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Big data has tremendous potential in revolutionizing business intelligence. Have you ever heard of “information overflow?” This term has gained popularity over the last decade because of the digitized business ecosystem, which has data flowing in from multiple channels, making it difficult, but essential, to evaluate them and draw productive conclusions. This insight can leverage your business significantly amid the competitive clutter of the business world. Today, as much as 65% of global brands are willing to integrate big data technologies to stay competitive.

Consider Intel, a company that integrated big data technologies back in 2012. The company has successfully incorporated these to evaluate historical data for marketing purposes, garnering massive savings in the subsequent years. From an optimized supply chain to analytics, these technologies can cut costs in various areas of your business.

Let’s have a look at the five prime areas where big data can slash operational costs for enterprises.

Customer relations


Companies worldwide have come up with various post-sales strategies to gauge their customer satisfaction levels. They give surveys, seek feedback from customers both online and offline, check out reviews, and invest tons of money in assessing how satisfied their customer is. Integrating big data tools can simplify the process, reducing costs overall.

Sophisticated tools have been developed to track the buying journeys of customers. This helps business firms correctly shape their campaigns, reducing failed marketing drives and costs.

While companies strive to enhance their fulfilment operations , it is important to keep costs low. For instance, fraudulent orders lead to company losses. Customers of e-Commerce businesses often order goods and opt for COD payments (cash on delivery), only to cancel the order at the last minute. Sometimes, customers never receive the products they bought. Analysing the purchasing and ordering habits of customers can help businesses make predictions on the likelihood of a sale. They can react accordingly which would result in significant savings.

Improving the supply chain


Big data technologies have a widespread application for optimizing supply chains. They can help companies manage their inventories and provide better delivery services to their customers. Take Amazon, for instance. Today’s largest e-Commerce company has already integrated big data techniques to optimize their supply chain. This enables them to offer an unprecedented level of service to their customers.

Big data also strengthen the optimization processes of warehouses and fulfilment centers. Amazon incorporates predictive analytics and big data for “anticipatory shipping” of its products. It has more than 200 fulfilment centers worldwide, of which 90 are located within the United States. The products are procured on the basis of purchase history and sophisticated demand driven Material Requirement Planning. This reduces shipping costs, as well as time. Factors like seasons, economic conditions, and weather are taken into consideration when studying the acquired data.

Performance


Big data technologies leverage business operations by enhancing the way they interact with their customers. In recent years, businesses have integrated automated processes to enhance their performance. As companies collect more and more data on their customers, their habits and intricacies of their supply chain, the volume of gathered information reaches an unprecedented level way beyond capabilities of traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. As a result, a new market for big data connects ERP system has emerged. For instance, SAP HANA has become the defacto industry standards for in-memory data processing systems which allows a large volume of data to be analyzed using various big data tools and generates inferences to automate their systems. This reduces operational costs greatly. Business intelligence that is generated from analytics enhances the reliability, maintenance, and productivity of a business. When machines are digitally monitored and data generated by the systems is analyzed using big data tools, it reduces downtime and bolsters the productive capacities of businesses. In the oil and gas industry, the data-driven approach cuts down on unplanned downtime by as much as 36%. A predictive approach, evidently, can reduce delays, and costs, for businesses.

Reducing costs in marketing strategies


For businesses, understanding customer profiles is immensely important. Even a couple of decades back, a manual process was used to study customer behaviour, and then companies would come up with their own marketing strategies. With the globalization of business and the information explosion, it has become almost impossible to continue in this manner.

Today, you need to come up with multi-channel marketing campaigns. Successful marketers integrate big data technologies to evaluate customer behaviour and make strategic business decisions.   

Cutting costs on logistics


One of the most important benefits of big data for e-Commerce businesses is that it can save product return costs. On average, the cost of product returns is 1.5 times that of the actual shipping. By integrating big data analytics, companies can assess the possibilities of products being returned. These tools can identify the products that are most likely to be returned, and can allow companies to take the necessary measures to reduce losses and costs.

The most common items that are returned, or exchanged, are garments, shoes, and fashion accessories, to name a few. The common factors leading to product returns include faulty products, incorrect sizes, unmet standards, etc. Companies can find out which cities have the most product returns, or which customer frequently exchanges goods, by integrating big data technologies. They can also adopt a proactive approach, calling customers to seek feedback on a product. This can help businesses cut down on expenses in transportation and logistics.

Conclusion


Big data can significantly reduce enterprise costs, optimizing expenses and directing the company towards productive shores. SAP HANA and more importantly ERP systems based on and designed for in-memory computing platforms like SAP S/4HANA allows organizations to transform business processes and utilize Big Data to help cut costs and increase profits. This will leverage the productivity of your business, eliminating unwanted costs substantially. Contact reputed companies for their expertise and integrate advanced big data tools to your platform for cost savings.