It's not every day you can say that the Chairman and CEO of Visa is your warm up guy, but this week I can!  Peter Ayliffe gave a brilliant overview at the Beyond Analysis breakfast seminar last week.  Diana Hunter the new CEO of Conviviality PLC was also on hand to share her thoughts - after only being in her role for eight months Diana has led the float of Conviviality (AKA Bargain Booze) on AIM and also acquired Victoria Wine.  

After that impressive warm up, the audience then got me, which hopefully wasn't too much of a let down.

Here are a few key messages from my presentation.

1. Analysis Paralysis is a 21st century disease when it comes to big data and retail.  I often find that the more data thrown at a problem, the less common sense is applied to resolve the issue.

2. Data does not, can not and never will supplant killer retail instinct.

3. The obvious isn't always apparent, and actionable insights from data can help with that.  

4.  The mere fact you can measure something, divide one number by another or report on something regularly does not make it useful. Bring everything back to the four quadrants of retail improvement.

5. Manage by measuring - you can not optimise what you do not measure.  Think big, start small.

6. It's not just about why customers DO buy, it's about why the DON'T buy too.

And finally...

7. Done is better than perfect - i.e. A Good Plan today is better than a Perfect Plan tomorrow!

Very exited to be heading to Cannes to participate in the bi-annual Visa Insights Conference.  Even more excited to be on a panel alongside the brilliant Paul Alexander from Beyond Analysis and Alastair Lukies of Monitise.

I'm speaking on a panel titled 'Unlocking the value of payments: how to monetise data (without alienating your customers)'.

In prepping for the session, I've been thinking about the key messages I think are important to get across. As per usual, it all comes back to focusing on the customer.  Customers want fast, smart and simplified shopping, regardless of what they are buying.  And they increasingly want to do so in a multi-channel environment.  Did you know whilst 51% of retail mobile searchers go onto to visit a retail website, 24% of customers actually stroll down the street and visit a physical store?

I'll update this blog more as the conference progresses - but for me, the headline message is that retailers need to increasingly view themselves as media content companies, not just shopping destinations. Brands will pay a premium to be prominently present at the 'Final Moment of Truth' when a consumer decides which product to add to their basket. And brands, naturally, as well as retailers want to reward customers for their loyalty.

And so what's one of the best ways to place the most relevant product in front of the right customer at the Final Moment of Truth leading to an increase in conversion rates? Data analysis, naturally!