EMERGING AREAS OF

BUSINESS ANALYTICS
A report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of

MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(2018 - 2020)

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mrs.Shivinder Kaur Gurpreet Singh

(Assistant Professor) Section – C

Roll No.: 18421222

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

PUNJABI UNIVERSITY PATIALA

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INTRODUCTION
Biometric technologies have been used to identify and authenticate an individual based on a set of
identifiable and verifiable data unique to the individual. However, few biometric technologies till
recently have evoked a sense of awe, and at the same time, raised profound concern and reactions
in the Life Insurance industry as Facial Analytics.

FACIAL ANALYTICS
Facial Analytics (FA) – a part of biometrics – is a technology capable of identifying people from
their digital image. It is part of emerging science and advanced analytics that leverages image
processing technologies, AI and big data to analyze a person`s image and derive valuable
information that can be used for accurate decision-making. Today from a selfie, FA can examine
hundreds of points and thousands of regions on the face from which it is not only possible
to estimate Age, BMI and Gender, but also detect diseases and predict longevity! Facial analytics
is a process of biometric application capable of uniquely identifying or verifying a person by
comparing and analyzing patterns based on the person's facial contours. Facial intelligence is
mostly used for security purposes, though there is increasing interest in other areas of use

Areas of application of this technology in the Life Insurance value

chain:

1. Changing the face of underwriting

In the traditional risk assessment method, a life insurer’s standardized questionnaire provided
adequate information. They also gather other data with your permission to get insight beyond the
information you supply on the application to ensure that the risk selection was not adverse.

Underwriting based on a selfie, coupled with a scientifically formulated reflexive questionnaire

predicting accurate life expectancy and minimizing adverse selection, would be more effective
than the current techniques of risk assessment. It considers data and factors that are more predictive
about an individual’s future health and longevity.

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2. Enhancing customer engagement and experience

Today’s customer is looking for ease and agility while not compromising on the quality of the
experience. Facial analytics with the ability to speed up quoting and issuing process for the
consumer, while also providing an element of gamification, creates streamlined onboarding
experience with a very quick turnaround time (From Prospect to Policyholder in minutes – now
compared to weeks earlier). This is an innovative way for the insurance company to engage with
their policy holders and create a memorable experience.

3. Potential fraud detection tool

FA understands every multi-layered element within images and videos in the same way as humans
do. But what is fascinating is that it will soon take facial recognition to a new level by being able
to detect emotions – more specifically suspicious behavior. This has the power to transform the
way insurance companies process claims, assessing their validity more scientifically and
accurately than ever before.

Systems can analyze individual response and micro-emotion reactions to the question, and deliver
an assessment of their veracity to the insurer instantly, so that suspicious claimants can be flagged
for further investigation.

CHALLENGES

 Getting a Customer Profile is a Challenge.

 Real-time integration of Customer data with historical data.

 Personal recommendations, Service, engagement.

SOLUTION

Accuracy facial recognition technology embedded with Customer analytics with a real-time
integration platform changes the game changer for Retail business for improved selling,
recommendations, services and customer engagement.

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BENEFITS

 Knowing the Customer preferences without getting personal information

 Personalized recommendations to Customers.

 Better engagement, selling, Service.

RETAIL ANALYTICS

Retail analytics is the process of providing analytical data on inventory levels, supply chain
movement, consumer demand, sales, etc. that are crucial for making marketing, and procurement
decisions. The analytics on demand and supply data can be used for maintaining procurement level
and also for taking marketing decisions. Retail analytics gives us detailed customer insights along
with insights into the business and processes of the organization with scope and need for
improvement. Retail analytics focuses on providing insights related to sales, inventory, customers,
and other important aspects crucial for merchants’ decision-making process. The discipline
encompasses several granular fields to create a broad picture of a retail business’ health, and sales
alongside overall areas for improvement and reinforcement. Essentially, retail analytics is used to
help make better choices, run businesses more efficiently, and deliver improved customer service
analytics.

The field of retail analysis goes beyond superficial data analysis, using techniques like data mining
and data discovery to sanitize datasets to produce actionable BI insights that can be applied in the
short-term.

Moreover, companies use these analytics to create better snapshots of their target demographics.
By harnessing sales data analysis, retailers can identify their ideal customers according to diverse
categories such as age, preferences, buying patterns, location, and more.

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WHY WE NEED RETAIL ANALYTICS ?

We produce an overwhelming amount of data every day, roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes. According
to an IBM Study, 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years. It was perhaps
the beginning of the “big data era” everyone talks about. Today, this big data is driving business
operations and reshaping industries. Retail is one of the most widespread and dynamic industries
around the globe. It is also the industry that has benefited the most from analytics; the greatest by-
product of big data.

But why do retailers need analytics? Retailers face cut-throat market competition. Keeping up with
industry trends is essential to stay ahead in the race, especially in this omni-channel business space.
Also, as a customer-centric industry, retailers are constantly under the pressure to serve customers
better and retain them for longer periods. And, it’s not so easy to satisfy customers and match up
to all their expectations.

Retailers therefore need analytics to be able to understand business information better, gain
meaningful insights and overcome these challenges by making data-driven decisions.

Retail analytics is the process of studying retail business information and providing actionable
insights on the various critical aspects of retail, such as supply chain, inventories, customer
demands, and more.

Top business houses are already leveraging analytics for retail success and making the most of it.
Here are the 5 best reasons you must consider investing in retail analytics, if you haven’t already.

Consumer Behavior Insights

Analytics allows retailers to study consumer behavior and understand their buying patterns. This
is perhaps the biggest reason why retailers are investing in big data analytics. A study conducted
in the US reveals that while 96% people search for products online, 65% purchases are actually
done offline.

Consumer behavior insights enable retailers to understand why these things happen and offers a
solution to improve sales. It is especially a boon for e-commerce businesses, where heaps of

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customer details, such as most searched items, items added to cart, abandoned cart items, etc. are
easily accessible.

Marketing Strategies

Effective marketing is when you hit the right target using the right channels. Retail analytics helps
marketers strategize their activities efficiently based on consumer behavior patterns and run
profitable campaigns. As much as 13% retailers have already adopted “digital first” as their
preferred marketing strategy.

For instance, a family apparel store owner would be interested in knowing where his millennial
customers are most active and which channels are best to approach middle-aged customers for a
festive offer. Analytics helps with such minute details and helps pick the right campaign for every
customer group.

Personalized Offers

Customers love attention, and offering personalized deals is a great way to show your customers
that they are important. 75% consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognizes them
by name, recommends options based on past purchases.

But the trick lies in offering personalized deals to the right customer at the right time. Analytics
helps businesses track down transaction histories and consumer preferences. It indicates what the
customer wants, and allows retailers to offer similar choices at affordable rates, closing sales most
effectively.

Store Optimization

Although omni-channel retail is the new trend now, 49% consumers still go for in-store shopping
because they prefer to touch, feel or try a product before buying. One of the biggest advantages of
adopting retail analytics is that it helps in streamlining not just online retail operations, but also
helps boosting brick-and-mortar store performances.

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It helps retailers analyze minute details like how often a customer visits the stores and how long
he stays in which section and making further sales easier. With the help of analytics, it is also
possible to stock up sufficient inventories based on consumer demands and market trends.

Customer Satisfaction

9 out of 10 customers like to shop at stores that offer free delivery. Whereas, 42% of customers
rely on user reviews before buying a product. Customer satisfaction is the key catalyst behind retail
success.

By using analytics, retailers are able to offer the customer exactly what he wants and engage him
most effectively. This in turn helps in building a positive brand image, gaining trust and developing
long-lasting retail relationships.

Retail Analytics in India

In India, retail analytics is still in its infancy. Indian retailers like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons,
Arvind Mills and others have started leveraging the power of analytics but they have a long way
to go to catch up with global players.

On the other hand, India has become the global hub for retail analytics. This is driven not by
domestic retailers but by global retailers. Target, Tesco, Supervalu and Amazon are among the
many global players that have set up analytics shops in India. Global retail analytics providers like
AC Neilsen, IRI and Dunnhumby also have presence in India. Other analytics service providers
like Fractal analytics, Genpact, MuSigma, Manthan Systems, Marketelligent and Gramener are
also serving domestic and international retailers from their set ups in India.

Retail Analytic Techniques

1. Customer -centric marketing : Customer centric techniques is one of the most popular
applications of analytics in retail. It allows retailers to use the available data to get better insights
about their customers in order to serve them better.

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2. Supply Chain analytics

Supply chain analytics is also becoming popular. Wal-Mart is one of the best practitioners of this
science.

3. Price optimization

Price optimization involves using analytics to determine the optimal pricing of products and
services through their lifecycles. Price optimization leads to increased revenue and profits and has
a direct impact on the bottom line.

4. Market mix modeling

Market mix modeling helps a retailer evaluate the effectiveness of her marketing activities in order
to focus on the most useful ones.

5. Fraud detection

Fraud detection is a critical issue for retailers determined to prevent or minimize losses. Analytics
is very useful in building effective fraud control strategies.

4 common big data analytics challenges faced by retailers

1. Data identification –

Data classification is the essential step of the planning phase. To begin with, you must take one
project at a time. Once accomplished, you can get an idea of the success rate and jump to the next
project. You will also have the knowledge of what to include in the data and what provides you
more customized information crucial to growing your business. This is the time you should involve
your stakeholders and collaborator in your business decision making who can take the decision
according to the business direction and can take immediate necessary actions if and when the need
arises.

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2. Data security –

Most of the companies know the significance of security, but many ignore it due to the complexity
it creates. Initially, the big data analytics will not be providing any kind of security, as it only keeps
a small amount of the customer information for future analysis. However, in the later stage when
bulk data is gathered the big data analytics secures it from all the internal as well as external risks.
A secured platform is what’s expected in the real-time analytics, which will improve customer
loyalty and strengthen the bonding.

3. Big data governance strategy –

The resources from where you collect data should be true-blue, so that it can be trusted by users.
Big data analytics used as retail analytics should be stored with the highest security. If any
organization is using the data, then limitations should be defined in terms of how much data to use
and for what purpose. These data are just like valuable assets as they are customer’s record that
supports in understanding their behavior, taste, preferences, and budget. Hence, in the retail
environment, big data helps in generating value.

4. Data utilization –

Businesses are always in love with numbers. They decide to come to the final decision based upon
the numbers. But these numbers if not correctly made use of can ruin any business. When a
company is planning to launch a new product, it is the retail analytics outcome that they depend
upon to identify their target customers. The entrepreneur should have the ability to understand
which data is necessary and how to utilize that data with the previous data sources. For example,
you are selling glasses, so your target customers must be those who love eyewear such as specs or
lens. Thus, your focus must be on these prospects, and not on somebody who is looking for a purse
for his girlfriend. This first thing here is to know who your target customers are, or else, the result
can be terrible. Remember that harnessing Big Data for great in-store personalization is also an
important feature of retail analytics.

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BENEFITS OF RETAIL ANALYTICS

Analytics and business intelligence are among the top technology-priorities for retail CIOs. A
recent survey by the analyst firm Research found that 92% of CIOs and IT professionals feel the
Cloud is good for business, although only 31% admit to having adopted it . Cloud-based services
are popular with small and medium sized businesses (SMB) where IT budgets are minimal and
retailers don’t have the appetite for large-scale or long-term business intelligence implementation
projects. Although SaaS services are being adopted by bigger retail organizations – whose IT spend
areas are planned and budgets not constrained – to help CIOs reduce licensing and infrastructure
costs and trim staff requirements, it appears that the larger the company, the greater the resistance
to move to Cloud. There are compelling reasons, however, why the benefits of Cloud, particularly
in the context of Retail Analytics, will be impossible to ignore.

1. Reduced costs

With the Cloud, you only pay for what you need. Waste vis a vis overhead is eliminated, offering
financial flexibility. ‘Virtualisation’, thus, becomes an operating expense rather than capital
expenditure, minimizing bureaucracy.

2. Agility

With companies looking for ways to be more responsive to customer’s needs, organizations want
a flexible infrastructure. With the Cloud, investments in expensive infrastructure-maintenance,
back-office tasks, hardware and software are minimized, leaving IT organization free to focus on
their main task – run the business.

3. Flexibility

Perhaps the finest example of flexibility is the growth of hybrid clouds within enterprises. Hybrid
offers companies greater flexibility, allowing use of the public Cloud at times of peak demand
(e.g. retailers during the holiday season or for large data analysis projects), eliminating the need
for over-provision, enabling quick response-times to changes driven by business opportunities.
Employees can access data and services via smartphones, laptops and netbooks from anywhere.

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And, thanks to the new services in the Cloud, the ability to collaborate on files and documents
simultaneously is now a reality, reducing emails back and forth.

4. Big Data

A buzz-phrase today, Big Data, is shorthand for the ability of large companies to conduct advanced
analyses on their databases. Keeping up with information on customer data has been difficult to
manage in the past. The Cloud allows large companies not only to store data, but the necessary
computing power to sift through tons of unstructured data, and thereby stay ahead of competition
through advanced analytical prowess – hitherto the domain of scientists and esoteric-knowledge
specialists.

5. Development of Software

According to Salesforce, software development can be up to four times faster on the Cloud,
offering significant economies of scale. Best practices can be established and documented for
beginners, virtual machines can be deployed, and software installed and tested much faster. In fact,
only the Cloud can provide the large testing and development environments that large
organizations need.

6. Better Upgradability

According to a recent survey, up to 18 working days are spent per month on patches and updates
in the traditional mode. The larger the company, the more time and money spent on these tasks.
With the Cloud, the CIO can become a valuable partner in business development, rather than a
firefighter who spends time updating servers!

7. Greater Safety

Many CIOs perceive the Cloud as a security risk. Large companies are worried not only about
customer data, but being compliant with various regulatory regimes. However, the best security
practices can be built-in to the Cloud from the very start, including monitoring and continuous
auditing. Which means any irregular activity, such as hacking, can be detected and rectified almost
immediately. Since Cloud platforms perform a limited set of scalable tasks, there is a high degree

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of standardization in terms of computer hardware, network equipment, software applications and
operating systems making for a controlled environment that is easier to secure.

8. Easier Management

A digital panel shows the status of virtually everything that runs on the Cloud infrastructure,
allowing a CIO to identify and resolve problems quickly – difficult to achieve with traditional
infrastructure. The cloud is easier to handle but business-critical applications need vigilance,
especially in multi-tenanted environments where organizations want their data and applications to
be controlled by them alone.

9. More Business

The Cloud changes practically everything in the IT organization. In addition to developing

strategies to ensure close alignment with current and future business needs, IT departments can
finally become an asset to the organization, instead of a leak in the bottom line. Decentralization
increases business flexibility and streamlines disaster recovery and network. New approaches to
scalable application computing simplify the IT infrastructure by merging many essential elements,
including storage, load balancing, database and caching. Unlike traditional infrastructures, the
Cloud provides an architecture in which additional capabilities are added by “scaling horizontal”
helping not only prevent the loss of jobs, but making businesses more agile and aligned to
objectives.

10. The ‘Green’ Dimension

There is also a green aspect to the Cloud that can help companies achieve their CSR business
objectives. By eliminating the need for companies to invest in setting up their own data centres,
not only is material waste reduced by way of less hardware but fewer computing resources are
required on the desktop. In addition, less infrastructure on site means less equipment to insure.

SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYTICS

This set of tools assesses and quantifies the interactions by individuals in social environments.
SNA techniques provide new metrics which can yield more detailed information on users, such as

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which network actor (node in SNA terminology) has the most influence, so as to then adjust the
marketing strategy, uncover communication patterns, or understand how a customer behaves. The
networks and their interactions tend to be shown as visual representations.

They are based on the idea that human beings, when they interact with each other, develop different
kinds of relationships ranging from friendship to commercial exchanges, and these social bonds
are like a network because they connect individuals. By systematically collecting data on these
relationships between actors, it is possible to investigate deeper into the behaviour of the subjects
in accordance with their position in the network and to understand, for example, why some content
is shared virally while other content is not.

Evolution of Social Network Analytics

Due to the recent globalization of the commercial environment and the impact of the new
technologies, the analysis of social networks represents a major interest. This rather new area of
research grew out of social and exact sciences, computers supporting today modeling and complex
mathematical calculations, previously impossible. The analysis of social networks is driven by
business and social interests, combining various academic fields.

The term social networks was used for the first time in 1950 in socio metrics, the science that seeks
to obtain data on social behavior and to analyze it. The latter incorporation of mathematical tools
and computing triggered the evolution of Social Network Analysis and Analytics.

The mathematical basis of SNA arose out of the fields of graph theory, statistical and probability
theory, game theory as well as algebraic models. In fact, it was from these theories, especially
graphs, that the Internet and various virtual networking concepts were derived.

Networks are generally studied based on the participants and their actions in the network, with
little or no emphasis on the relationships. Particularly, in Social Networking and SNA the type and
the forms of relationships between the network members are fundamental.

Social networking data comes today in many forms: blogs (Blogger, LiveJournal), micro-blogs
(Twitter, FMyLife), social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn), wiki sites (Wikipedia, Wetpaint),
social bookmarking (Delicious, CiteULike), social news (Digg, Mixx), reviews (ePinions, Yelp),
and multimedia sharing (Flickr, Youtube).

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Online social networking represents a fundamental shift of how information is being produced,
transferred and consumed. User generated content, in any data form, establishes a connection
between producers and consumers of information. For consumers, the abundance of share data and
opinions is a support in making more informed decisions.

SNA is applicable in various domains and fields: organizational behavior, terrorist networking,
political and economic systems, inter-relationships between banks and companies, social
influence, educational systems and many others

Choosing the Right Analytics Tools

How do you decide which analytics tools are right for your social media campaigns? It really
depends on your needs, budget and objectives. You can start by using the tools located right within
the social media networks themselves. Many people don’t take full advantage of these.

Twitter Analytics, for example, tells you at a glance your number of tweets, tweet impressions,
profile visits, mentions and followers. Facebook Insights gives you page post metrics such as the
number of people posts have reached, clicks and reactions. LinkedIn provides analytical data
about company pages, such as measuring your posts’ engagement and supplying information about
your followers’ demographics. Other social sites provide comparable free tools.

In order to get more thorough analytics, however, you may want to acquire additional tools or
subscribe to certain services. Some of these tools are specific to certain social media sites while
others work across multiple sites. You can also find tools that combine analytics with other tasks,
such as scheduling your posts.

WHY WE NEED SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYTICS?

1 They help you understand your audience

Taking steps to understand your audience using social data can help you in so many ways. For
example, analyzing your past posts can help you find your unique best time to share.

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Timing is an important part of social media marketing. If you post when your fans are online and
at their highest level of alertness your posts will drive more engagement, traffic and sales.
Therefore, you should dissect your social data and find your unique best time to post on social
media.

2 They show you what your best social networks are

Not all social networks will work perfectly for you. Just because Facebook has over 2 billion users
and Instagram has over 800 million users doesn’t mean they will drive the best results. There might
be smaller networks like Pinterest or Flickr that can help execute your strategy better.

The only way to confirm which social networks work best is through experimentation and using
your analytics to measure how much engagement, traffic and sales you are getting.

This data can be utilized to focus more on social networks that are working for you and eliminating
ones that aren’t.

You can also use the data to prioritize the amount of time you spend managing each social network.
More time can be spent on the top performing networks and lesser on ones that bring in smaller
results.

3 Social data can help you create better content

When you track your social networks, you will understand what content drives the best results.On
networks like Facebook and Twitter you will be able to see whether images, links or videos do
better. While on visual-centric networks like Pinterest and Instagram you can check what type of
images perform best.

To figure out what content is performing best you can use your social media page’s analytics.
Some social networks like Facebook have built-in analytics that shows what types of media
perform best. You can view it in the ‘Posts’ section of your analytics on Facebook.

4 Help you Understand competitorsYour competitors are also creating content and
running social media strategies. This will result in their own unique data.If you analyze this data,

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you will be able to figure out what is working and what isn’t. It will help you avoid the mistakes
they are making and only focus on techniques that bring results.

To figure out which social networks are working best for your competitors you can use Similar
Web.

Just add the URL to any website and it will show you the percentage of the traffic your site receives
from social media and the social networks driving it.

5 Social metrics can help you create a better strategy

You will not create the best strategy in your first attempt. You are bound to make several mistakes
and use tactics that don’t work.But if you study your social media analytics regularly you will be
able to figure out what these mistakes are. Hence, when you optimize your strategy you can
eliminate them and fortify it.

To figure out these mistakes using any good social media analytics tool will do. But along with it
you should use social media listening to check the impact your strategy is having on people.

6 Social media analytics shows you how a social media campaign is performing

Once you launch a social media campaign you should regularly track it. You can check if it is
panning out the way you intended it to .If things aren’t going according to plan you can make
changes to your campaign and rectify it. And if results are very damaging you can nip it in the bud.
For this, you can use a tool like Sentione as it conducts a sentiment analysis of campaigns to show
whether it is having a positive, negative or neutral effect.

Challenges of Using Social Media Data for Analytics

Social media platforms have transformed how customers and brands connect and engage. In fact,
it is considered one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century. Its ability to present
customer sentiment and opinion as simple, measurable data has made social media a highly
effective business development tool. But social media monitoring programs are not without their
faults. There are significant limitations to accurately interpreting online observations into
actionable business insights. We have listed four such limitations below.

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1. Dispassionate Data:

The informal environments of social platforms encourage people to use colloquial and personal
elements in their language. And pretty often, it’s beyond the understanding of automated
sentiment analysis programs. This makes it hard for them interpret the context and sentiment
with which the brand is being discussed.

2.The Numbers Don’t Add Up:

The number of likes on a brand’s page don’t accurately reflect actual engagement or
conversions. But since they stand out in social media profiles, most analytics campaigns end
up as an effort to analyze and increase the number of page likes. This often results in a lack of
tangible return on investment, even for successful campaigns.

3.The Incomplete Picture:

The contrasts between people within social media ecosystems are just as notable as they are
out in the world. While some have an active voice and interact more proactively, most are just
browsing through. Levels of engagement can also vary with demographics and campaigns.
While you might hear more vocal opinions from the younger audience, the larger older
demographic might choose to remain silent.

4. Data Relevance & Quality:

The quality of online data being analyzed is always a concern among enterprises. Social
media platforms are littered with fake and duplicate profiles. Adding to the problem are the
access restrictions on most profiles that make it difficult to verify their validity. Also, social
channels provide very little or inaccurate information on user journey.

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