How Retail Transaction Data Powers Better Forecasting & Competitor Intelligence
Why More Leaders Rely on Retail Transaction Data for Real-Time & Future Insights
What if you could anticipate the next biggest trend in retail before your competitors?
What if you knew exactly what Millennials, Gen Z, and Boomers wanted to buy, when they wanted it, and how they prefer to cross-shop?
And what if you could access all-new market intelligence, highlighting the best ways to beat the competition, crystalize customer loyalty, grow, and stay agile?
Believe it or not, those “what ifs” are no longer just pipe dreams or wishful thinking.
And that’s all thanks to retail transaction data and the powerful insights it can bring into light.
In fact, forward-thinking leaders looking to get and stay ahead are leveraging retail transaction data in extraordinary ways to unearth dynamic and deeply powerful intelligence about customer behaviors, generational shopping trends, and so much more.
Consumer Shopping Data: Key Harbingers of Future Retail Trends
Walmart, Costco, Amazon, and other retail titans haven’t clawed their way to the top by accident or sheer luck. They also don’t focus solely on data of the past or from their systems (and customers) alone.
Instead, today’s retail powerhouses tend to leverage the latest resources, tools, and insights available, looking to find out MORE about their competitors, pricing strategies, evolving shopping trends, and the future of retail.
These days, that often makes transaction data indispensable for retail leaders and decision-makers.
And smaller industry players can get in the game too, without the need for extensive data teams, complex new systems, and eye-watering budgets.
That’s because consumer shopping data can do the following.
Level the playing field.
Industry-wide retail sales trends don’t have to be exclusive secrets that are only understood by the top few who can invest millions into data and forecasting.
Startups, mom-and-pop shops, and other smaller retailers can get in on the action via retailer transaction data.
Keep retailers on pace or put them ahead head of the pack.
With a better understanding of where retail is going and what consumers want, more industry players can make strategic moves in real time, adjusting their inventory, pricing, marketing, and more to stay ahead of shifting customer preferences and emerging trends.
Specifically, ahead-of-the-curve thinkers and cutting-edge leaders are using retail transaction data to:
Understand retail cross-shopping and where else customers buy
Break down retail spending by various demographics, including income, age and geographic location (like city or state)
Analyze customer data based on $1.3M in spending from 120+ million card transactions
Gain deeper insights into the consumer economy
Clarify growth plans, objectives, and metrics for success
All-New Light on Gen Z Shopping Trends
How do customers make their retail purchasing decisions?
The answer to that differs by generation, and retailer customer data could hold the answers. Looking at Gen Z shoppers in particular, the latest retail transaction data reveals the following.
Social media matters.
Close to 9 in 10 Gen Z shoppers rely on social media platforms, posts, and reviews when they’re ready to buy a product or make a purchase from a new retailer.
And with Gen Z, TikTok is king.
That’s because:
Gen Z trusts TikTok for brand discovery.
Gen Z uses TikTok’s search features more than Google to hunt down items they’re looking to purchase.
More and more retail transactions are taking place on social media.
TikTok and other social platforms aren’t just for research these days. More and more shoppers are following Gen Z’s lead by buying directly on TikTok (from TikTok Shop) and other social channels.
In fact, retail spending data suggests that TikTok Shop sales could exceed $3 billion over the last year, with Gen Z outspending every other generation on this growing e-commerce site.
Complex Questions Answered by Retail Transaction Data
The true power of retail transaction data can’t really be experienced on paper with abstract generalities. To bring it life and get a unparalleled feel for its mind-blowing potential, let’s run through a quick thought experiment.
Let’s say you’re sitting in the C-suite of Target as the CFO or CMO, and you need answers to questions like:
How many Target shoppers buy in store versus online at competitors like Walmart and Amazon?
How are in-store coffee shops doing when compared to competitors like Panera?
How do fitness sales shape up and compare to the industry?
What groceries do shoppers buy at Target versus Instacart and other grocery competitors?
Where are Target shoppers spending their money next, after they complete an in-store purchase?
How do shopping holidays, like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, change customer behaviors and preferences?
What’s Target’s share of wallet and overall market share?
You don’t have to guess the answers to these and other questions when you have Facteus retail transaction data on hand.
That’s because Facteus data offers extraordinary answers and insights that can fuel more informed decisions in real-time while enhancing retailers’ abilities to forecast, outsmart the competition, and grow their market share.
