Over the last few years the retail industry has evolved rapidly, with advances in technology ensuring the marketplace is a very different thing to that of days gone by. The global domination of the internet has undoubtedly played a major role in this evolution. Online shopping now accounts for a substantial percentage of retail profits, with research revealing that consumers in the United Kingdom are due to spend in excess of 100 billion pounds online in 2014. The number of people who purchase goods on the internet has more than doubled over the past decade, with this figure no doubt boosted in recent times by the creation of smart technology. Because of smartphones and tablets, the internet can now be accessed anywhere at any time. This has led to the birth of the omni-channel retail marketplace.

Effective retail merchandising and the adoption of perceptive commercial marketing strategies are becoming ever-more important in today’s fiercely competitive retail environment. With so many brands and retailers competing for custom across the multi-channel commercial platform that defines modern day retailing, directors and planners are increasingly reliant upon the provision of accurate data and analytics to ascertain the true effectiveness of their current retail marketing charter. However, it is how that final data is actually used and implemented into the overall business plan that will determine its true effectiveness in the long term.

For many years, the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, has led the way in terms of capturing big data and adapting its business according to its findings. Utilising the latest in collaborative filtering technology, Amazon can present automatic purchase recommendations to individual customers based upon purchase history, browser history and even recent activity on social media.