Analytics

Analytics in business

In business terms, the goal of analytics is to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

• Inventory management: Instead of ordering stock at random, data clearly shows which products gather dust in the warehouse for months and which fly off the shelves in days
• Price optimization: Analyzing the market and customer behavior makes it possible to pinpoint the optimal price for a product. Airlines, for example, use analytics to adjust ticket prices hour by hour based on current demand
• Spotting process problems: If the data shows customer support is losing 40% of its working time answering the same question over and over, it’s clear that answer should be featured on the website, freeing up staff time.

Analytics in marketing

There’s an old saying in marketing: "I know I’m wasting half my marketing budget, I just don’t know which half." Analytics solves that.

• Getting to know the ideal customer: Data clearly defines the target audience. Website analytics can reveal that certain products are bought mostly by women aged 25-34, on Tuesday evenings via smartphone. That gives precise guidance on how and when to communicate with customers.
• Measuring ad performance (ROI): With even investment (e.g. €500 each) across platforms like Facebook and Google, analytics precisely shows which platform brings in more customers. That lets you direct the whole budget toward the channels generating the most profit.
• Personalizing the offer: Content recommendations on streaming platforms (like Netflix) or targeted accessory suggestions in webshops are a clear example of analytics in action. By tracking past clicks and purchase patterns, the system offers exactly the products that match a user’s interests, dramatically boosting sales.

Examples of standard web and mobile analytics tools

Specialized systems are used to successfully collect, process, and visualize data. These are the most important tools that form the foundation of a modern analytics infrastructure:

• Google Tag Manager (GTM): A system that acts as a "control tower" for tracking. It lets you deploy various tracking codes (tags) and marketing tools on a website quickly and efficiently, without constant developer involvement.
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4): The central system for tracking web and mobile traffic. It gives a detailed view of how users behave on the site, where they come from (Google search, social media, paid ads), and measures key conversions like completed purchases or filled-out contact forms.
• Google Firebase: A platform built primarily for mobile apps. Its analytics module enables in-depth tracking of user interactions within the app, user retention, and detection of technical issues (like app crashes).
• Data visualization tools (e.g. Looker Studio): Software used to turn raw numbers from GA4 and other sources into interactive, visually appealing, easy-to-understand reports (dashboards). The goal is to give clients a clear view of the most important metrics at all times.
• User experience analysis tools (e.g. Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity): Systems that complement classic analytics with visual displays (heatmaps) and anonymized screen recordings. They show not just how many people visited a page, but exactly where they click, how far they scroll, and where they abandon a purchase.

Analytics isn’t complicated charts and advanced math on a computer. It’s simply the skill of finding meaning in chaos