That was the consensus from a recent webinar hosted by Retail Tech Media Nexus, titled “Data Without Direction: Retail Needs Better Questions, Not More Data Pulls.” Panelists from Dell, LG, and other leading companies argued that chasing every metric is distracting leaders from solving real business problems.
“Data is infinite. Attention is not,” said Gavin Hupp, former VP of IT and Data at United Parks & Resorts. “The danger is getting lost in the noise and not focusing on the questions that actually impact the P&L.”
From insight overload to insight action
Breanna Fowler, who leads Dell Technologies’ global online function, said data is too often treated as the endgame rather than a tool.
“Data should be a conversation starter, not a conclusion drawer,” she said. “Even the cleanest data sets can lead to cluttered conclusions if you’re not asking the right questions.”
Girish Joshi of LG Electronics added that asking better questions begins well before the hypothesis stage.
“It’s about curiosity. The hunches. The signals before the signal,” said Joshi, who began his career in physics.
Breaking silos between business and IT
The panel agreed that better collaboration with IT and data teams starts with early engagement — and shared goals.
“When business leaders share the actions they plan to take, it helps IT build the right instruments,” said Joshi. “They want to know their work is going to be used.”
Fowler echoed the importance of cross-functional connection.
“You can’t just throw requests over the wall. You need shared goals from the start.”
On platform migrations and what not to miss
When asked what KPIs are often overlooked during e-commerce platform migrations, the panelists emphasized flexibility over just conversion rate.
“Can your team publish content fast? Can you empower marketing and UX teams without delays?” said Fowler. “Sometimes the success metric isn’t conversion — it’s enabling intent and accelerating content-to-market speed.”
Hupp added: “Measure pain points, velocity, and internal agility. If your system creates friction, that’s your red flag.”
Don’t let data tell you what you want to hear
In a closing segment, the panel warned against drawing premature or biased conclusions from data.
“A trend line without context is just a line,” said Joshi. “Data is subjective if you want it to be.”
Fowler added, “There’s always a risk of confirmation bias. That’s why we need a culture where instinct, testing, and disagreement are welcome.”