Retail businesses take advantage of 'mining' data to make money

Four years ago, Tiki founder Tran Ngoc Thai Son asked the technical team to save all data during the entire operation. Every customer interaction, from clicks to mouse movements on the website, is remembered.

Mr. Son proudly said that after saving and using screening technology, the company now owns a customer database with a 25% accuracy rate of personal information, date of birth, place of residence... while the average rate of Vietnamese retailers is currently somewhere around a few percent. "For example, if we want to know what time the customer buys, where they are, whether they are male or female, many retail companies find it difficult," Mr. Son said.

Information about the characteristics and habits of each customer is very important for an e-commerce company. It is the basis for implementing targeted and personalized advertising activities.

“When you go to the website, you will see shopping suggestions. When you read the New York Times, you will see it running. Our point of view is that our own data is not enough, we have to combine with partner companies like Google or Facebook to enrich the data,” Mr. Son described his “thirst” and the importance of data to his business operations.

Similar to Tiki’s approach, A Day Roi also spares no expense in investing in data mining and application technology. Ms. Mai Thi Lan Van – Marketing Director of A Day Roi refused to share the specific investment figure, but affirmed that she pays great attention to this area.

As a result, a mother who has bought diapers for her child on the system will be remembered by the technology and automatically run ads reminding her to buy diapers every month. The artificial intelligence even suggests other products, suitable for the process of the child growing up. Simply put, this technology makes customers feel cared for individually and according to their needs.

“Our orientation at this stage is to collect customer information and verify its accuracy. That is the question we always ask ourselves to suggest the right products and customers do not feel bothered,” Ms. Van said, revealing that she is trying to take advantage of the data set from VinID, a member customer system in the VinGroup ecosystem.

It is not only e-commerce businesses that need to "dig" data to optimize efficiency. Last year, the retail market was surprised when Saigon Coop "turned around". This system publicly disclosed data on the fast-moving consumer goods industry with Neilsen - a decision that the board of directors admitted was "brave".

Neilsen and other retailers were also “happy” because before, the picture of the Vietnamese fast-moving consumer goods market was only missing a set of data from Saigon Coop. Now, the picture is complete, beneficial to all parties.

“Speaking of data, not only state-owned enterprises are concerned about security, but all companies are. There is simply a trade-off. When we share data, we accept that the market knows a part of our data, but in return, we know the rest of the market. When we put it on the scale, we see that the benefits are much greater than the security concerns,” commented Ms. Nguyen Linh Trang - Deputy General Director of Saigon Coop.

Ms. Trang admitted that since the data was published, the business performance of the system has also increased significantly. All decisions are now based on data and are more transparent. Adding or cutting an item is based on the actual developments of the whole market. This evidence also helps retailers "talk" more easily with suppliers when negotiating the "fate" of an item in the supermarket.

According to Ms. Trang, the retail industry is the second largest data collector, after telecommunications. Therefore, over the past 20 years, Saigon Coop has retained all data. However, analyzing big data requires technology. Cleaning raw data also takes up 80% of the analysis process time.

In addition to exchanging data with Neilsen, this retailer also established a data department, with a staff of nearly 30 people to "dig" into the data warehouse and evaluate consumer behavior.

“In terms of consumer behavior, awareness and preferences, Vietnam in particular and Asia in general are among the fastest changing regions. Products that were popular 3 years ago may not still be selling, let alone losing their popularity. Therefore, if we analyze behavior, we do not need 20 years of data, but only a few years of analysis,” Ms. Trang shared, at the same time.also frankly said that data mining has so far been added value, helping to increase revenue for the retail industry. However, it is a must-do before the race to see who understands consumers better.

“Everything is happening very fast. It requires courage and huge investment from businesses. I see it as a trend, a problem that can be successful but not necessarily now. But I dare to do it, even though I will have to go through many things, from opposition from people inside, costs or even initial failures,” Ms. Trang said.

“It is inevitable that there will be businesses transforming with a well-planned digital strategy, in which data analysis is an important component, to optimize operations and capture new growth opportunities. In order not to be left behind in the digital revolution, this is the time for businesses to start asking specific questions and finding answers in data,” commented the expert group Nguyen Quoc Toan - Vu Quoc Hien of EY Vietnam.