Big Data Capabilities and Readiness of South African Retail Organisations

Big Data enables organisations to use the large volumes of data generated through different devices and people to increase efficiency and generate more profits. South African retail organisations are already using data to their advantage using loyalty cards, but their capabilities and readiness in using Big Data is not very clear. This paper presents a qualitative approach to understand the current capabilities and readiness of Big Data in South African retail organisations. Two theoretical models; Technology Organisation Environment (TOE) together with Task Technology Fit (TTF) were used to understand the factors that enable adoption and implementation of Big Data in retail organisations. Semi structured interviews were conducted with individuals from retail organisations, Big Data vendors and IT professional service providers to get an understanding of the current status of Big Data in the South African context. The study reveals that South African retail organisations are capable and ready to adopt and implement Big Data, however, more efforts need to be placed from the organisational perspective and Big Data technology vendors need to provide more support to enable realisation of more benefits of Big Data in South African retail organisations.