You’re not using your data.

A 2021 study by New Vantage found that only 39% of executives believe their companies manage data as an asset, and only 24% view their companies as being data-driven. This statistic is alarming considering that organizations that effectively use data analytics are 1.5 times more likely to achieve above-average growth rates than their peers.

The Importance of Transactional Data

Transactional data refers to the information about the transactions conducted between two or more companies. It includes data points such as purchase orders, invoices, payment details, delivery information, and product/service descriptions. Analyzing this data can provide businesses with insights into their sales performance and their customers’ buying behaviours, improving supply chain efficiency, optimizing pricing and inventory management strategies, and increasing sales.

OneAnalytics provides a primary source for capturing and analyzing this data. Accessible to anyone with a connection, Supply Cloud collects, analyzes, and visualizes B2B data in real time to uncover patterns, trends, and correlations that can drive business growth and profitability.

By using transaction data, suppliers and distributors can:

• Make informed decisions and improve decision-making processes
• Identify market trends and customer preferences to develop targeted marketing strategies
• Enhance supply chain efficiency by identifying areas of improvement
• Identify untapped market segments and improve customer targeting
• Gain a competitive advantage by leveraging data-driven insights to make informed decisions
• Enhance cross-selling and upselling strategies to increase the value of each customer interaction
• Reduce customer churn and proactively initiate customer retention measures

Data Challenges

The challenge for many organizations is maintaining the quality and accuracy of B2B transaction data, capturing and recording all relevant transaction details accurately and in real time. Another challenge is data reconciliation and validation, as B2B transaction data must be aligned with corresponding invoices, purchase orders, product information, and payment records. Additionally, data must be translated into a visual context, such as a map or graph, to make it easier for the human brain to understand and pull insights from.

Tools such as OneAnalytics do the hard work for you.

Not All Data is Created Equally

Using bad data can be just as bad – if not worse – than not using data at all.

• Is your data out of date? Business changes at the speed of light and relying on data from even a month ago may lead to faulty decisions. Real-time data is key.
• Is your data accurate? Relying on third-party data may mean that your data source is incomplete. Make sure your data comes from primary supply chain sources such as EDI invoices.
• Are you getting duplicate data? The ramifications of duplicate data can be far-reaching. Duplicate data most commonly comes from improper integration of software tools and secondary data sources.

Establishing a data strategy involves defining the objectives of data collection, identifying the relevant types and sources of data, and determining the methods for data analysis. Relying on primary B2B transaction data sources from a provider with a robust data verification and cleansing process will make sure that the data you rely on is accurate, up to date, and relevant. Ignoring the risks of bad B2B data can lead to wasted resources, damaged relationships, and missed opportunities.

Without a robust data analytics strategy, suppliers and distributors are forced to rely on tribal wisdom, intuition, gut feel, and luck. By analyzing transaction data, businesses can understand customer behaviour and product performance, forecast revenue and cash flow, drive category growth, manage supplier relationships, and enhance supply chain efficiency.

Supply Cloud understands the importance of data-driven decision-making.

In the past, an expert such as a data scientist was needed to extract information, as well as value, from B2B data. OneAnalytics empowers suppliers and distributors to harness the vast amount of supply chain data available and turn it into actionable insights without the need for data scientists. By harnessing the power of transaction data, suppliers and distributors can navigate the complex and competitive landscape of B2B operations and steer their way to success.

With Supply Cloud, you no longer have an excuse to not use your data.