An exploration of big data practices in retail sector

Date

2017-12-12

Supervisor/s

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

MDPI

Department

Type

Article

ISSN

2305-6290

Format

Citation

Aktas A, Meng Y, An exploration of big data practices in retail sector, Logistics, Vol. 1, Issue 2, 2017, Article number 12

Abstract

Connected devices, sensors, and mobile apps make the retail sector a relevant testbed for big data tools and applications. We investigate how big data is, and can be used in retail operations. Based on our state-of-the-art literature review, we identify four themes for big data applications in retail logistics: availability, assortment, pricing, and layout planning. Our semi-structured interviews with retailers and academics suggest that historical sales data and loyalty schemes can be used to obtain customer insights for operational planning, but granular sales data can also benefit availability and assortment decisions. External data such as competitors’ prices and weather conditions can be used for demand forecasting and pricing. However, the path to exploiting big data is not a bed of roses. Challenges include shortages of people with the right set of skills, the lack of support from suppliers, issues in IT integration, managerial concerns including information sharing and process integration, and physical capability of the supply chain to respond to real-time changes captured by big data. We propose a data maturity profile for retail businesses and highlight future research directions.

Description

Software Description

Software Language

Github

Keywords

Big data, Retail operations, Maturity, Availability, Assortment, Replenishment, Pricing, Layout, Logistics

DOI

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

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Relationships

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