Revelations Through Data Mining (1,141 words)

Learning About Its Customers

Describing early responses to the housefile analysis, Seybert says, "It was like an amazing revelation to us when we got to looking at these people against the general population."

Actually, Seybert admits, "You would think we'd already know some of this because it seems like it should be obvious." Unfortunately, Parable and its member stores didn't know much more than the fact that its retail buyers were typically 18- to 45-year-old Christian females. What else could be learned from looking deeper into its customer file? Here's a look at the average Parable Group store customer compared to average Americans: