3 Things Every E-Commerce Data Expert Does Well
Segment -> Visualize -> Compare: I’ve used this simple data analysis technique to a great degree of success in helping clients find growth opportunities in their e-commerce business.
You don’t need to be a data scientist to be a data expert. Comfort and common-sense will take you a long way in improving your skills as a data-driven decision maker.
I’ve built E-Commerce Data Products for the past 7 years. I’ve helped a number of large retailers & brands take advantage of all the consumer shopping data available to find growth opportunities. Here are the 3 things that everybody does with data, which doesn’t require special skills beyond the ability to use spreadsheets.
Segment
Data is just noise without segmentation. Segmentation is just a fancy word for dividing data into relevant parts that make a whole. Looking for Traffic insights? Segment the data by Traffic Channels. The key is to know what segments are relevant to the type of problem you are trying to solve.
Visualize
Visualizing data helps absorb the insights contained in it. The simplest visualization technique is a trend line. Assuming you are looking at daily traffic numbers, segmented by channels, the next thing to do is to create a simple line chart that visually represents whatever the data says about these channels.
Compare
Now that you have segmented and trended the data, the final step is to compare. A while ago, a client was complaining that their Conversion Rate was taking a nose dive. On comparing Traffic data, segmented by channels, we identified that this drop was caused by ONE particular channel that needed extra attention. The client was then able to focus their optimization efforts on that channel, in a targeted manner.
Conclusion
This technique may sound simple, but it is highly effective. I’ve applied this simple approach several times with a high degree of success. This is generic enough to be applicable to any issue or challenge that needs data-oriented attention.
Just the act of doing this exercise at each opportunity you get to look at some data will go a long way in improving your comfort with doing data work, and in a weird way, improve your data common-sense.
