BI Software In India Retail: Awareness High, Deployment Low

 In a conversation with Biztech2.com, Niraj Jaipuria, director-Product Engineering, BIRetail, explains how Business Intelligence (BI) software in retail has taken Information Reporting to advanced levels, allowing retailers instant access to information across various dimensions, filtering and sorting based on the dynamic needs of the retailer, and making instant information available, with no technical expertise required.

How does BI software work?

BI software allows organisations to make smart and informed business decisions using data that exists in their transactional systems. For example, Point-of-Sale systems (POS). Initially, data is collected from databases within an organisation and loaded into a central data warehouse. After the initial data load, only incremental changes are copied on an on-going basis.

Sophisticated algorithms are then executed on the data to perform aggregations and calculations that are used to get 360-degree views of the data; users can access these views through any Internet browser from anywhere. They can interactively slice and dice data and generate meaningful reports using simple drag-and-drop operations. These reports provide executives with instantaneous snapshots into the health of the entire business operation.

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What is the role of BI in retail?

BI is the means of analysing data collected by billing/ point-of-sale/ retail management software and extracting information from the same to assist in informed decision-making. It helps to better understand customer buying behaviour, to drive sales and profitability, and to reduce operational costs, which is a must for long-term survival. It is also beneficial in taking critical decisions like product pricing and discounts, which customers to inform on the arrival of new products, re-ordering of an existing product line, tracking the most profitable transactions, and optimising inventory levels for maximum profit.

How does BI help in marketing and customer management?

Retailers can build targeted promotions based on customer segmentation and purchasing patterns in specific locations as well as enhance new product introductions by understanding purchasing trends and forecasting how different markets and customer segments will respond.

Can BI also help in store operations?

BI Software can help retailers to streamline the ordering process and speed the flow of goods by using inventory and sales information to determine when to replenish merchandise; develop more effective product assortment plans based on individual store demographics and market trends — put the right products in the right stores at the right time; and improve customer service and satisfaction by speeding check-out processing times and reducing out-of-stocks and back-orders.

Can BI software help in improving inventory and supplier management?

With BI, retailers can improve inventory analysis to manage inventory levels for maximum productivity and help ensure that promotional inventory levels are forecasted and met. It can also help in formulating accurate allocation models for new stores and replenishment at existing locations as well as evaluation of vendor performance to maintain item quality and help ensure items are received in a timely manner.

How long does it take to implement BI solutions?

Typical implementation with conventional Business Intelligence software may take any where between eight to 12 months. However, BIRetail’s solution is based on the SaaS model and it contains pre-configured reports specific for the retail industry, which reduces the implementation time to as low as four weeks.

What is the awareness level for BI software in India?

Awareness is very high, but the level of deployment is low, which is why India is still a large, untapped market. An IDC report revealed that the advanced analytics software market is slated to grow at a CAGR of 22 percent over 2009–2013 in India.

Smaller businesses are now willing to invest in BI because of increased awareness about its benefits. However, lack of resources, financial and otherwise, constrains their ability to deploy costly BI software. However, new delivery models like SaaS would appear to be perfect for the smaller firm, as much money is saved in IT by having a host somewhere in cyberspace rather than a physical firm. The inherent ability of technologies like SaaS to reduce these price points to their fractions is what’s working to its advantage.

SaaS growth and momentum in the APAC region will last in the long run. Springboard Research estimates that the SaaS market in the region will experience a CAGR of 66 percent year-on-year between 2006 and 2010, and account for 15 percent of the enterprise applications software market by 2010.

Who are the early adopters of BI?

The early adopters of BI software in the retail segment in India are Reliance Retail, Future Group, Videocon (Next) and Victorinox.