How To Use Big Data To Improve Your Ecommerce Business

In exploring the ways big data can improve your eCommerce business, what are some ways you’ve started to dive in?

Big Data has taken the world of eCommerce by storm. These days, it seems as though everyone is hopping on the trend of trying to get in-depth customer insights that can help their business grow. And with 51% of Americans preferring to shop online, it’s no wonder why everyone is trying to get an edge.

However, while it seems as though Big Data is here to stay, it’s not something everyone knows how to use. After all, you’re talking about taking a large chunk of information and categorizing it into segments that can be targeted and acted upon, which a lot of small businesses find overwhelming. Yet, with a little bit of knowledge, you too can be ahead of the curve in comparison to your competition. Here’s how:

In order to know what data points to use, you first have to determine what data you need to collect. This includes examining not just the trends for your store but the entire industry, and how your company is competing. For example, let’s say that I have an online t-shirt business that specializes in next day screen printing. While I know I personally see growth around the time when school gets back into session due to clubs, organizations, and teams ordering, when are the other peak times across the board? Why do these customers go to my competition over me?

To compare ourselves to others, we need to look at two things: what others are doing that you’re not, as well as what untapped customer segments might be overlooked across the board. So, going back to our t-shirt example, perhaps your competition has more retainer contracts because they offer custom design or have different sets of ink/printing processes. While affordability is obviously going to come into play, the data you collect and compare will be huge in trying to decipher where and when you need to expand your offerings.

A significant part of using big data in your eCommerce site is being able to organize your customer segments into categories that are actionable. While attracting customers is almost always the goal for any small business, it can’t be done all at once.