Seven reasons ecommerce businesses need a BI tool

At Patchworks, we sift through a lot of data.

And we know when you’re running an ecommerce business, it’s important to make sure that you’re not getting your wires crossed and everything you need is displayed as neatly as possible in front of you.

That’s why a business intelligence (BI) tool is something every ecommerce company needs; here’s some of the benefits.

Get quick, concise insights into your business

Organising and analysing data manually is a tedious and lengthy process, but it’s also a huge part of running a successful business. A BI tool, however, lets you skip straight to the part where you’re looking at your compiled data to draw conclusions. That means you don’t need a data specialist dedicating their day to unravelling data; even someone who’s non-technical can draw conclusions from it.

Think of it like a TV remote, fast forwarding past all of the ads to get back to the good bits. It’s backed up by data, too: 91% of BI users said they saw a good or moderate increase to the speed of their reporting, analysis or planning.

Increased overall efficiency

Faster data collection and analysis is something which will snowball across your entire business. When there’s less time spent on gathering data, more time can be allocated to developing new projects and products. In fact, readily available data analytics leads to five times faster decision making.

Many BI tools also feature a dashboard which can join data sources from across an entire organisation. That means different teams and departments don’t need to waste time hunting down information; it’s all there on one screen.

Identify trends ahead of the competition

Businesses should always be looking for a competitive edge, and a BI tool is a huge one. By storing enormous amounts of data in an easy to navigate dashboard, companies can examine market trends and get ahead of the competition by planning and budgeting in advance.

You can even monitor your competitors’ sales to see where they’re beating you and where you might be able to take advantage of a gap in the market. Considering 54% of business professionals say their company needs to be more driven by analytics, a BI tool patches that issue perfectly.

Compile better quality and more accurate data

The saying goes, quality over quantity, but in the case of a BI, you get both. BI tools give you all the data you need without cutting out potentially important insights; but that doesn’t mean you’re overloaded with insignificant information.

The increased accuracy offered by a BI means everything on your dashboard is reliable, so if you need to make a quick decision and don’t have time to double check your source, you can rest assured that everything is based on available data.

Improve your customer experience

BI tools give you a clear oversight of all your data, and that includes data tied to your customers such as crash reports and how they journey through your website. By looking at these insights, you can reliably fix problems and make sure their experience is as smooth as possible.

You can also collect data such as customer ratings, surveys and mentions on social media. Gaining a deeper understanding of your consumers’ wants and needs is one of the best ways to start exceeding their expectations.

Better inventory management

Knowing what’s in and out of stock is essential for an online retailer, but managing inventory requires an enormous amount of administration. A BI tool can help show in real time how much of your inventory has been sold and what needs restocking, without the risk of human error.

You can even use it to get rid of slow-selling stock by identifying successful past discounts which might appeal to your customers.

Greater employee satisfaction and output

Different staff members have different talents and responsibilities. An executive whose job is to make decisions about new stock and sales might not have the know-how to detangle data to make an informed decision. The opposite is true as well: someone who’s a whizz at decoding and drawing conclusions from data might not have the sales experience to decide what products should be advertised based on that.

With a BI tool, everything is in one easy-to-process space allowing quick, informed decisions to capitalise on trends. That means your employees don’t need to struggle with things outside of their comfort zone, boosting their productivity.

If you’re looking for a reliable BI platform, Patchworks BI has all the tools you need to run an efficient and successful business. Get in touch with our team here.