10 Advantages of Big Data | Analytics Steps (2023)

Big data refers to an organization's massive and ever-increasing volumes of data that can't be evaluated using standard methods.

Big data, which encompasses both structured and unstructured data types, is frequently used as the starting point for firms to conduct analysis and extract insights that may help them develop better business strategies. It's more than just a side effect of technology processes and applications. Today, big data is one of the most valuable assets.

According to Tibco, traditional structured data, unstructured data, and semi-structured data all make up big data. User-generated data on social media is an example of unstructured — and continually expanding — big data. Processing unstructured data necessitates a new methodology, as well as particular tools and methodologies.

What are the Advantages of Big Data?

1. Cost optimization

One of the most major advantages of Big Data technologies is that they reduce the cost of storing, processing, and analysing enormous volumes of data for enterprises. Not only that, but Big Data technologies may help find cost-effective and efficient company practices.

The logistics business serves as a good illustration of Big Data's cost-cutting potential. In most cases, the cost of goods returned is 1.5 times the cost of delivery.

By anticipating the possibility of product returns, Big Data Analytics assists businesses to reduce product return expenses. They can predict which goods are most likely to be returned, allowing businesses to take appropriate steps to avoid return losses. (Here)

2. Helps in Understanding the Market Conditions

By examining Big data, it is possible to have a better knowledge of current market situations. Let's take an example: a corporation can determine the most popular goods by studying a customer's purchase behaviour. It aids in the analysis of trends and client desires. A company can use this to get an advantage over its competition.

Case Study : Big Data Is Making Fast Food Faster

" McDonald's and Burger King employ the Big Data strategy outlined here."

Have you ever noticed how your fries and burgers arrive on time, or even a bit sooner, at McDonald's or Burger King???

Yes, Big Data aids in prompt food delivery at the counter. Do you want to know how???

Big Data analytics is being used by certain fast-food businesses to monitor their drive-through lanes and to assist them to adjust their menu items.

If the meal order queue is extremely long, the features will be changed to represent just those things that can be cooked and supplied fast. If the queue is short, the feature will only show those things that require a little more time to prepare. As a result, all of these menu updates may be seen on the LCD screens at restaurants.

3. Improve efficiency

Big Data techniques can dramatically enhance operational efficiency. Big Data technologies may collect vast volumes of usable customer data by connecting with customers/clients and getting their important input.

This information may then be examined and interpreted to uncover relevant trends (client tastes and preferences, pain areas, purchasing habits, and so on), allowing businesses to build customized goods and services.

Big Data Analytics tools can help you spot and evaluate current industry trends, helping you to stay ahead of the competition. Another advantage of Big Data technologies is that they can automate repetitive jobs and procedures. This frees up human employees' important time, which they may dedicate to activities that demand cognitive abilities.

4. Better Decision Making

The main benefit of using Big Data Analytics is that it has boosted the decision-making process to a great extent. Rather than anonymously making decisions, companies are considering Big Data Analytics before concluding any decision.

A variety of customer-centric factors like what the customers want, the solution to their problems, analyzing their needs according to the market trends, etc. are taken into account for a better decision-making process.

Such analytics give the decision-makers the insights they need to help the company grow and compete. New big data tools enable them to segment patterns, trends, and sentiments to understand customer behaviors quickly and efficiently.

5. Improving Customer Service and Customer Experience

Big data, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technical support and helpline services may considerably increase the quality of response and follow-up that firms can provide to their customers.

Both organizations and customers gain from knowing what to offer next. Businesses may get a lot of information via customer relationship management systems, loyalty card information, social media, and other sources of client engagement.

Businesses may better understand their consumers' demands by analyzing them, as well as forecast coming faults and concerns. Companies can adjust products and services to fit individual interests if they can establish detailed profiles of their consumers.

6. Fraud and Anomaly Detection

It's just as vital to know what's going wrong in businesses like financial services or healthcare as it is to know what's going right. With big data, AI and machine learning algorithms can quickly discover erroneous transactions, fraudulent activity signs, and abnormalities in data sets that might indicate a variety of current or prospective problems.

These capabilities can enable banks and credit card firms to detect stolen credit cards or fraudulent purchases even before the cardholder is aware of the problem.

If the staff in charge of a company's system security is alerted in real-time, they may take immediate action. Early error detection and identification of failure reasons aid in the prevention of more numerous and serious problems. Customer service and the company's reputation both benefit from the capacity to remedy problems on the fly.

7. Focused And Targeted Campaigns

Big data may be used by businesses to give customized products to their target market. Don't waste money on ineffective advertising strategies. Big data enables businesses to do in-depth analyses of customer behavior. Monitoring online purchases and watching point-of-sale transactions are common parts of this investigation.

These data enable businesses to construct effective, focused, and targeted marketing, allowing them to meet and exceed client expectations while also increasing brand loyalty.

Newer recommendation systems are far better than that, based on the extensive consumer analytics, and may be more sensitive to demographics and customer behavior as a consequence. E-commerce isn't the only use for these technologies.

A polite waiter's recommendations might be data-driven, based on stock levels in the pantry, popular combos, high-profit goods, and even social media trends, as determined by a point-of-sale system. When you post a photo of your dinner on social media, you're giving the big data engines even more data to process.

8. Innovative Products

Big data continues to assist businesses in both updating existing goods and developing new ones. Companies can discern what matches their consumer base by gathering enormous volumes of data.

In today's economy, a corporation can no longer rely on instinct to be competitive. Organizations may now develop procedures to track consumer feedback, product success, and what their rivals are doing with so much data to work with.

Big data technologies may help with R&D, which can lead to the creation of new goods and services. Data that has been cleaned, processed, and controlled for distribution may sometimes become a product in and of itself. For example, the London Stock Exchange currently makes more money providing data and research than it does trading equities.

9. Agile supply chain management

Whether it's pandemic-related toilet paper shortages, Brexit-related trade disruptions, or a ship trapped in the Suez Canal, modern supply lines are unexpectedly vulnerable.

Surprising, because we usually don't notice our supply networks until they've been severely disrupted. Big data, which includes predictive analytics and is typically done in near real-time, aids in keeping our worldwide network of demand, production, and distribution running smoothly.

This is conceivable because big data analytics can combine customer patterns from e-commerce sites and retail apps with supplier data, real-time pricing, and even shipping and weather data to provide a new level of business intelligence.

These insights aren't simply useful for major corporations. Customer data and real-time pricing may help even small e-commerce enterprises make better decisions about stock levels, risk reduction, and temporary or seasonal labor.

10. Improved operations

Big data analytics may be used to enhance a variety of business activities, but one of the most exciting and gratifying has been using big data analytics to improve physical operations.

For example, using big data and data science to create predictive maintenance plans might help important systems avoid costly repairs and downtime. Start by looking at the age, condition, location, warranty, and servicing information.

Some of these systems, such as security and HVAC in facilities, are, however, significantly influenced by other business operations such as staffing and production schedules, which may be influenced by sales cycles and, thus, by consumer behavior. All of this may be brought together with well-integrated big data analytics to help you maintain the correct equipment at the right time.

We can conclude that the potential for exploiting big data is incredibly intriguing, as you can see from these six situations. It's also fair to argue that you'll need to be more aware of the regulatory landscape, since adherence to privacy, security, and governance standards is critical. The advantages and benefits of big data highlighted here, however, are well worth the effort.