Customers give big data hints

There is value in making sure customers are happy. A positive experience is an excellent incentive to return and grant a firm more business. According to Business 2 Community contributor Bob Hayes, big data analytics software could be at the heart of efforts to make sure shoppers' interactions with retailers are uniformly positive.

Hayes explained that the most traditional source of experience management data, interaction with the customers themselves, is not the only area from which companies can take insight. He also recommended that firms delve into their financial results, internal employee data and operational results.

In Hayes' experience, combining feedback with other types of information is vitally important for firms interested in taking serious benefits from their experience management projects. One of the benefits of big data programs is their ability to synthesize unstructured data silos into coherent results.

New retail initiatives could make data use more important than ever in sales, with leaders using customer preferences to determine a number of variables.  According to the New York Times, retail chains that relocate their operations from primarily suburban spaces into city sites with limited display space often perform analyses of their shoppers to determine an appropriate product mix.