A UK survey on how data analytics supports better business decision-making across the UK retail sector, reveals that data quality is the biggest barrier for the 100 senior executives surveyed. The majority agree that having advanced data analytics tools offering predictive capabilities tops their agendas.
The Predyktable survey also highlights that data science skills shortages and the need for regulations guiding ethical exploitation of AI are key concerns. These factors are creating confusion and they are failing to help executives make smarter, more profitable, business-critical, future decisions.
The COVID hangover means that a short-term mentality remains. With profitability now the short-term goal for every retailer surveyed, supply chain optimisation, labour and demand forecasting are their top priorities to stay ahead.
However, 65% of executives say their data analytics tools aren’t providing the best value across the business. While flagging a clear ROI issue, over 50% believe it’s because their data analytics tools and approaches can’t deliver the data availability and quality to support confident future decision making. Other constraints include high perceived adoption costs of new systems or processes and unclear, poorly defined, data-driven strategies.
Navigating data ethics when using AI is major concern. Unsurprisingly, 70% of those surveyed are worried about the lack of regulations governing the safe exploitation of AI’s potential. Done correctly, this can augment data analytics to better support smarter, more confident future decision making. Key skills gaps are another issue, with over 80% of executives reporting shortages of data scientists.
Most current data analytics and business intelligence tools still don’t offer predictive capabilities to support and recommend on better future decisions. But 86% of executives surveyed view these as their most sought-after capabilities and 70% said they will favour those that cater for their specific business challenges.
Phillip Sewell, Predyktable’s CEO and co-founder said: “Our survey shows that to stay ahead in an ever-changing retail landscape, most senior executives lack the data quality and advanced predictive analytics capabilities needed to support profitable forward decision making. There’s universal agreement that more AI fuelled predictive data capabilities are required. Another big concern is the need for AI regulatory guardrails, so it’s safely and ethically exploited to help executives make more confident business-critical decisions on the future. These are the challenges for UK retailers that we’re uniquely placed to solve.”
Founded in 2022, Predyktable is a UK company enabling retail brands to make correct business-critical calls on ever-changing, complex environmental, economic and consumer behaviours. Predyktable’s advanced predictive analytics service combines cutting-edge data science and sector expertise to deliver pioneering, custom-built, machine learning models that uncover hidden patterns and correlations between retailers’ own data and much wider external data. The resulting insights enhance retailers’ future decision-making by accurately predicting ‘and recommending the most profitable actions.
Learn more at www.predyktable.com
