Data Warehousing and Data Mining

   Information Technology is being used to collect information on eustomer profile, purchases,
timing of purchase, frequency of purchase etc. Data Warehousing refers to compiling of
above information into databases. Data Mining refers to analysis of these databases to
draw inferences related to customer purchasing behaviour. An example of how data can
be used to draw inferences and take decisions is illustrated by two simple cases below:

   A lady comes in the evenings to a super market every alternate day at 5 p.m. and
purchases baby food, some grocery and picks up the magazine society at the counter.
From this we can infer that she is a working women, employed somewhere in
neighbourhood who has a small child, prefers certain brands and can be approached
through an advertising in magazine 'Society'.

   The retail store Land Mark through Data Mining found that men who purchased red
shirts also often brought a blue tie along with the shirt. The retailer used this information
to promote red ties by offering discounts on purchase of red ties to customers who
purchased the blue shirt.