How Retailers Are Using Data Mapping To Drive Growth

By Devin Partida, ReHack.com

Companies are constantly trying to manage the influx of data their customers are generating and for good reason. As customer data becomes more specific, it can provide valuable insights for companies, which can then be used to drive major business decisions.

It’s much easier for companies to use data visualization methods to understand the significance of that data more easily. One method that has proven effective for businesses across industries is data mapping.

Below is more about data mapping and how retailers can leverage it to fuel their growth in the upcoming year and beyond.

What Is Data Mapping?

As its name suggests, data mapping is a practice used by some businesses to visually organize data in a map to show relationships between at least two varied forms of data.

It’s important to recognize that humans can understand data more easily when used visually. This is because the brain processes visual information about 60,000 times faster than plain text.

Data is used to create different kinds of visual representations, such as radial trees, bubble clouds, bullet graphs, and infographics. Data mapping can be a useful tool for businesses, but especially for retailers.

Retailers always strive to meet changing customer needs. Many will use various marketing techniques to improve the customer experience (CX), leading to higher customer satisfaction. It’s widely known that happier customers tend to spend more.

Benefits Of Using Data Mapping In Retail

Data mapping offers plenty of benefits for all types of businesses. Small and midsized businesses (SMBs) generate a lot of customer data, from credit card information to email addresses and everything in between.

Often, companies will use machine learning (ML) algorithms to sort through that data, optimize prices, and make logistics processes highly efficient. Data mapping software also can come in handy to understand and draw conclusions from data.

Here are some of the benefits of data mapping for retail businesses of all sizes:

• Offers accurate, contextual information about customers in a given area
• Reveals hidden data trends that might not be as visible through plain text
• Shows characteristics of places that companies can expand into and profit from
• Data maps can show the political leanings of customers in a region

There are really no drawbacks to using data mapping software. Still, it is worth considering the up-front costs before leveraging it. Smaller businesses may have a more challenging time deciding whether or not to adopt data mapping software, which would heavily depend on their current financial situation.

How Does Data Mapping Provide Valuable Insights For Retailers?

With data maps, these are some examples of retail questions that can be answered:

• Who are my customers and what are their needs?
• Where can we find more potential customers?
• What geographical locations are we not reaching?
• Where can the business expand?
• How can the company improve service delivery?

When retailers can answer the questions listed above, they can then take actionable, intelligent steps to improve the functionality of their business operations. Here are examples of information that one e-commerce retailer used to fuel growth:

• Measured the ROI of location-based Facebook ad campaigns
• Identified new markets for brick-and-mortar locations
• Identified highly concentrated areas of customers

For example, suppose a retailer is interested in expanding their business internationally. They can use data mapping software to find areas of the world where their brand image is already established. From there, they can use market research to form viable marketing plans to help fuel their international expansion.

Data mapping uses both psychographic and demographic data to learn more about their existing and potential customers. In the current economic climate, retailers must use all the resources available to offer next-level CX.

Consider Leveraging Data Mapping To Drive Retail Growth

Data mapping plays a significant role in achieving business growth. Without it, companies may not be able to expand their business, meet changing customer expectations, or even function properly.

About The Author

Devin Partida is a writer and blogger interested in retail technologies and business solutions. To read more from Devin, visit ReHack.com, where she is the Editor-in-Chief.