Today BVI Networks announced the release of RetailNEXT, a retail focused BI solution. Aside from looking at more information than simply what is collected within a POS solution, the way video is captured and analyzed is a great example of how unstructured data can be incorporated into various BI applications. Information about how many people entering a store, where they stop, how they browse, and conversion rates can be translated into valuable information to help retailers identify the success of campaigns, placement of merchandise, etc. Although BI has been available to retailers for awhile, this has been one area of slow adoption. I partially wonder if that is because of the lack of truly targeted solutions that can meet the business requirements of retailers without having to spend the additional time customizing and integrating various systems and information types.
BI for retail
