Companies offering data and analytics to their customers have a competitive advantage and reap the benefits of increased revenue and loyalty. However, there are some challenges to overcome, reveals new research from AI-driven analytics platform Sisense. For example, 53 percent of respondents wish their analytics experience was more aligned with user-friendly entertainment applications, such as Netflix and Spotify.
The firm’s new study, The Business Intelligence Landscape, conducted by The Harris Poll among product decision makers, highlights that:
Analytics drive business value
Nine in 10 (92 percent) of product decision makers say that data and analytics are critical to the success of their businesses. More than 4 in 5 (86 percent) say that offering data and analytics to their customers plays a critical role in not only the satisfaction of those customers but also in terms of building and retaining loyal customers.
And for a direct tie to the bottom line, 96% note that an increase in average selling prices would be possible with personalized and customized analytics, with 46 percent noting they could charge 10-19 percent more for their products and services because of the analytics they provide.
Benefits of embedded, actionable personalized intelligence
Nearly all decision-makers (94 percent) feel companies that are able to deliver data and analytics at the right time to the right people are considered innovative.
Other key points:
- 96 percent believe their customers are interested in having AI-driven insights that can provide actionable, personalized intelligence in the context of their activity
- 97 percent think their customers are interested in analytics provided in the context of the task the user is completing
- 97 percent note that customers want analytics more personalized to the specific end user
- 96 percent feel customers want data customized to their industries or consumer activity
- 95 percent think their customers want interactive analytics
- 56 percent believe that customers would find prescriptive analytics most useful
Looking to the future, 81 percent of product decision makers say that if they could provide their customers with personalized data and analytics, it should be provided by embedding those into communication software or platforms, custom-built apps or off-the-shelf business or SaaS applications.
Current barriers to success with analytics
While the numbers above speak to the opportunity, 83 percent of decision makers think their customers currently are making decisions without proper data and analytics at least sometimes. However, product decision makers cite barriers in being able to deliver such offerings. Forty-one percent of decision-makers cite legal and compliance requirements as an issue. 38 percent say their customers have difficulty accessing information. And this access may in large part be due to the fact that 92 percent of decision makers deliver data and analytics to customers via non-embedded methods such as email and dashboards, requiring them to disrupt their workflows to go elsewhere for critical information.
Predicting what’s next for analytics in 2022
“The results from this third-party study are directly in line with what we are hearing from our customers and see in 2022 for analytics. Firstly, we expect organizations will redefine what it means to build a ‘culture of analytics’ by bringing insights to workers in a more digestible way, such as embedding them into regular processes so no new skills are required. Secondly, most data-driven organizations will combat tool fatigue by bringing data to workers where they are, directly within their workflows,” said Sisense chief product and marketing officer, Ashley Kramer, in a news release.
“And lastly, we see automation turning descriptive analytics, that demonstrate what already happened, and predictive analytics, profiling what will happen, into prescriptive guidance, focusing on what the best course of action to take is to make smart, proactive decisions,” Kramer continued.
Findings are based on an online survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Sisense among 503 product decision makers in the US. All respondents (referred to as “product decision makers” throughout the report) are age 18+, work full time at a company with at least 200 employees, with the title of director or higher in either a research and development or engineering department and have at least some influence in decisions made for embedding analytics solutions into the delivery of their product or service. Respondents’ company must also deliver their product or service through technology platform or software application and serve B2B or B2C customers. The survey was conducted between October 12 – November 1, 2021.
