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Enjoying my Morning Transaction Data over a Cup of Coffee

Enjoying my Morning Transaction Data over a Cup of Coffee

I love coffee and coffee shops so when I came across this blog about consumer demand in a cybercafe, I could not resist reading it. And even though the coffee may have been what drew me in, by the end, the donut-scone war had me thinking about transaction data.

Whether the data available includes millions of rows of transactions or exactly four donuts flying from the pastry display case, transaction data provides enormous business insight.

Are donut-buyers more likely to have a standard cup of coffee than the macchiato purchased by scone enthusiasts? What type of customers are you attracting by offering one or the other? What is the mark up on each of these products and which product bundle offers the highest revenue opportunity for your business?  Should you offer donuts in the morning and scones in the afternoon? No need to guess, the data can tell you.
 
In business-to-business, the questions are similar: what are your customers’ purchasing trends? Are they following specific maintenance schedules? Do they budget for name-brand products, off-brand substitutions or some combination of the two, and are there specific patterns to help you identify when and why they make the purchasing decisions they do? What is the effect of a specific discount or pricing?  The data can tell you!

So while I enjoy my soy latte, let me chant the Value of Data battle cry: Your customers’ actions speak louder than words; transaction data is your map. Let’s all use it to lead us to the right business decisions.

On a different note, as a follow up to my last blog:  I have left my checkbook at home. It was nearly impossible to find it in my large purse anyway! Thanks Jenny for pointing it out!

-Martha