The Past, Present, and Future of Retail Analytics: Insights from a Survey of Academic Research and Interviews with Practitioners

65 Pages Posted: 24 Jun 2021 Last revised: 4 Aug 2022

See all articles by Robert P. Rooderkerk

Robert P. Rooderkerk

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

Nicole DeHoratius

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Andres Musalem

Universidad de Chile

Date Written: July 18, 2022

Abstract

We document the evolution of academic research through a bibliometric analysis of 123 retail analytics articles published in top operations management journals from 2000-2020. We isolate nine decision areas via manual coding that we verify using automated text analysis (topic modeling). We track variation across decision areas and method-usage evolution per analytics type, featuring the degree to which big data (e.g., clickstream, social media, product reviews) and analytics suited for these new data sources (e.g., machine learning) are used. Our analysis reveals a rapidly growing field that is evolving in terms of content (decisions, retail sector), data, and methodology. To determine the state of practice, we interviewed global practitioners on the current use of retail analytics. These interviews shed light on the barriers and enablers of adopting advanced analytics in retail. They also highlight what sets companies on the frontier (e.g., Amazon, Alibaba, Walmart) apart from the rest. Combining the insights from our survey of academic research and interviews with practitioners, we provide directions for future academic research that take advantage of the availability of big data.

Keywords: retail operations, big data, business analytics, bibliometrics, consumer behavior, technology

Suggested Citation

Rooderkerk, Robert P. and DeHoratius, Nicole and Musalem, Andres, The Past, Present, and Future of Retail Analytics: Insights from a Survey of Academic Research and Interviews with Practitioners (July 18, 2022). Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 21-18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3867484 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3867484

Robert P. Rooderkerk

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
Room T08-21
3000 DR Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.rsm.nl/people/robert-rooderkerk/

Nicole DeHoratius (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Andres Musalem

Universidad de Chile ( email )

Beauchef 851
Santiago
Chile

HOME PAGE: http://www.dii.uchile.cl/~amusalem

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
671
Abstract Views
2,885
Rank
72,079
PlumX Metrics