As competition heats up and challenges grow more complex, data-driven insights are proving to be the ultimate competitive lever. In 2025, we’re not just talking about smarter decisions but smarter workflows, where data shapes nearly every interaction, process and strategy. This guide delves into NetSuite data and analytics tools, offering insights into how you can gain a competitive advantage by elevating your data from a passive resource to a proactive strategic driver.
Why analytics matter for growing businesses
As businesses expand, so do their data sources. Sales figures, inventory levels, marketing metrics and financial transactions generate massive amounts of information daily. The challenge isn’t collecting data—it’s turning it into something meaningful. Analytics helps businesses identify trends, mitigate risks and uncover opportunities for growth. Without it, decision-making becomes reactive, based on gut feelings rather than data-driven insights.
Tools to define your data-driven enterprise
NetSuite offers a suite of data and analytics tools designed to meet the varying needs of Australian and New Zealand businesses. From the simplicity of SuiteAnalytics Workbooks to the advanced capabilities of NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW), NetSuite gives you the capabilities to gain clarity, make informed decisions and scale confidently.
Saved searches and reports for fast access to system data
When it comes to accessing basic data, NetSuite users rely on saved searches and reports to extract, visualise and analyse critical business information.
Saved searches allow users to create dynamic, filterable views of data that are always up-to-date. Whether it’s tracking overdue invoices, analysing sales trends or monitoring inventory levels, saved searches provide actionable snapshots that can be customised, scheduled and shared across the organisation.
Standard and custom reports build on this by offering structured, predefined formats to communicate data effectively. While standard reports cover essential areas like financial performance and operational metrics, custom reports allow users to tailor outputs to meet unique reporting needs.
SuiteAnalytics is the analytics solution built into NetSuite
SuiteAnalytics is the starting point for richer analytics within NetSuite and it comes as standard in every NetSuite subscription. Integrated directly into the ERP platform, it provides users with the ability to:
- Create saved searches for quick, filterable views of key data.
- Generate standard and custom reports tailored to business needs.
- Build interactive SuiteAnalytics Workbooks for advanced reporting and visualisation.
SuiteAnalytics Workbooks bring a pivot-table-style interface to NetSuite, allowing users to drill down into data, create charts and customise dashboards – all without requiring technical expertise.
Learn more: What is a SuiteAnalytics Workbook? >
NetSuite Analytics Warehouse is advanced analytics for complex data
For businesses requiring deeper insights and the ability to integrate data from multiple third-party sources, NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW) offers a robust solution. Powered by Oracle’s analytics technology, NSAW provides:
- A centralised data warehouse that consolidates information from NetSuite and third-party systems.
- AI-driven insights, including predictive analytics and anomaly detection.
- Prebuilt dashboards and KPIs tailored for industries like retail, manufacturing and professional services.
- Scalable, secure infrastructure to handle large volumes of data.
Discover how NSAW works: Introducing NetSuite Analytics Warehouse [Video demo] >
Dive deeper:
- Consolidating data: How NetSuite Analytics Warehouse consolidates your data for richer business insights >
- Financial reporting: Turn numbers into narratives with NetSuite’s financial reporting & analytics tools >
Comparing SuiteAnalytics with NetSuite Analytics Warehouse
While SuiteAnalytics and NSAW are both part of NetSuite’s analytics ecosystem, they serve different purposes. SuiteAnalytics is ideal for operational reporting directly within NetSuite, while NSAW excels in handling complex, cross-platform data analysis.
For a quick comparison, read: NetSuite SuiteAnalytics vs NetSuite Analytics Warehouse >
NetSuite data and analytics use cases
AI-powered insights in NSAW can explain past performance but they can also predict future outcomes. This dual functionality plays out in several scenarios.
Forecast demand and optimise inventory
Managing inventory is a balancing act. Too much stock ties up capital, while too little leads to missed sales opportunities. NetSuite’s analytics tools – particularly NSAW – can combine historical sales data, seasonal trends and even external factors like market conditions to forecast demand with remarkable precision.
Use cases include:
- Seasonal inventory planning | Retailers can predict demand for holiday products, ensuring shelves are stocked without overbuying.
- Dynamic supply chain adjustments | Manufacturers can anticipate raw material needs, reducing lead times and preventing production delays.
- Real-time restocking intel | Businesses can set up triggers based on inventory thresholds to automatically reorder high-demand items, minimising stockouts.
Identify high-risk customer churn before it happens
Customer retention is more cost-effective than acquisition but identifying who is at risk of leaving isn’t so easy. NetSuite’s advanced analytics and AI models help businesses pinpoint patterns that indicate churn risk, supporting proactive retention strategies.
Practical applications include:
- Behavioural tracking | By analysing buying patterns, engagement frequency and customer support interactions, businesses can detect when a customer’s activity begins to wane.
- Predictive churn scoring | AI models assign churn likelihood scores, enabling teams to prioritise retention efforts on high-risk accounts.
- Proactive engagement | Once flagged, at-risk customers can be targeted with tailored offers, loyalty incentives or direct outreach to address their concerns.
Optimise staffing and resources based on seasonal trends or sales forecasts
Workforce efficiency is closely tied to profitability. Too many staff members lead to unnecessary payroll expenses, while too few result in overworked employees and poor customer experiences.
NetSuite’s analytics tools allow businesses to align staffing levels with demand, driven by data like historical sales, seasonal fluctuations and growth projections.
Examples include:
- Retail and hospitality scheduling | Businesses can plan staffing during peak holiday shopping periods or major events, ensuring adequate coverage without overstaffing.
- Service team optimisation | Professional services firms can allocate resources more effectively, avoiding employee burnout while consistently meeting project deadlines.
- Cross-functional agility | Seasonal sales peaks often impact other departments, such as warehouse operations and customer support. NetSuite helps coordinate efforts across teams for more seamless scaling.
Streamlining multi-department collaboration
Effective decision-making requires synchronised efforts across departments. Yet, data silos often get in the way of collaboration, leading to misaligned goals and delayed decisions. NSAW breaks down these barriers by enabling teams to work from shared dashboards, fostering real-time, data-driven collaboration.
View consistent metrics for alignment
Disparate data sources and conflicting reports can create confusion and inefficiencies. NSAW solves this by serving as a single source of truth, ensuring all departments work from the same consistent metrics.
- Unified reporting | Teams from finance, operations and sales can view performance data on a single dashboard, avoiding discrepancies caused by siloed systems.
- Goal alignment | By providing a transparent view of KPIs, NSAW ensures that departments are aligned on overarching objectives, driving a cohesive approach to achieving business outcomes.
Add contextual comments and feedback
Collaborative efforts often suffer when feedback is scattered across emails, meetings or spreadsheets. NSAW introduces in-context collaboration tools, allowing teams to work together directly within the analytics platform.
- Actionable discussions | Users can leave comments, questions, or observations directly on visualisations, for more focused discussions.
- Role-based contributions | Team members can interact with data specific to their roles – from sales forecasts to project profitability – ensuring relevant feedback that drives decisions.
- Audit trails | Comments remain tied to specific reports or metrics, creating a clear history of decisions and discussions for future reference.
Eliminate delays caused by traditional workflows
Traditional workflows – like exporting data, compiling email chains, or scheduling meetings – waste time and dilute the impact of insights. NSAW eliminates these delays by facilitating real-time collaboration and instant data access.
- Live updates | Shared dashboards automatically refresh with the latest data, ensuring all users see the same real-time metrics.
- Faster decision-making | Teams no longer wait for emailed reports or manual data consolidation, accelerating the time from insight to action.
- Streamlined approvals | NSAW’s collaborative features reduce back-and-forth communication, expediting processes like budget approvals or sales planning.
Ready to dive into your data deeper?
NetSuite’s analytics ecosystem bridges the gap between raw data and actionable intelligence, offering tools that cater to varying levels of technical expertise and business complexity.
From speedier, smoother operations to unearthing previously undetected growth opportunities, NetSuite’s data and analytics options can address the unique challenges of your growing businesses.
Schedule a demo with an expert who can show you how to apply these tools to your business.
Learn more:
- Introducing NetSuite Analytics Warehouse [Video demo] >
- What is a SuiteAnalytics Workbook? >
- From dashboards to data lakes – exploring NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW) >
- NetSuite SuiteAnalytics vs NetSuite Analytics Warehouse or compare the two with this infographic – NSAW versus SuiteAnalytics
- Turn numbers into narratives with NetSuite’s financial reporting & analytics tools >
- How NetSuite Analytics Warehouse consolidates your data for richer business insights >
- The mega guide to NetSuite modules (2024) >