Blog | Deploying Data

Meaningful data, and the ways to gather meaningful data, came up as key themes in our recent European retail research report, Recovery Solutions and Store Strategies for Retail Brands. The 100 European retail executives that we spoke to shared their strategies for gaining customer data as well as their plans for how they will use that information.

We have taken that theme of data — its importance and the ways in which European retail brands are working with it — and have created a solution paper that extracts some of the key findings from the larger research report (also worth a read). In the solution paper we apply examples of how Scala solutions can help retailers of all types gather the information that they need and then use that data to better serve their customers, increase customer loyalty, reduce waste and produce more effective marketing campaigns.

Online shopping has risen dramatically in the last 18 months but that doesn’t mean that the in-store experience has been forgotten. As cities have reopened, people have ventured into shops and, as our research report shows, retail brands are still investing in bricks and mortar. The data gained from the increase in ecommerce during lockdown is being used by brands to better inform in-store operations such as determining product ranges in-store and supplementing staff training.

At Scala, we say that we like to help retailers bring the best of online to the in-store experience. This means creating a shopper experience that is convenient, smooth, offers relevant choice, minimises frustrations and which also helps brands build more meaningful relationships with their customers. Our digital signage solutions help retailers communicate more clearly with customers and can convey far more information than paper marketing materials (with less waste as well). In addition to digital signage, we also help retailers learn more about customer behaviour and optimise their marketing messages so that they have the greatest impact. Walkbase is a Scala solution that can be used to help retailers follow the customer journey, helping with product positioning and staff deployment. Indeed, occupancy management was another key area of interest to those retailers that took part in the research report, as was offering an omnichannel experience and employing technology to more clearly communicate with customers.

Take a look at the overall report and the solution paper. We have another paper on how brands can better use their car park space which may also be of interest.

I’ll also be taking part in a webinar discussing the findings of our research report with Pavan Pidgu, Former Head of Technology, Walmart and Bhushan Sonawane, Director of Product Management, Walmart. The Webinar takes place on Thursday, October 14th 3-4pm BST. You can find out more information and register for the webinar here.

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the information or solutions we present, we’d love to hear from you.