What Can Big Data Do For A Small Business?

Large corporations regularly use big data to get insight on consumer behavior, target their marketing and boost revenue.

But small businesses typically do little with big data. Until now, most owners have considered it too difficult, too expensive and just plain intimidating.

That’s changing. These days an increasing number of small businesses are collecting and crunching volumes of data to lift their sales.

“Small businesses shouldn’t be scared off by big data,” says Steve King, partner at Emergent Research and coauthor of the recent report The New Data Democracy: How Big Data Will Revolutionize the Lives of Small Businesses and Consumers. “The growth of the Internet, wireless networks, smartphones, social media, sensors and other digital technology is fueling a big data revolution. Big data was the exclusive domain of statisticians and large corporations but not anymore.”

There is now an array of technologies that give small businesses access to cost-effective, sophisticated data analytics. Google AdWords, for one. It’s a big data app that offers small firms market insight, improved decision-making ability and better bottom-line results—all those tools that were once the exclusive domain of corporations.

King gives an example. The Spillers Group, a company that owns three restaurants in Dallas, uses a data application called Roambi that enables it to share among management all the business information it collects, including point-of-sale data, labor metrics and accounting numbers. With Roambi, Spillers can link managers’ pay to their restaurant’s performance. The app has also cut Spillers’ labor costs 10%, saving thousands of dollars every two weeks.

“Before their data was a hodgepodge,” King says. “They had sales data in one place, supply data in another place and staffing data in another—and they never looked at how to bring them all together. So they were inefficient when it came to scheduling and supplies. When they brought the data together they discovered quickly they could cut costs by making minor changes. That’s a huge win.”

Small businesses that use data intelligently can do business better. They can improve pricing and just-in-time supply chains. They can find cheaper suppliers that are closer to their location and that offer more price transparency.

Small businesses can also use data to tailor products and services to individual customers. “Local shopkeepers once knew what their customers liked, right down to color, size and taste,” King says. “Big data is bringing back personalized service by giving businesses greater insight into consumer preferences, many times without even talking to them, because customers leave digital footprints when they use the Internet, use a credit card or post on Facebook FB +5.36%.”

It’s the same information that shopkeepers once collected and memorized from behind the counter. Modern merchants can now gather that data digitally and use it to deliver the goods and services customers want. Result: more loyal customers and higher sales.

Businesses can identify key customers and treat them better. They can understand customer patterns, know when they’re likely to come in and reward them for multiple visits.

“All this big data is helping to level the playing field for small businesses,” King says. “Even though the field is still tilted in favor of big business, big data is a way for small business to fight back. A lot of this stuff is made easy for small business, like Google GOOG +0.27% Analytics. You don’t have to be a data scientist to use these tools and get good insights.”

Roofing contractors are not the first professionals who spring to mind when you think cutting-edge technology. But some roofers are using big data to drastically cut their costs. A contractor used to take a call, drive to look at a roof and, often, realize it was not a job he could take on. That meant time and money wasted. Smart roofing companies use big data to avoid that expense. A contractor gets a call, takes an address and inspects the roof at Google Earth. If he does the job, he can use Google Earth to check out the roofs of other homes in the neighborhood and offer the owners a deal.

“Another trend is the rise of sensors to track and make decisions,” King says. “Small businesses are starting to benefit from that. FedEx has a cool product called SenseAware that lets you put sensors on perishable packages. It provides a shipment’s exact location, precise package temperature and information on whether a package has been opened or exposed to light or whether it was dropped, based on the recorded G forces.”

Nice breakdown. I’m gonna have to go read Stu’s take on that state. People forget this, but Begich was not declared the winner until the week of Thanksgiving. On election night Ted Stevens – who was found guilty less than two weeks before Election Day – was ahead by a couple thousand votes, but so many votes came from far-flung places that eventually Begich won.

(Side note: They’d eventually have a 60-senator caucus, but Dems went to sleep Election Night ’08 with only 56 certain! Oregon, Alaska and Minnesota hadn’t been called, and Specter was 6 months away from switching parties.)

In each of those top four races you’ve listed, Rs are trying to re-litigate the health-care law. Begich, Pryor, Landrieu and Hagan all voted for “Obamacare” and this is their first time on the ballot since. Republicans believe they can nationalize these races around those votes. Once again Senate Rs will try to nationalize the races, and Ds will once again run these races as mini-presidential campaigns built around the individual personalities and the broad cross-section of positions taken by incumbents.Read the full story at www.ecived.com/en!