As big data becomes more ubiquitous and continues to grow exponentially, companies that resist building an analytics will fall further behind.
Companies fo all sizes can benefit from making their organisations more data-driven, say St. Germain, wholesale distribution leader, IBM Corp, and co-author of National Association of Wholesaler-Distribution book Facing the Force of Change.
"It doesn't matter if you're a multibillion-dollar business or a $10 million dollar business," he said. the opportunities are there for both."
Unfortunately, distributors don't always know where to begin and often get overwhelmed with the surplus of advice on how and why to begin benchmarking.
"you've got data, you've got insights, but now what do you do? St. Germain asked. "you must take action on data."
Bringing analytics to life can uncover economic projections, consumer spending habits and market demand, and distributors must understand how these changes will affect their business along with the best ways to react to them.