A new study suggests that retailers in the UK could be open to confusion and mixed-messages because of the way they structure data flowing into their organisations.

Research undertaken in three countries – the UK, US and France – by tech firm eCommera shows that 57 per cent of UK retailers look at six or more sources of information to track performance.

But just 22.3 per cent of respondents said they could easily disseminate the information flooding in from reports, spreadsheets and software applications.

The issue has left many businesses unable to agree quickly on the causes of problems or dips in performance, which in turn creates delays in implementing a solution.

The report also found that UK retailers’ top operational challenge is created an integrated view across marketing, merchandising and other operations. Some 37.8 per cent named it as their biggest priority in the data sphere.

“In the online world, the level of co-ordination required is extraordinary,” said Michael Ross, co-founder and chief scientist of eCommera.

“Whereas a physical retailer can rattle off what their key KPIs are, most people don’t understand the drivers of an online business and there are a lot of people focussing on the wrong metrics.

He added: “Data is powerful but only if it’s accessible and being used to full effect. At the moment, retailers are making important decisions based on disconnected, incomplete and potentially incorrect data.”