Real-Time Data: The Untapped Growth Engine for Platform Businesses
Most consumer-facing platform companies know real-time data is crucial, but a recent survey shows few are equipped to use it.
For many of today’s retailers, streaming services, gig economy apps, and gaming platforms, data is everything. But according to a new study from PYMNTS Intelligence and Fiserv, many of these companies are far from "data ready" – and the gap between what they need and what they have comes at a high cost.
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What is data readiness?
According to the Platform Business Data Readiness Survey: How Real-Time Data Can Drive Growth, “Data-readiness refers to an organization’s ability to collect, manage and utilize data effectively. It involves ensuring the data is accurate, accessible, secure and in a format that supports business decision making.”
The Platform Business Data Readiness Survey examined 549 U.S.-based firms earning at least $500 million annually to understand how access to real-time sales data and the ability to act on it impact business performance. The findings are clear: Data-ready firms significantly outperform their peers. Yet fewer than half of surveyed companies have dedicated companywide analytics teams, and just 16% have access to real-time sales data.
Highlights
- 9/10 firms have used GenAI to obtain and analyze payments and transaction data
- Firms with a high reliance on data saw average gains more than 10x higher than less data-reliant firms
- 99% cite missed business opportunities, flawed forecasting and customer churn due to insufficient or delayed data
- 58% said they made inaccurate decisions and 55% reported lost business because they didn’t have data in time
Who’s most likely to have real-time data access?
The Bottom Line
The data shows growth is tied to what you know and how fast you can know it.
As firms look to streamline operations, drive growth and stay competitive, investing in real-time data infrastructure and the teams to activate it is a strategic imperative. Fiserv helps organizations aggregate, analyze and act on data in real time across the enterprise.
