It is no surprise that major global companies like Google, Amazon, Alibaba, and Lazada have extensive data collection strategies, gathering consumer information ranging from personal data, website visits, transaction data, to product information. Similarly, large startups like Grab, Agoda, Airbnb, and Netflix employ the same methods to accumulate data, with many of these companies holding several petabytes of data (1 petabyte equals 1,024 terabytes, and 1 terabyte equals 1,024 gigabytes).
As consumers using online services from these companies, we can observe on their websites or mobile apps that they retain our purchase history and personal information, which we can view through the app. We might wonder why they collect such detailed data, including what we ordered, when, and where the products were delivered. Streaming services track what movies we watched and when, while coffee shops with membership systems record what coffee we drank and when.
The information companies show us is just a fraction of what they collect. It is believed that most companies gather far more data about us, such as website visits, product views, and even when we do not make a purchase.
With the vast amount of data available, these companies understand consumer needs exceptionally well. They analyze this data to make various predictions, from preparing products according to market demand to setting appropriate prices and accurately presenting products that meet customer needs. As these companies analyze data effectively, they continue to attract more customers. With more customers, they gather even more data, enhancing their ability to analyze information accurately.
Ultimately, smaller companies that lack data or have minimal data cannot compete, leading to a situation where only a few large players remain in each industry. This phenomenon is known as 'The winner takes all.'
To have large amounts of data, companies must not only have access to a vast consumer base but also possess substantial IT infrastructure capable of storing massive amounts of data and numerous computers for processing. Companies like Alibaba, Google, and Amazon have millions of servers and large storage capacities, requiring the processing of several petabytes daily, along with many researchers and data scientists analyzing this big data and developing artificial intelligence for various innovations.
Thus, it is evident that in the new competitive era, companies with limited data and fewer IT resources or personnel will struggle to compete, especially against large foreign firms, making it even more challenging for domestic companies lacking data.
Consequently, some countries, such as India, have decided to enact laws prohibiting companies from transferring online transaction data outside the country, partly to prevent data from leaving the country and partly to enhance the competitive capacity of domestic firms.
Thailand faces similar challenges and may need to consider how to maintain data sovereignty, ensuring that data remains within the country, how to enable large companies to accumulate vast amounts of data, how to establish robust IT infrastructure, and how to cultivate a significant number of data scientists to analyze this data.
These strategies must integrate business with IT; relying solely on IT strategies cannot yield large data without complementary business or marketing strategies. Even if the IT team develops various applications, they will face challenges in attracting a large user base and obtaining data that aligns with the business.
Similarly, the government must enact laws and measures to support domestic businesses to compete in today's world. It may be necessary to establish regulations to keep transaction data within the country and to implement tax measures that enable domestic companies to compete with foreign firms in terms of data. Ultimately, the world is currently competing over who has more data.
SOURCE : www.bangkokbiznews.com
