Briefs

EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: William McKnight

QUESTION POSED ON: 17 July 2008 What are some examples of industries that use data mining -- and how do they use data mining?

> EXPERT RESPONSE Data mining uses advanced algorithms to analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and establish relationships. All major industries use data mining. Below are some specific examples of how various industries use data mining.

Retail industry data mining uses:

• Understand high-spending block groups
• Understand what combination of dimensions yields most profitable values
• Physically co-locate products based on affinity
• Impute values based on other values
• Determine correlates to specific purchases
• Handle churn management of customers
• Determine specific promotions to send to specific recipients (CRM applications)