Why is analytics becoming a secret weapon for companies?

Service companies like the credit card firm American Express use analytics to help their clients. An IT client of American Express had a programme where all hotel expenses were be charged on the card, thus providing complete access to the spends across cities and vendors.

A spend analysis by the global commercial card division revealed that over Rs 14 crore was being spent on hotels, including about Rs 10 crore in the top three cities. Organizations identify the top cities where spends needed to be controlled and we helped the company develop a 'guest house' strategy.

Early adopters like Shoppers Stop are using analytics in newer areas. In addition to predicting purchase trends using the data available through its loyalty card programme, analytics is also essential in store planning. Based on the data we gathered, we realised that certain categories of products tend to sell well together. For instance, women buying Indian wear also tended to shop at the home section whereas those buying western wear veered towards footwear and accessories. As a result, the company could remodel stores to bring adjacent categories together. Not only do immediate sales go up, but because it's easier for the customer, so does customer satisfaction. And high customer satisfaction often translates into repeat visits, thus having a direct impact on the long term profitability of the retailer.

By analytics companies able to know where they are in the market and what are the new requirement for future.