Historical forecasting and predictive models have become less effective due to the market disruption caused by the pandemic. As retail inventory, supply chain, and sales performance begin to improve—and with the shift toward digital commerce—retailers need to adopt new ways of thinking about inventory optimization to maximize sales opportunities.
This starts with having merchandisers and marketers collaborate to better understand true market demand, their individual customers, and their shopping journeys, and ensure communications are personalized. This infographic from Acxiom details:
- How data, artificial intelligence and machine learning can close the gap between merchandisers and marketers.
- The benefits of bringing merchandising and marketing data and analytics together.
- How Acxiom can help you share the power of customer-level data and advanced analytics across merchandising and marketing.
- 48% Nearly half of supply chain professionals told enVista their assortment planning needs improvement.
- 77% More than three-fourths of chief marketing officers in a Deloitte survey automated more work using AI technologies during the pandemic.
Historical forecasting and predictive models have become less effective due to the market disruption caused by the pandemic. As retail inventory, supply chain, and sales performance begin to improve—and with the shift toward digital commerce—retailers need to adopt new ways of thinking about inventory optimization to maximize sales opportunities.
Customer-level data and advanced analytics tools can help merchandisers make better predictive decisions about product assortments, using the rich trove of customer data that has historically been at marketers’ disposal to understand and quantify true market demand. Marketers, in turn, can benefit from access to merchandisers’ data about product availability and distribution in combination with market demand to make smarter choices about promotions and campaigns.
- About half of executives Deloitte polled said they would seek to use better data analytics in 2021.
- Investing in artificial intelligence enables brands to react more quickly to customers’ needs.
- 47% of supply chain professionals enVista surveyed said the AI and machine learning they use needs improvement.
- 58% of supply chain professionals enVista asked said AI/ML “identifies and quantifies missed sales opportunities” for styles, sizes and categories.
Bring Merchandising and Marketing Data and Analytics Together
Merchandising and marketing work together to understand consumer demand and optimize assortment and quantities and marketing effectiveness. Merchandisers and marketers can collaborate to better understand true market demand, their individual customers, and their shopping journeys, and ensure communications are personalized.
- Merchants need to embrace agile decision-making and develop a more nuanced perception of consumers and markets.
- The integration of data across supply chains, stores and merchants can drive customer loyalty and help control costs.
- Customer expectations created by marketing need to be synchronized with product strategy and the customer experience.
Acxiom Merchandising and Marketing Optimization Solution
Sharing the Power of Customer-Level Data and Advanced Analytics Across Merchandising and Marketing
AI/ML analytics enhance demand forecasting by leveraging rich data on nearly all consumers in any market. Powered by diwo, a patented intelligence advisor platform.
- Unlock growth opportunities by capturing untapped market potential and expanding your customer base.
- Use precision planning to reduce out-of-stocks and avoid the discounting that comes from having excess stock.
- Improve measurement and the speed and quality of decision-making.
Merchandising and marketing work together to understand consumer demand and optimize assortment and quantities and marketing effectiveness.
- 50% reduction in out-of-stocks and back-orders due to operational efficiency.
- $1B+ net top-line impact for a retailer with $20 billion in sales.
With this solution, we now have a connection point between the decisions merchandising is making and the decisions marketing is making. They’re using the same data and information to make data-rich decisions that have a material impact on the top line and the bottom line. — MICHELE FITZPATRICK, INDUSTRY STRATEGIST AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CONSULTANT, ACXIOM