Over the last few years, technology has enabled “Big Data” to make a tremendous impact on businesses across all industries. Perhaps no industry has been more profoundly affected than ecommerce, where the increasing knowledge of consumer behavior and purchasing patterns has enabled online marketers to more effectively target their digital customers.

In a recent blog post at Econsultancy that describes how the topic of data permeates their recent Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing, Linus Gregoriadis brings up some interesting points about the impact that increased availability to data is having on marketers and ecommerce as a whole.

As data becomes more prevalent in marketing operations, a key issue that Gregoriadis raises is how organizations are able to manage a seemingly overwhelming amount of it. Crucial to organizations’ success is the ability to effectively channel data and put it into practice so that it makes a real impact on their business. Whether organizations are able to put their data to good use funnels down from the top, in the form of savvy executives that realize the impact effective data management can have on the bottom line. A commitment to improving multichannel success through data analysis requires both technology and human resources – which have often been stretched thin. As website testing and conversion rate optimization guru Bryan Eisenberg likes to say, “You can’t make money in web analytics just by looking at reports.”

The best way for organizations to put their knowledge of customer patterns and behavior into practice is by having the agility to act on their findings to dynamically engage consumers in real-time. According to Gregoriadis, giving marketers the ability to “pull the right levers quickly, whether the aim is to improve customer experience or increase marketing effectiveness” is the true value of being able to harness your data in real-time to bolster the marketing workflow.

Agile commerce means nurturing a culture of testing where people are free to think up new ideas, test them with very little risk, and iterate those tests to find the optimum outcome. By creating an environment where analytics are both easy to understand and instantly actionable, marketers are empowered to use evidence-based results to guide solutions. And when marketers are empowered to act quickly on their data, amazing things can happen.

We highly suggest you read the Econsultancy post in its entirety as it provides a number of valuable insights. We’re also interested in hearing your thoughts in the comments below.