Who Benefits from Digital Shelf Analytics in a Brand?

In our previous article, we explored why Digital Shelf Analytics (DSA) is crucial. Now, let’s shift the focus to who can benefit from it. Spoiler alert: many roles within a brand can leverage these insights to enhance their work, making the impact of DSA both wide-ranging and significant.

To keep it structured, we’ll first break down the roles that benefit from DSA and their specific uses. Then, we’ll group them by departments, highlighting key supervisors. Depending on the size of the organization, these roles might overlap or even be handled by senior leaders like the CEO.

Key Roles that Benefit from DSA

Digital shelf analytics is used across multiple roles within a brand, with each focusing on different aspects of e-commerce performance and strategy. Here are the main roles that utilize this type of analytics:

1. E-commerce Manager

• Role: Manages the brand’s online sales and operations.

• Use: Leverages analytics to optimize product listings, manage inventory, boost search rankings, and improve conversion rates on e-commerce platforms.

• Focus: Visibility, product content optimization, and overall online sales performance.

2. Brand/Product Manager

• Role: Oversees product lines and brand strategy.

• Use: Analyzes how products are positioned digitally, the effectiveness of product content, and consumer sentiment through reviews and ratings.

• Focus: Product content quality, pricing strategy, customer feedback, and competitiveness in the market.

3. Sales Manager

• Role: Drives sales performance and channel relationships.

• Use: Uses insights from digital shelf analytics to manage pricing, promotions, and distribution strategies that directly impact sales.

• Focus: Competitor benchmarking, promotions, and channel performance, often integrating analytics into broader sales strategies.

4. Digital Marketing Manager

• Role: Manages digital marketing campaigns, including SEO, SEM, and online advertising.

• Use: Analyzes which campaigns drive traffic, visibility, and conversions on e-commerce sites, refining marketing strategies based on the data.

• Focus: Campaign effectiveness, conversion rates, and customer engagement through content and promotions.

5. Category Manager

• Role: Manages specific product categories and drives category growth.

• Use: Monitors assortment gaps, category-specific trends, pricing shifts, and consumer preferences to optimize the category’s performance.

• Focus: Assortment strategy, pricing competitiveness, and demand forecasting within a product category.

6. Supply Chain Manager

• Role: Oversees the brand’s supply chain and inventory management.

• Use: Utilizes analytics to manage stock levels, prevent stockouts or overstocks, and ensure products are available on digital shelves.

• Focus: Real-time stock monitoring, distribution efficiency, and supply chain optimization.

7. Pricing Analyst

• Role: Develops and manages pricing strategies across channels.

• Use: Analyzes competitor pricing, price elasticity, and promotional impacts to ensure competitive yet profitable pricing.

• Focus: Price competitiveness, promotional impact, and pricing strategy adjustments based on market dynamics.

8. Customer Insights Manager

• Role: Gathers and analyzes consumer feedback and behavior.

• Use: Examines customer reviews, ratings, and search behaviors to understand consumer sentiment, pain points, and preferences.

• Focus: Consumer sentiment analysis, product development insights, and customer experience improvement.

9. Senior Leadership (e.g., CMO, CDO, or CEO)

• Role: Sets the overall strategy and direction for the brand.

• Use: Uses high-level insights from digital shelf analytics to inform strategic decisions related to digital transformation, channel management, and market positioning.

• Focus: Strategic planning, competitive positioning, and long-term growth.

10. Data Analyst/BI Specialist

(You may not need this role with Intodat)

• Role: Analyzes and visualizes data for various teams.

• Use: Creates detailed reports and dashboards that help other roles understand performance trends, identify opportunities, and make data-driven decisions.

• Focus: Data accuracy, visualization, and actionable insights that support e-commerce growth.

Each role taps into digital shelf analytics differently, but collectively, they use it to drive better e-commerce performance, higher conversions, and stronger market competitiveness.

Grouping Roles by Departments

Here’s a structured grouping of roles by department, including supervisors and their corresponding roles:

1. E-commerce Department

• Supervisor: E-commerce Director / Head of E-commerce / Chief Digital Officer (CDO)

• Roles: E-commerce Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Category Manager, Data Analyst (if applicable)

2. Marketing Department

• Supervisor: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) / Digital Marketing Director

• Roles: Brand Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, Customer Insights Manager

3. Sales Department

• Supervisor: Sales Director / Head of Sales / Chief Sales Officer (CSO)

• Roles: Sales Manager, Pricing Analyst, Category Manager (if sales-focused)

4. Supply Chain Department

• Supervisor: Head of Supply Chain / Logistics / Chief Operating Officer (COO)

• Roles: Supply Chain Manager, Category Manager (if inventory-involved)

5. Pricing & Revenue Department

• Supervisor: Pricing Director / Head of Revenue

• Roles: Pricing Analyst, Data Analyst (for pricing data)

6. Customer Insights & Analytics Department

• Supervisor: Director of Consumer Insights / Chief Customer Officer (CCO)

• Roles: Customer Insights Manager, Data Analyst (for consumer insights)

7. Executive Leadership

• Supervisor: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Board of Directors

• Roles: CMO, CDO, CCO, CSO, COO—senior roles guiding overall strategy and cross-department coordination.

Conclusion

DSA offers value to a wide range of roles within a brand, but to maximize its impact, it’s crucial to tailor the data for each role’s specific needs. By involving everyone, from marketing to supply chain, brands can achieve a holistic view of the digital shelf and maintain a competitive edge. If Digital Shelf Analytics cover all retailer shops and support omnichannel (e.g., data imported from brick-and-mortar stores—more on this in future posts), and all these roles and departments are involved in using it, the brand is set to lead their niche.