Before shedding any light on how useful big data proves to be for businesses, let’s just take a quick detour to what big data is, and its mechanization. Big data is a large set of structured and unstructured data. Its complexity and extensiveness does not allow the conventional data processing techniques to deal with it. It is described by using these 4 V’s: Volume, Velocity, Variety, and Veracity. The way we store data is associated with its volume. There is a multitude of sources from where businesses store data. Sales transactions and social media are just a few of them. Pooling of this data was difficult in the past. With the shrewd big data technologies, storing this data will be much easier. Velocity denotes the real time data. Data that is streamed in real time has to be dealt with immediately. The different data formats such as video, text, image, and audio refer to the variety of data. Veracity is the unstructured data. Today many businesses still lack the expertise to handle every form and type of data.
Among the many facets of big data, we will now focus on why and how it is important for businesses.
Getting accustomed to the intricacies of the market
The current market trends are understood and analyzed without any issue with the help of big data. Take for instance the purchasing patterns of the customers; businesses will get an idea of the products in demand. This way, the products most sought would be available which is impacting customer care. Big data is the perfect tool to get an insight of your customers. It can prophesize their needs in advance and hence provides better results in customer service. User issues can be minimized and dealt with in time. Any negative feedback on your social media channels or website can be detected and the tools urge you to take prompt action.
Saving up bucks
Initial implementation of big data tools sure is expensive. But once started it eventually saves you a lot of money in the long run. The real time systems lay off the burden from the shoulder of the IT staff. These newly freed resources can be used somewhere else. Not only will you be able to gather a huge amount of data, but you also have guaranteed data accuracy. Launching a new business is a period full of concerns. The first period is of paramount importance since business requires most care in its infancy. Here are the ten reasons why big data is pivotal for business start ups.
1. Linking to your customer
Customers today are very different from how they used to be decades ago. Today, people search for the smallest thing they wish to buy. Extracting information and the market value of items is a piece of cake. With the resources readily available people are quick to exploit. With big data, you can analyze the likes and dislikes of your clients and communicate with them. Unsatisfied customers are quick to leave.
2. Shape your product and services to customer needs
You can make adjustments to your product according to the customer interests. Social media data is unstructured, but the analysis brings to light the sentiments of the customers categorizing them on the basis of location, gender, interests, etc.
3. Safety of your data
Your company’s entire landscape can be under scrutiny with big data. This helps identifying any potential threats. Any information that requires attention would instantly be noted and flagged.
4. Market growth
Big data helps picking up the preferences of your customers. The sales and marketing data tells a lot about customer requirements. However, it is important to note that unorganized data is not useful. With big data, all the information like inbound data remains organized and can be processed in a short amount of time.
5. Squeezing revenue from the collected data
New revenue systems can be drawn up from the extracted data as it can be sold as a non-personalized trend to other organization. The surveillance of user dynamics is profitable since you can sell the information to market players for whom the information is equally important. They will go to any lengths financially to get the information.
6. Personalizing data according to the customer preference
On many websites similar items pop up when you search for certain one. The items are of similar nature and are in line with what you have been searching for. This really helps in choosing things of your choice from the array of options. Big data customizes the site in real time and organizes data according to the customer interest.
7. Connected and smarter cities
The benefits provided by big data are being exploited by more and more cities to upgrade the lifestyle of the citizens and to protect the environment. Big data technology can support criminal investigations and decrease crime rates. It also helps companies by providing exact data on energy waste, giving them an opportunity to act more efficiently and protect the environment.
8. Recruiting the eligible candidates
In various organizations, there is already an HR-related database: absence, productivity data, self-development reviews, etc. Companies are now able to squeeze out as much data as possible to improve their workforce.
9. Improving operations
With any business generating data, that data can be used to make improvements and leverage efficiency. Manufacturing industries use smart tools that are connected, data-enabled and constantly report the statuses. Retail companies can easily optimize their stock with the help of predictions received from the collected data. The stores can stockpile the most popular items, this ensures they don’t miss any sales as well as any unwanted items laying around useless. Logistics and supply chain also benefit from big data analytics. The sensors and GPS are used here for tracking and delivering goods. The live traffic data is integrated to winnow out the clear path for the delivery.
10. Leveraging big data without the need of any extra resources
Low cost does the icing on the big data cake. Once purchased you do not need any additional resources or investments. The low-cost cloud enabled solutions can be deployed depending on your company’s needs. In its infancy big data was quite expensive, but things have changed over time with new subscription payment models.
Wrapping it up
The above reasons justify the statement that big data is not only a buzz word, but it is also a serious commitment. The term holds a deeper insight into business trends, customer behavior and market projections. Analytics can be harnessed to its full potential and new businesses are springing up can predict their individual customer’s needs and preferences. The Data can be viewed as many times as possible to learn new things and to spot any discrepancies.
Many people argue that organizations have got so much data at their disposal. No one has the slightest clue to the difficulty encountered at converting that knowledge into action. It would be wise to jump on the big data train, otherwise you may be left behind by your competition.
About the author:
Emma Braun is a professional content writer and a passionate freelance blogger. She is currently administrating the blog at Craftedium!