Using the Right Kind of Data (2,213 words)

For example, a household in an affluent suburb with two working parents and three small children should differ in shopping behavior from a young, single college student, with no kids, who rents an apartment on campus with friends.

At the Oriental Trading Company, sales for the flagship catalog tend to be event-driven, so outside sources of compiled data do little to help Camenzind and her colleagues predict future behavior.