Business intelligence supports global strategies
Globalisation is not just an abstract sociological concept that we read about in the media. For modern businesses, it is a part of every day’s work. Many entrepreneurs need to appeal to an international audience to keep the crucial step ahead of the competition. And it is particularly in payments that business owners note global trends and differences.
The revolution of online trade, marketing and communications enables businesses to connect with their customers anytime and anywhere. Companies are also engaged in researching trends, needs and habits that can be used in the development of their business. Successful analysis of this data means successful planning for the future.
Research increases turnover
Remember Jeff and his flower shop? He now runs an international flower delivery service. He realised that his European customers order huge amounts of roses in May, as this is wedding season. Offering specials during May was an instant hit, and even though he lowered his rates, his profit increased because of the growing demand.
Recently, Jeff noticed that bouquet orders all over the world always skyrocket in early May, but the exact dates of the orders vary between different countries — namely the UK, Australia, Spain and Mexico. These figures baffle Jeff and he cannot create a good offer, because he cannot identify the reason for this phenomenon. To create successful deals, he needs to understand the special celebrations of each country he sells to and the dates they take place.
What is behind the data?
The most efficient way to do this is to look closely at the data inherent in the payment process. An ETL (extract, transform, load) process collects data from all available sources. Users can access it, transform it into various usable formats, analyse it and examine it in the context of other information they already have. The resulting multi-level data cube can be utilised for many purposes such as big data mining, reporting and monitoring. It is also possible to create long-term monitoring processes that set certain data sets in relation to each other and notify the user in case of potential security breaches or money laundering incidents.
Jeff goes international
Jeff completed his data analysis. It turns out that the flower orders were for Mother’s Day, which is on May 1 in Spain, May 6 in the UK, May 8 in Australia and May 10 in Mexico. As he now knows for which day and occasion the orders are placed in the specific countries, he can make special offers to his customers at the right time in every region. He also found out that it is mostly men and women between 15 and 45 who order flowers on his site. Most people under 20 have it delivered to their own address; older people do not. With all of these finds he can now adjust his business and marketing strategy to provide offers that meet all his customers’ needs.
Data analysis for all purposes
Payment solution provider ONPEX’ modular payment solution enables customers to perform this kind of analysis. All data from all parts of the payments’ value chain are collected in this module. The information can then be transformed and analysed accordingly. Customers can use it in the way Jeff does, but it can be utilised for several other purposes, too. ONPEX’ partner WebShield uses the data to look for patterns that can indicate fraud. WebShield’s CEO Christian Chmiel says: “We are very glad to have a partner of ONPEX’ calibre and vision. Protecting acquirers PSPs, ISOs and merchants from online crime is key.”
About ONPEX’ Payment Technology
ONPEX wants to make all payments truly accessible globally. To achieve this, the company will bring together all technical steps of payment processing, banking and regulatory requirements. The technological foundation of ONPEX’ solution is a cloud-based Platform as a Service (PaaS) that combines local and cross-border card processing, as well as international alternative payment methods, on one omni-channel platform.
The software consists of independent micro-services. With just the click of a mouse these can become modular-scaled to provide higher performance levels. In turn, the modules and functions can be combined to new solutions to meet any requirement in the payments industry.
About ONPEX
ONPEX is an award-winning, global, white-label cloud payment solution combining local and cross-border card processing and international alternative payment methods on one omni-channel Platform as a Service (PaaS). ONPEX’ solutions accelerate international expansion and the development of banks, PSPs, ISOs and developers. They offer the flexibility all of them need to grow globally in the payment business. ONPEX has connectivity to hundreds of acquirers, alternative payment methods and payment related solutions internationally and operates entities in Europe, North America and Asia. For more information about ONPEX, please visit www.onpex.com.