Transforming B2B Retail with Real-Time Customer Analytics Powered by IoT
Real-time customer analytics are a great way for businesses to understand what their customers need and want. The real-time aspect of these analytics helps businesses to make critical decisions at the moment that could deliver a positive influence on the company and its customers.
Customer analytics that are powered by IoT are perhaps some of the most insightful and detailed out there. With the smart home market projected to reach a staggering $154.4 billion in 2024, IoT devices are gold for business data.
Within the B2B retail sector, IoT devices deliver a lot of valuable information that helps a business deliver better products and services to its customers. In this guide, you’ll learn all about the influence of IoT, its growth, and how it plays a crucial role in real-time customer analytics.
If you’re looking to maximize your effectiveness when it comes to operating in the B2B retail industry, then here’s how to transform your business with the use of IoT-powered analytics.
The importance of real-time customer analytics
Real-time customer analytics are important for a number of reasons. The customer experience is of course, paramount for any business, which is why businesses should utilize IoT devices and software. Here are just a few reasons why real-time customer analytics continues to prove useful for modern business.
Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
Satisfaction is key for customers to come back again and again. Particularly in B2B retail, it’s important to understand what the pinch points are for the business and how your services or products benefit their business for the better.
With real-time analytics, it allows you to understand and improve the customer services you provide from start to finish. After all, your business is just one of many out there, so it’s easy enough nowadays for a business to look elsewhere for its needs.
Quick decision-making
Within the retail industry, decisions need to be made quickly and with the result of benefiting the future of business operations and production. If the wrong decisions are made, then it’s likely going to have a knock-on effect whether that’s inventory and stock issues to supply chain delays.
With real-time customer analytics, more accuracy is contributed to the decisions made and hopefully, fewer mistakes are made.
Improved return rate on customer purchases
Any business nowadays understands the real value of repeat customers. Those who come back again and again to buy from your business, rather than go elsewhere.
Salesforce shared that 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience. Improving the return rate on customer purchases streamlines your efforts as a business to go out and acquire new customers and the need to continuously nurture existing customers.
How to transform B2B retail through IoT-powered analytics
Customer analytics that are powered by IoT are extremely effective in transforming B2B retail, regardless of what part of the retail industry you operate within.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how IoT-powered analytics help your business within this market.
Use automation to enhance business operations and maintenance
Automation has already proven to be an effective form of technology and it’s something that is found across a lot of software and tools used by businesses nowadays.
For B2B retail, automation is useful for enhancing business operations and maintenance efforts. A lot of retailers make use of distribution companies, unless, of course, they have their own fleet operations in place.
Regardless, retailers are able to automate their in-house and outsourced maintenance management with software like Fleetio.
Fleetio’s suite of cloud and mobile-based fleet management solutions and resources like this maintenance schedule template is useful for better operations. Being able to schedule regular maintenance to keep fleets on the road, rather than off them is great for business efficiency.
This software operates in real-time so the analytics delivered to businesses is highly influential because the information gathered is concise and accurate.
Use battery management software to improve sustainability
Sustainability is a major swaying point for customers nowadays when they choose who to spend their money on – particularly within retail.
It’s therefore important for businesses to work with other companies that are sustainable and eco-focused.
A battery management software service is great for retailers who want to enhance their fleet operations to improve vehicle life. Not only is it helpful for vehicle performance but it also provides insightful data to businesses that help manage, optimize, and enhance battery performance.
In general, any battery system benefits from this unique software which is applicable in a digital and technology-heavy retail industry.
Personalize customer experiences for repeat purchases
IoT is useful for personalizing the experience of your customers. From Bluetooth devices that help indicate when shoppers come in-store to sending promotions to those within the vicinity of your physical stores.
Just like you would with email marketing, you’re able to personalize your interactions with customers as this is likely to encourage repeat purchases as a result.
Being able to provide services or products to your clients that deliver this level of personalization to their customers is what will keep them on your books for the long term.
Speed up checkout in-store and online
Many retailers encounter similar issues when it comes to speeding up the process of checking out a customer. As such, businesses are looking for software and tools that help solve this problem and improve their customer’s experience as a result.
With the use of IoT, retailers use radio frequency identification on their products in-store. A notable example of this deployed by a brand is Amazon. Opening a number of stores, RFID tags produce a signal that enables the user to simply input their Amazon account as they enter and there’s no need to queue up to pay.
Not only does it satisfy customers but it makes processes more efficient, which as a business is a real benefit.
Scannable QR codes are now also being used alongside RFID to help pay via smartphones. It’s this type of IoT technology and software that is quickly transforming B2B retail. As a provider to businesses within retail, developing the next hot technology trend is key to your success.
Keep your employees engaged
Employee engagement is important within any business so if you’re able to help your business clients with the happiness of their staff, that’s an added bonus.
Employees are responsible in many ways for the success of the business, especially for its revenue and profitability in customer-facing environments like retail.
Using IoT devices and having quick access to customer information, they’re able to make their own decisions that might influence more positive customer interactions.
With employee turnover rates being high in general, it’s worth looking further into how IoT software is benefiting the employees responsible for bringing in the profit and the all-important upsells.
The influence of IoT and its recent growth
IoT has quickly been garnering popularity in recent years and this is likely down to all of the development within the technology market itself. These technologies underpin the IoT and so directly benefit as a result.
Many businesses within the retail sector and across other industries have made an active effort to deliver and upscale IoT services, platform solutions, and devices that are connected to the internet.
As more technological advancements are made, IoT technology becomes a lot easier to implement. B2B retail benefits a lot from IoT despite a lot of its existence being primarily found on the internet.
In-person retail spots rely on a lot more technology now to streamline their efforts in order to improve customer experience. Whether that’s through digital advertising screens, knowledge bases on tablet devices, and POS systems.
With around 90% of retailers making use of IoT, it’s worthwhile investing your time and money into it as a business in order to help your business customers succeed.
Explore the benefits of IoT-powered analytics for B2B retail
The landscape of retail and how we shop nowadays has changed significantly and will only likely change in the future. That’s why data is essential to have in abundance and especially in real-time.
Explore the benefits of IoT-powered analytics and the platforms that deliver that data B2B retail this year and beyond.
