Operational analytics use cases

Fifty-five percent of business data goes unused. 

This means businesses are throwing away powerful insights and trends, making it almost impossible to improve company processes. So it’s important to learn how to use your data to boost business growth.

In this post, we’ll talk about operational analytics, some handy use cases, and how they can benefit your business. 

Operational analytics meaning

Just as customer analytics give you insight into your customers’ needs, operational analytics allow you to understand operations within your business.

Operational analytics uses various tools like artificial intelligence, business intelligence, and data mining to give you insight into a workflow. 

You can see where your team is unproductive and how to improve, streamlining work processes.

Now that we know what operational analytics is, let’s cover some handy use cases.

What are some common operational analytics use cases?

Here are some practical operational analytics examples:

Product development

Product development teams use the product usage logs of operational analytics to find which features are most popular among customers.

This insight allows you to develop your product or service around your customers’ needs. You can upgrade the features users like while removing anything that doesn’t provide value.

Medical

Operational analytics can also help hospitals predict the number of emergency room patients by using machine learning. Hospital management can build rosters around this and ensure they have enough doctors and nurses on hand to handle emergency situations.

Operational analytics does this by reviewing old data and identifying a pattern. It might conclude that Friday and Saturday evenings require more staff because the emergency room count will be higher.

But operational analytics goes one step further. It’ll even look at what prescriptions nurses administer the most so the hospital has sufficient stock.

Online stores

Operational analytics is helpful for e-commerce store owners because you can see what goods your business is selling and which items aren’t popular.

Because operational analytics uses artificial intelligence, it can even predict what to stock in the coming months based on previous sales patterns.

For example, if your store sold many coats and socks in November last year, operational analytics gives you an accurate prediction of how many items to stock based on business growth.

Manufacturing

Preventive maintenance allows manufacturers to replace or repair parts before they break, saving money and unnecessary headaches. 

Fortunately, operational analytics is one of the most effective tools for predicting when components will break. It uses the data gathered to calculate when you’ll need to replace something. 

This way, you don’t have to rush to replace machinery. Simply use operational analytics for preventive maintenance.

Finance

Banks and other financial institutions use operational analytics before giving out loans to potential clients. They look at a client’s income and spending habits over the previous few years and generate a number the client will be able to comfortably pay off. 

Marketing

Operational analytics is an effective tool for marketers as well. By relying on data, you can abandon marketing campaigns that don’t work while nurturing those that do. Because you understand your work processes, you’ll increase productivity and conversion rates.

How can operational analytics benefit your company?

Let’s discuss four ways operational analytics can benefit your business.

Better decision-making

The insight that operational analytics provides allows you to make more informed business decisions. Instead of having a consultancy firm make decisions, let the data do the talking. 

It’s also more affordable than hiring consultants. Where consultants charge thousands of dollars per hour, you can achieve better results with an operational analytics tool that barely costs $100.

By acting on new data, you adapt to recent trends faster, giving you a competitive edge over other businesses.

Increased customer satisfaction

Since operational analytics goes directly to the source, you can tailor your product and service around the needs of your target audience.

This doesn’t just benefit product development. You can also build personalized marketing campaigns using this data, increasing conversion rates.

And if customer churn suddenly increases, use this data to find the root of the problem instead of experimenting with different solutions that might worsen the situation.

Streamlined data processes

Many companies work in silos, costing them hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars per year. With silos, the IT team only has access to IT data, and product development can only use product development data.

If one team needs external data, they’ll need to contact other departments, which can be a hassle.

This is where operational analytics help.

All data is under one roof, so everyone can easily access the necessary information.

More revenue

Increased customer satisfaction, more informed business decisions, and streamlined collaboration ultimately lead to more revenue. This makes operational analytics essential for every business looking to grow.

Operational analytics made easy with Lytics

Operational analytics gives you insight into business processes, so you can streamline your workflow. This data also helps you understand customers because you can use product logs to find which features are popular.

Fortunately, Lytics makes operational analytics easy by gathering all business and customer data under one virtual roof and enabling you to make more informed decisions.

So if you’re looking to take your business awareness to the next level, sign up for a free Lytics trial.