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2. Get the people on board
It is easy, and potentially also dangerous, to focus on the short- term benefit or impact of change, yet the change process is often long and interlinked. Te right people need to be in the right seats on the right bus going in the right direction. Tis may mean hiring in additional talent, moving people into a more efficient structure, or even aligning the organisation to the strategy. It should also be noted that hiring outstanding candidates is intensive and must be done with rigor and focus.
3. Move to decision-based data management
It’s human nature to look at the information in front of us for clues. But most retailers do better if they first define the kinds of decisions they want to improve and then look for data that can inform those choices. Selecting improvement areas can also help managers structure the data, decide where accuracy is paramount, and determine whether to buy software or build it from scratch. For example, data-driven insights can often help make
promotional spending more efficient. But what kinds of decisions does the company need to improve? How are targeted customer segments responding to the promotions? What behaviour is the retailer trying to incentivise? How big should discounts be? What time of year or in which geographies to offer a discount? Where to mail coupons or circulars? Each decision requires distinctly different data and analyses.
4. Choose the right solution
In choosing or designing tools, retailers should look for an easy-to-use solution that can improve performance with insights the merchants and analytics team understand. More sophisticated tools can be useful for expert users, but if a typical end user doesn’t understand the insights behind the tools, the investments may be wasted and adoption slow. Our experience has shown us that the best tools offer sophisticated insights but are intuitive (and almost fun) to use. Te software also has to be flexible enough to keep providing useful insights as the marketplace changes. Some early rules-based systems were built on the assumption that the single overriding goal was optimizing for profit, but profit is rarely the only goal of a well-conceived strategy.
5. Change mindsets and behaviors
Successful transformations typically begin with a “coalition of the willing” who are prepared to show the way. Tese leaders help form dedicated teams who begin documenting processes. Te revenue management team should be the foundation, and experts help teams improve core revenue management processes and guide the evolution of a flexible and expanding set of databases and tools. Experts “teach the art,” and employees throughout the organization receive training.
It is a multi-year journey to insight-driven leadership that can
present many challenges along the way. Te rewards of success— and the costs of falling short—are enormous. Retailers need to start down that path now to keep pace with their competition in a marketplace that is revolutionising itself with incredible speed.
Direct Commerce |
www.directcommercemagazine.com
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