Predictive Analytics: Data Can Foretell Sales!

If BI is Not Analytics, What Is Analytics Then?

Business intelligence (BI) can provide the business operator with details on what happened in the past and on how it happened but not on why it happened. The answer to the question “why” is more important as it has the ability to predict future sales of any business. If something that can analyse why the particular situation had happened, the answer will bring data-driven, unbiased information about future. Consider predictive analytics

What Is Predictive Analytics?

To predict the ever-changing business trends, the best tool in hand is predictive analytics, which is one of the advanced analytics. It uses various techniques such as statistics, artificial intelligence, data mining, machine learning, and so on to analyse plethora of available data to forecast the future market.

Why Does Predictive Analytics Matter?

Wherever human choice is involved, predictive analytics can be used to analyse the market in advance and predict the end result with multiple options. It allows marketers and retention experts to take decisions on certain things that help the business flow even in any adverse situation in the future.

Predictive analytics is nothing but “what-if” experiment which means what would be the optional solutions if something unexpected happens in future. By doing so, it eases the decision-making part not only of the current situation but also of the unknown future events. It also tests the effectiveness of the future impact of strategic options and the radical changes without affecting business, customers, or believability.

Besides all, by having technology in hand, predictive analytics is within the reach of the marketers.

Predictive Analytics Models

Practicing predictive analytics is possible in the following three different ways (models):

• Descriptive Model – It analyses past and current data to determine trends and relationships to decide what decision needs to be taken to move further.
• Predictive Model – It studies past data to help find how likely things are to happen.
• Prescriptive Model – It analyses various elements of the decision connecting variables to forecast the output of those decisions.

The purpose of analysis decides the model to be chosen. However, the goals and objectives have to be predetermined to implement the best model to achieve an effective outcome.

Process of Predictive Analytics

Define project ---> Data collection --->Data analysis ---> Statistics ---> Modeling ---> Deployment

Business and Predictive Analytics

Implementing predictive analytics will bring greater insights into business to get things ready to meet the undetermined future events. The key reasons to use predictive analytics in business enhancement are to:

• target the specific audience by identifying user groups with the highest probability of converting;
• expand business in a profitable way by finding gaps in an existing product; and
• identify user types to be worth chasing.

How Does It Work in Restaurant Business?

Sales prediction plays vital role in any business. Modern data analytics generates accurate insights on specific problems in business. It will be helpful to highlight the advanced planning, inventory and stock management, staff optimization, waste management, to name a few.

Predictive analytics can drive performance in restaurant businesses in the ways such as:

• Menu optimization
• Customer segmentation
• Staff optimization
• Operations improvement
• Time of day/day of week analysis

To create actionable insights that enable restaurants to maximise profitable decision-making, this predictive analytics will help restaurants drive predictable sales and profitability.

Read More : our big-data on restaurant industry  : http://www.clouddish.com/blog/big-date-restaunrant-industry-and-software/