In the decades since its invention, this branch of business intelligence has grown into a particularly invaluable element of retail and something that’s necessary to retain a competitive edge. It’s safe to assume that it’s what all of your competitors are doing.
As the name suggests, predictive analytics involves collecting data, analysing it, and using it to predict what will happen in the future. For retailers, this includes forecasting trends, reducing risks, and optimising marketing campaigns. Not using predictive analytics is the equivalent of making all of these big decisions with your eyes closed - not only do you run the risk of missing opportunities, but you could actually do your business serious harm.

Retail is an industry where the changes come hard and fast - ignoring predictive analytics, or not bothering to use them in the first place, could leave you vulnerable to being left behind, or ignored in favour of your competitors. This could be due to poorly allocating your resources, not taking a personalised approach with your customers, or making inaccurate pricing decisions.