In retail, focusing on the data that’s easy to see, like sales trends or customer satisfaction, can make businesses blind to what’s not working. In this episode of Modern Work Mondays, Nolan and Jeff dive into the concept of survivorship bias and explain how overlooking hidden issues can prevent retailers from improving operations and customer experience.

What is survivorship bias?

Survivorship bias is the tendency to focus on the “survivors”—the successful outcomes—while ignoring the failures or missed opportunities that could provide valuable insights. Nolan shared an example from World War II: engineers reinforced the visible damage on returning war planes, assuming these areas were the most vulnerable. However, they later realized that the planes that didn’t return had been hit in critical areas, like the engine. This shift in focus led to reinforcing those vital areas, improving survival rates.

Why we need to measure what’s not working

Retailers often rely on familiar metrics like NPS scores or POS data, but these don’t capture everything happening in the store. Missed sales, poor staff coordination, and inefficiencies are harder to measure, but they’re just as important. These gaps create blind spots, preventing businesses from identifying areas that could improve operations and customer experience.

Technology helps uncover hidden gaps

Retailers can use technology to uncover untapped data. Nolan and Jeff discussed how AI-powered radio analytics, for example, that can track staff communication, helping identify delays or breakdowns in service. Other technologies like computer vision can monitor store conditions, track customer movement, and detect when things aren’t running smoothly. These technologies offer actionable insights that traditional metrics can’t, helping businesses improve performance.

Measuring the unseen

Survivorship bias prevents businesses from fully understanding where they can improve. By focusing on untapped data like missed sales, inefficiencies, or communication breakdowns, businesses can uncover critical insights that traditional data doesn’t capture. Leveraging the right technology to gather this data opens up opportunities to address gaps, boost performance, and ultimately deliver a better experience for both customers and staff.