Actioning Big Data in a fast-changing Market

Abstract

During the latter years there have been several world-wide shocks which led the firms to face a new way of doing business in the market. In particular the low stability induces the market to continuous changes, and firms which are not able to drive the market themselves need to fast adapt in order to be successful. In this context Big Data is presented as a tool which, thanks to proper rework and interpretation, allows the finding of the factors of success from the current scenario, or “critical factors”, and which can be the baseline for the creation of successful strategies. Most times Big Data is collected directly by the firm, and it is stored and managed internally by the company (thus proprietary data). Through different Software, databases need to be queried and then elaborated to analyse insights which are useful to the management in order to be translated into short- or long- term actions.

In the following thesis it is described how clustering algorithms can fast provide a descriptive overview of the actual situation and how it can bring advantages in terms of communication of the outcomes. The analysis of the data is performed with a statistical software, R, and is afterwards integrated in Power BI, a reporting tool able to provide clear interpretation of the results. These would benefit the creation of strategies by reacting as fast as possible to any situation and by assuring the correct interpretation and understanding by those who are responsible of defining such strategies. In this context, data is the driver of the decisions, leading firms to be more data-driven. It will be taken as case study an Italian Retail Firm of the Fashion Industry, AW LAB, and how it can benefit from the creation of a reporting tool which can dynamically and automatically analyse a set of data collected during a determined period. The object of the analysis will be the performance of the merchandise of the firm basing their evaluation on a set of different KPIS of sale performances and distribution across the retail network.

This thesis will result in a Reporting Tool with the main aim in the short-term period. In fact, it is shown how it can ease and allow the creation of a set of tactical actions for sustaining and improving the current performances. Particularly in this sector a highly reactive response to the day-by-day business is crucial for the success of the Firm.