With almost a year of COVID-19 under our belts, businesses of all sizes have had to grapple with how the pandemic has changed typical consumer behavior patterns rapidly, drastically and probably permanently. Lockdowns and shutdowns have made consumers more conscious of supporting local businesses, so it is important for localized midsize businesses to arm themselves with every tool to help retain this newfound customer base.

One such tool is customer behavior data to help understand these evolving patterns, which is vital to adapting to the new normal. But many midsize businesses don’t consider tapping into data analytics simply because it doesn’t fit into their already tight budgets or existing skill sets for marketing and business development. In a world where you have to compete on multiple fronts — against national corporations moving into your neighborhood and endless options available online — data-driven decisions can give you an edge.

With the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, budgets are tight. Even in the best of times, you may not have considered data a wise investment for your growing business. But accessing the data you need does not have to come at great expense. In fact, it can offer unexpected ROI in almost every aspect of your business.

One key to fitting consumer data into your budget is to only buy access to the data you need to optimize operations. As data analytics and intelligence offerings have become more sophisticated, it is no longer necessary to buy data in bulk. Many data customers, for example, get just the data they need for a specific project, like understanding the buyer’s journey, benchmarking against local competitors or informing a new store location. This type of data service can be tailored to fit your business’s budget and even include the heavy lifting of analysis so that you and your team don’t need to become data scientists yourselves.