120: Understanding Data and Data Science In Retail

Data, data science, machine learning and AI are all increasingly important topics in the retail industry. But the world of data can be confusing and even overwhelming for retail leadership teams. Experienced retail leader, Ian Shepherd, joins to demystify and simplify key terms. Through this podcast episode, he lays down a practical guide, inspired by his book, The Average Is Always Wrong.

So, listen to this episode of the Retail Transformation Show podcast to discover:

• The best way to approach becoming “data-centric.”
• Exploring and highlighting the pitfalls and challenges that you might encounter.
• And demystifying complex sounding terms into simple, understandable words.

 

 

Introducing Ian Shepherd

Ian Shepherd is an experienced retail leader and has been working in and around data for the last 25 years.

He has held senior positions including Chief Operating Officer at Odeon Cinemas and CEO at Game Group plc. In addition, he has been CMO, MD and also held other commercial and marketing roles Vodafone and Sky TV.

Currently, he is Non-Executive Director (NED) at Bensons For Beds and an advisor to retailers and tech companies.

Also, Ian is the author of two fantastic books. Firstly, in 2019, he released Reinventing Retail. Then, in 2020, he released The Average Is Always Wrong.

Connect with Ian on LinkedIn or on Twitter (@IanAShepherd).

Book: The Average Is Always Wrong

This book is a practical, real-world guide to putting data at the heart of your business. The book is made up of three parts. Firstly, you’ll learn the basics of data and statistics – and why it might not be as scary as you might worry about. Next, you’ll explore the sources of data in your business. And finally, you’ll discover how to build a data-focused company and culture.

Further podcast episodes to listen to

If you enjoyed this episode of the Retail Transformation Show with Ian Shepherd, then you may also enjoy these episodes.

Firstly, in episode 45: Reinventing Retail For The New Normal (part 1) and episode 46: (part 2), Ian joins to discuss his first book, Reinventing Retail. And this was discovering the new normal before coronavirus took over that term!

Next, listen in to episode 56: Career Tips For The Changing World Of Retail. Here, you’ll find that Ian was one of 4 guests sharing career tips for the ever changing world of retail.

And finally, in episode 119: How To Do Predictive Modelling, you can discover a 6 part framework to help guide you as you embark on predictive modelling. In fact, this was the episode mentioned in the conversation with the quote of “models are always wrong, but some may be useful.”