Leading fashion retailers and brands are increasing the number of data-related professionals they employ as they look to build their competitive advantage, reveals a new research by algorithmic merchandising firm Nextail . The research shows, 22 leading fashion companies increased the number of data recruits by 40 per cent over 2020. The annual Retail Data-Forwardness Retail (RDI) shows that sportswear businesses and the big North American corporations are investing the most. Standout brands include Nike and Levi Strauss & Co. which head this year’s rankings.

Nextail compiled publicly available data on revenue and profit at the end of each retailer’s FY 2020, as well as the official headcount of each retailer according to its last annual report. To identify data-related talent, LinkedIn Recruiter was used to search for currently employed professionals holding titles of 60+ data-related positions.

Nextail cloud-based platform combines AI and prescriptive analytics and applies principles like hyper-local probabilistic demand forecasting and agile process automation. With Nextail, retailers transform their inventory management processes and operations in the face of market variability, proliferation of channels, and a lack of historical data.