Business intelligence is an essential tool today, allowing for the consolidation of diverse information inputs, their real-time analysis, and providing an accurate picture of a company’s performance. It’s a tool that provides organisations with data on the key indicators that directly influence or impact their objectives.
One of its main advantages is real-time access to data that reveals the degree to which business objectives are being met. We can consider it a ‘snapshot’ that allows us to contextualise and expedite the analysis of complex situations, always with the sole aim of identifying the source of negative or positive data that enables informed decision-making.
Business intelligence technology primarily serves banking, pharmaceuticals, logistics, e-commerce, fashion, education, and retail, among other sectors. This article will analyse its application in four of these sectors: logistics, e-commerce, retail, and education.
| Industry | How Business Intelligence Is Used | Key Data Areas |
| Logistics | Analyse and optimise logistics operations | Fleet management, stock levels, storage, distribution costs |
| E-commerce | Analyse online sales and customer activity | Orders, inventory, costs, buying habits |
| Education | Analyse academic and administrative performance | Student records, enrollment, staff, workloads |
| Retail | Support store and sales decision-making | Sales, customers, store traffic, product performance |
Business Intelligence Applications Across Industries
Business Intelligence in Logistics
The automation of warehouse tasks, the optimisation of customer communication, and the use of software have brought numerous advantages in terms of productivity and business. But now there is another major consequence of this new scenario: the enormous amount of data generated within the organisation, which has the potential to provide invaluable information about the company’s operations, such as fleet management, minimum stock levels, storage and distribution costs, quality management, and reverse logistics, among others.
Benefits That Business Intelligence Brings to Logistics Companies
- Reduction in labour costs: One of the main benefits of this technology is the automation of numerous processes. It significantly reduces the time it takes to prepare reports for suppliers, clients, or other departments within the company.
- Greater control in logistics management: Thanks to automation functions, all the information is available, from freight management to its costs.
- Real-time access to information: Orders, load analysis, distribution of goods, etc. – this facilitates better decision-making in each logistics process.
- Improved customer service: Thanks to its technology, the company can provide customers with real-time information on the location of their order, whether there have been any issues, and, if so, offer several solutions to the customer.
E-commerce and Business Intelligence
Businesses that sell online manage a large number of orders, resulting in a huge volume of data that can be very complex to process and secure. This is where business intelligence comes in, a technology that allows businesses to analyse, transform, and store all that information and subsequently develop a business or marketing strategy that boosts the business and increases sales.
The advantages that business intelligence can bring to online sales are:
- Automate processes
- Real-time decision-making
- Inventory control by reducing delivery processes and ensuring that there are no stockouts
- Control actual costs
- Understanding customer buying habits
- Develop data-driven sales strategies
The Importance of Data in the Education Sector
In schools, universities, and training centres, the implementation of business intelligence technology allows managers to access reports based on real data, enabling decision-makers, teachers, and planners to identify trends and meet academic or organisational goals more accurately.
The core areas of planning and evaluation include:
- Academic record: Analyse performance by subject, individual student performance, exams, and behavioural indicators such as attendance and incident reports.
- Administrative data: Analyse student enrolments, classroom size, centre location and costs to establish budget deficits and surpluses that allow for planning funding needs.
- Staff: Analyze balances between teaching and non-teaching staff, assigned workloads, student-to-teacher ratio, etc.
Applying business intelligence technology to the education sector can help educators and administrators access key operational and educational performance indicators, helping them to drive fact-based decision-making and long-term strategic planning. They will also be able to track progress toward defined objectives and make adjustments as needed to support the desired results.
Business Intelligence in Retail
Decision-making in Retail
Business intelligence technology aims to provide a dashboard with selected data, updated in real time, that organises key indicators about the business’s performance, target market, and its environment. Any decision made daily in business will be more informed if data is used, such as which new products or services to add, which to eliminate less profitable ones, how to schedule staff shifts, how to segment communications and promotions to customers, and so on.
Tools for Obtaining Data From the Store
POS-ERT: Point-of-sale (POS) systems are capable of capturing details of transactions, sales during a time, products sold, and quantities. This information can be used to analyse sales and buying behaviours.
CRM software is used to gather and organise information about customers, records of their purchase, communication with them, etc. With the help of CRM software, the company can keep up with customers and educate them about their behaviour.
Other technologies such as people-counting cameras, smart fitting rooms, etc. There are cameras which can count the number of visitors going into shops and stores which can be useful for businesspeople to know when people are entering shops. There is also the provision of other such features through the Smart Fitting Rooms, etc.
Also Read: Why You Need Business Intelligence In Your Project Management