Entrepreneurs are advised to harness big data to expand their e-commerce business.

“You have a very brilliant business advisor dashboard ready for you. Make time and really extract those numbers, get comfortable with these numbers… Data cannot lie to you so look at that data right now and know the story behind your business and grow it. Leverage data so that you can grow your business,” Shayne Madamba, chief digital officer of Havas Media Ortega + Chester Sy, said in a webinar.

Madamba said firms need to practice measuring to manage their products and sales.

“So, if you wanna be on top of your business, you need to start measuring. That is the best practice that we need to imbibe as a natural behavior moving forward,” she said.

Madamba cited as an example ecommerce platform Lazada wherein a dashboard allows sellers to monitor particularly the number of transactions, the highs and lows of sales, and revenues.

“To be able to forecast and create your benchmarks, we need to understand how these numbers are interplaying with each other,” she said.

She added a business advisor provides a lot of insights but the “analysis and the understanding will come from you.”

Apart from harnessing data, Madamba said store styling and marketing are also important.

“(There) always has to be a marriage between two things –the greatness of your products, the relevance of your products, at the same time you presented in such a way that it’s very attractive. When you visit your store, it gives you that colorful, wonderful vibe,” she said.

Madamba also advised businesses to be agile as fast as they can.

“If you want to leverage on sales and participate in certain campaigns, be as fast as you could be able to adjust your store, adjust your price, adjust your offering, so make the most out of that,” she said.

“And of course, second would be a testing mindset,” she added. “You try new things and learn from those things.”