In today’s world, data is your goldmine!
If you can successfully leverage insights generated from data, you’ll witness your business grow at a rate you didn’t know was possible. With technological advances turning the market around, it is paramount that one stays ahead of the trends and leverages these advances as soon as they can.
Data scraping is a method to extract data from a website which can then be analyzed and used for a number of decision-making purposes. Take for instance a use case in retail, where retailers leverage data scraping to build price monitoring models.
Data scraping has 3 broad categories:
Website content– Largely consists of website and content from all the pages of a website.
Website usage– This kind of information is extracted from server logs and browser activity tracking system. A scraper tool keeps visiting the competitor’s web pages and record the changes.
Web structure– This info is the kind that is taken from links between people, pages, and other structured data.
Why Data Scraping is gaining traction in businesses today?
Data scraping is the oldest trick in the marketing book. But what once used to be once a copy-pasting of info into an excel sheet has not turned into one of your most ultimate advantages.
Due to technological developments, data is now making tasks more efficient and productive.
For starters, web scraping is very cost efficient. When done in bulk, the cost of scrapping a huge amount of data comes down to almost nothing. It also reduces the cost and effort if the same task was done manually.
It’s apparent that there are a few things that software will be much quicker and efficient at. Web scraping is one of those. What would take any human weeks to do; a web scrapper can do within hours.
It is highly efficient. A scrapper is automated and leaves no scope for human error. When a scrapper is going through a website, it scans each and every single page.
A scrapper also comes with a very low maintenance cost.
Apart from being really convenient and quick, data scraping helps businesses scrape out essential data out of the sea of information available as big data. When data is extracted, one is presented with a lot of information. Data scrapping allows on sorting it into neat categories and making the data more manageable, thus more fruitful.
How Data Scraping can be used to gain a competitive edge
Data scraping is all about accessing the right form of data timely. If exploited successfully, it can be a huge competitive advantage in the market.
Take a look at Amazon’s case. By using product assortment optimization, they have managed to stay ahead of the competition. Product assortment optimization refers to picking and choosing which product has to be displayed and when. This decision is made based on the insights gathered from analyzing big data on market trends and consumer spending patterns.
People often wonder why they should bother with optimization. It allows a company to display a unique display of products that may interest the consumer. This not only makes it more convenient but also provides an opportunity for the consumer to explore further. And all this is only possible simply because of data scrapping.
Big data is changing the travel industry as well. As travel becomes more affordable, the competition rises.
Today the price fluctuation happens in the blink of an eye. A few moments late and you might miss a great deal. In such a competitive scenario, how does a travel website survive?
The answer is web scrapping. By keeping a constant eye on the prices being offered by the competitor for flights, hotels, vacation packages etc. one can stay ahead of the competition.
Taking a few scents from Amazon’s pricing policy, the travel websites can generate a great deal of new business simply by being on top of the pricing trends and consumer expectation that have been floating around in the market.
Another brilliant example of data scrapping done right is Zara. They use web scraping to analyze the top trends in the market and then a team of 300+ designers works on making them available to the public at affordable rates. This seamless flow of information allows them to stay ahead of the competition and maximize their supply chain as well. Every few weeks the stock in Zara stores is replenished. Based on popular consumer demands and buying patterns. Today not only is Zara one of the most well-known names in the market, they are extremely successful.
Has data scraping caught your interest? Wish to know how you too could harness the power of Big Data through Data Scraping? Contact us at Datahut, your big data experts.