Leading a business is about survival. The Coronavirus crisis has affected businesses worldwide. In these times, your preparedness can save you, and what better way to do that than leveraging data for your next move. By leveraging data analytics, you can improve all areas of your business, be it inventory management or customer satisfaction. Consequently, you can stay ahead of your competitors when the marketplace reopens.
What is Data Analytics?
Data Analytics is the process where you gather data from various sources and, subsequently, refine and analyze it. This refined data can give us many valuable insights.
It helps you understand user trends with the help of data. When you know what sways the market, you can decide which card to play. Among the many tricks that efficient data analytics can do, the most important one here is: improving operational efficiency.
Which areas of your business do you need to target?
The Coronavirus has pushed the economy in a dilapidated state. The government-imposed lockdowns have affected almost all areas of your business. Therefore, to tackle this, we need to identify the most-affected areas of your business.
Source: Pwc
The following are a few areas that need work during this pandemic.
Supply-chain disruption can tremendously hinder your production.
Market uncertainty can keep you from devising a proper production strategy.
Predicting demand during this pandemic will affect your preparedness.
Inventory management during a time of panic-buying will keep your business afloat.
Also Read: COVID-19 and Predatory Pricing Online
How to leverage data analytics to revive your business?
During the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, people buy a meager amount of goods. Besides this, most of those goods relate to their fundamental needs.
Once the pandemic is over, consumer demand for various goods will shoot up. During a time like this, data-driven decision making will help you the most. Let us go through the major areas that can benefit from the use of data.
1. Using data analytics for demand forecasting and supply chain handling
Data has already penetrated the supply chain process. With advanced technologies, you can streamline the process to improve accuracy, delivery process, and price. Nowadays, the complexity of these supply chains generates much more data, which is beneficial for you.
how supply chain management works
By studying the trends evident through web-scraping, you can predict any hike or drop in demands post Coronavirus crisis. Hence, you can notify your supply chain manager and providers from well before.
Besides the usual demand, data masters can also pinpoint any upcoming fluctuations in customer demand.
2. Investing smartly in ads by leveraging data analytics
This lockdown has pushed people to look for entertainment on the internet. Due to this, online traffic on most sites has reached favorable levels. Amidst this surge in traffic, data extraction can help you in floating ads smartly. As an example, a study claims that application downloads have surged by 40% during this Coronavirus pandemic.
Firstly, you can use data analytics to recognize the channels having the highest traffic. Try also to verify the number of conversions these channels are getting.
Secondly, personalize these ads to encourage customers to view your products or services. Each of these ads has its insights. These insights will help you understand how many impressions you are getting with each ad. Accordingly, you can improve your ads to convert visitors into customers.
3. Product refinement by scraping reviews
Your business can benefit a lot from studying customer reviews. You can scrape reviews from websites like Amazon. These reviews can help you identify areas of improvement in your business.
You can start by learning product modifications you need to practice. For instance, if your customer is not satisfied with product quality, then you can ask your supplier to make the necessary changes. Besides this, reviews can sometimes help in improving your business overall.
This resting phase is the right time to study all the pending reviews. Therefore, by the time the government revokes Coronavirus lockdowns, you will be prepared with better-grade products. Additionally, you can study your competitors’ reviews too. This way, you can keep ahead of them.
4. Designing lucrative offers with data analytics
Even the big brands have closed down services because of the Coronavirus alert. But you can help your business grow by offering lucrative offers to your customers. For instance, you can give them offers on pre-booking. This way, you can prepare your inventory and start delivering products as soon as the marketplace becomes functional.
Moreover, you have to keep your customers engaged by creating online events. Data can provide insights that will help you how to make the most out of these events. For illustration, you can engage them using challenges. This way, you can efficiently market your brand too.
5. Make your recovery strategy as per location and newly formed trends
After the Coronavirus pandemic, there will be a significant shift in marketplace trends. Furthermore, consumer trends will change too. Many of these changes will vary depending on the area. Data analytics can inform about the area-wise requirements of products and services.
For instance, the healthcare industry will try to reduce delivery time further. By using data analytics, you can predict area-wise requirements and, accordingly, maintain inventory in the nearby warehouses. This way, you will be able to handle the product demand.
6. Prepare for an era of remote interactions
Once, the coronavirus pandemic subsides, the marketplace will suffer a few significant changes. To stay ahead of your competitors, you can start preparing to move your business to an online platform.
This process of expansion becomes more comfortable with data analytics. Data can help you predict customer needs. After that, you can formulate your inventory accordingly. By web scraping reviews from competing sites, you can improve your business strategy better.
This shift is a great opportunity, specifically for tech businesses. For instance, services like app development and website development will see a surge. You can use this time to garner customers.
7. Modifying the production procedure
Amidst this Coronavirus crisis, most of the production houses have collapsed. The underlying reason is the lack of proper safety standards issued in the wake of this crisis. Such a crisis can follow, and it is best to stay prepared.
Data from the current scenario can help you identify areas that flourish even in times like these. For instance, the food industry seems to be upright. After this crisis ends, there will be a hike in demand for certain goods. With data, you can easily forecast these demands.
Currently, consumers are skeptical about the safety standards of goods. But if your production area adheres to these standards, your products will stay ahead of your competitors.
One example of this is Lenskart, the eyewear brand. They have gotten their business afloat by adjusting their production lines and home-delivering goods to their consumers.
8. Expanding delivery services to gain consumer trust
The lockdown is the right time to begin delivery services for your business. There has been a surge in the downloads of delivery apps due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This surge verifies that with a home delivery option, you can keep your retail business moving.
For retailers who have a chain of stores, data analytics can be of additional help. By tracking the demand in specific niches, you can transport and store products in nearby warehouses. This forecast will substantially reduce the problems of supply-chain. Besides, this way you can also reduce the delivery time.
Moreover, you can garner customer trust by catering to their safety and needs. This crisis is the right time to foster a sense of deep trust among your customers.
Try Datahut!
At Datahut, we deal with all kinds of data. Right from structuring it to analyzing it, we provide all data-related services. Contact us to talk to our industry experts, and give your business a life-jacket amidst this Coronavirus pandemic. With the experience we have in this field, we promise you an enriching experience in data analytics.