Business Tip 22
How to Create Consumer Insight Using Intelligent Text

The Insight Challenge:

Today’s progressive retailers need competitive insights into what their customers are doing in order to increase consumer shopping trips and in-store conversions. But turning data into information, knowledge and, ultimately -- insights -- has been a constant challenge on the part of manufacturers, compounded by the diversity and frequency of data sources available.

First, let’s explore why intelligent insights are important. Intelligent Insights can:

• Quickly point to root causes of problems; less time on the analysis

• Interpret complex relationships between a number of data sources

• Replicate themselves along with frequent data updates

• Inform and educate lesser experts in the category

• Provide direction for taking action or course corrections

• Provide interpretation of information displayed in leave-behinds

• Link to data not necessarily displayed on the slide

The following slide shows a trend in POS scan data, along with some key consumer purchasing metrics and performance from new product offerings in the category.

Taken individually, these charts and tables tell only part of the story.

• We would understand that sales of the category were flat at this retailer with a significant decline in the Powder (PWD) segment.
  

• The table also shows some declines in number of consumers purchasing the category and the PWD segment at the retailer.
  

• The chart on the bottom right shows the performance of new items in the category along with the number of new items not listed by the retailer.

Combined together, these charts and table should be analyzed as one cohesive story, generating observations and insights as shown in the lower left of the slide.

Fortunately, there is a way to provide that type of intelligence on a consistent and frequent basis. Techniques, such as Interactive Edge’s XP3 Suite intelligent text, can be used to conditionally analyze and report key findings from both related and unrelated data sources. Using the power of Microsoft Excel in the background, coupled with a powerful data management and acquisition platform, intelligent statements such as those shown above can be made quickly and replicated on a frequent basis.

The data, products and accounts depicted in this example are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual data, products or accounts is purely coincidental.