by Victor Coscarella
My name is Victor Coscarella and I am the author of the 2020 POS Analytics Benchmark Study. When we embarked on this year’s study, we were curious to learn how product suppliers are engaging with data and how this data is being used to inform critical business decisions. We were surprised to find out that while much of the industry is actively analyzing POS data in some regard, 89% of respondents believe that they can be doing even more in terms of capitalizing on this vital source of data.
As the author/co-author of 3 previous reports, I knew that we would have to begin planning early if we were to produce a global study of this magnitude. In April of this year I sat down with John Pitman, Co-Founder and CEO of Krunchbox, to plan out our ambitions for a global study that would paint a clear picture of how culture, technology and data are shaping the industry. To this end, we determined that we would send a detailed 38-question survey to a broad group of suppliers. We wanted to assess how POS data is currently being used by suppliers and uncover where there is room for improvement. Our goal was to get a wide view of the industry by receiving feedback from suppliers across every retail vertical, including: Apparel, Beauty, Electronics, Housewares, Home Improvement and many others.
By late August we had received over 200 responses to our survey and we began processing and analyzing the troves of data that we had received. We were quite surprised with our initial findings. For example, we saw that 70% of respondents reported that their buyer expectations are on the rise and that two-thirds of respondents believe that their buyers are becoming increasingly receptive to data-backed recommendations. In terms of aspirations, it is clear that mobile access will be increasingly important in the POS analytics conversation. We found that 87% of respondents believe that mobile access to data will be increasingly important in the next three years, yet just 35% of respondents have a mobile component included with their current POS analytics solution.
Being the fourth report that I’ve now had the chance to work on, I was most surprised to find out just how many respondents told us that they are actively analyzing their POS data as compared with just a few years ago. In 2016, just 65% of the industry was actively analyzing their POS data. Fast forward three years later and 93% of the industry is reporting that they are actively analyzing their POS data, a remarkable improvement in just three years.
If you’re a product supplier selling into retail, I highly recommend that you download the 2020 POS Analytics Benchmark Study, sponsored by Krunchbox. It is the ultimate measuring stick to see how your company stacks up against the rest of the industry, and the definitive source to benchmark your current POS analytics process. You can learn more about the study and download a free copy of our newly released report here.