are traditional, retailers are unlikely to follow the global trend in assertiveness and speed that business is demanding.
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