Briefs

By Barney Beal, 15 Feb 2007 | SearchCRM.com

... Bon-Ton has recently deployed predictive analytics software from Chicago-based SPSS Inc. to analyze and segment its customers. Bon-Ton operates 283 department stores, including eight furniture galleries, in 23 states.

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Bon-Ton will begin its efforts measuring its media mix, determining where media spend is making the greatest difference -- be it radio, television or more direct efforts. The SPSS software is helping the company segment its customer base -- currently housed in the Customer Information System, a large enterprise data warehouse -- based on who responds to what.

For example, Bon-Ton runs charitable events at its stores throughout the country and wants to use SPSS to understand which customers are supporting those events, Hayes said. Bon-Ton has an understanding of buying patterns at a macro level but can't drill down to specific behaviors -- whether customers in Des Moines, Iowa, are making different purchases than customers in Dayton, Ohio, for instance, and how to market to customers who consider themselves fashion-forward or conservative, and vice versa.

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