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a jStart™
business scenario
using Big Data to identify Big Opportunities in retail
understand what
your customers are
telling you...before
they tell you.
At a Glance Customer sentiment analysis is old news for retail. Using data analytics to
garner customer insight is something retail has been doing for some time. So what can Big Data offer retail that’s
new? How about understanding what your customers are telling you—before they tell you? jStart recently examined how a large
retail company could do just that—and provide it a competitive advantage over it’s rivals. “...combining data from a diverse
set of data resources—some of
which may not even be owned by
the company, and adding customer sentiment data, geolocation data, customer preference
analysis, and market trending
information based on contextual
text analytics, all add up to provide a level of understanding of
market dynamics previously unavailable to the industry.”
See how IBM using analytics to
create Smarter Retail
How Big Data can be predictive Predictive analytics is also something that is understood by the
retail industry. But combining data from a diverse set of data
resources—some of which may not even be owned by the
company, and adding customer sentiment data, geolocation data,
customer preference analysis, and market trending information based
on contextual text analytics, all add up to provide a level of understanding of market dynamics previously unavailable to the industry. For instance,
what if your business could understand what factors might be important for
a buyer to make a purchasing decision before that product ever was
stocked on your shelves? What if you could know exactly what market dynamics were modifying demand curves before they occurred? Imagine the
impact on operational efficiencies in terms of inventory cost control, intelligent distribution and routing, and demand projection.
Enter Big Data Analytics
Big Data, and specifically technologies jStart has been heavily involved in,
provide opportunities for retail companies to do just that. Combined with
unique technologies from IBM Emerging Technologies, along with mature
data analytics software from Cognos and SPSS, one company has the
technology to offer Big Data solutions today: IBM.
IBM BigSheets is a system developed by IBM’s Emerging Internet Technologies group to allow for the easy and quick exploration of big data. If
you’re wondering what your data may be trying to tell you, BigSheets is a
great place to start—since any line-of-business professional can manipulate the tool to identify and take action on opportunities which may reside in
ibm.com/jstart
a jStart™
business scenario
the data, itself. Since BigSheets can merge data from numerous sources,
your company can obtain a high level overview of what’s possible with the
data available—and the opThe seven areas that matter most to consumers and where they
also think retailers most need to improve
portunity to act on those insights.
It's not just about price
It's about the right offer
at the right time. And
that requires intelligence. Using analytics
to spot trends early and
proactively structure
planning and inventory
efforts will allow retailers
to shape demand, rather than react to demand. Retailers have to
narrow down the assortment to map tightly to
consumer preferences
and make sure the
product is
available.
get started with jStart:
David Sink
Program Director, jStart Team
IBM Emerging Internet Technologies
[email protected]
Tel: 919.254.4648
Ed Elze
Manager, Business Development,
Strategy & Client Engagement
[email protected]
Tel: 360.866.0160
Jim Smith
Manager, Client Engagements, Chief Architect
Emerging Internet Technologies Group
[email protected]
Tel: 919.387.6653
John Feller
Manager, Emerging Technologies Development
jStart Team
[email protected]
Tel: 919.543.7971
Learn More:
ibm.com/software/jstart/bigsheets
ibm.com/software/jstart/bigdata
ibm.com/software/jstart/textanalytics
ibm.com/software/jstart/hadoop
[email protected]
The jStart team also has extensive experience with IBM
data analytics technologies
and solutions as well:
IBM Content Analyzer is a
technology from IBM’s Information Management group
which allows for detailed analysis of information, including
IBM Institute for Business Value analysis text analytics, in order to understand the context of the data being parsed as well as relationships between the data. Whether it’s sentiment analysis, or understanding what activities your competitors are engaged in, SPSS and Cognos offerings from IBM
gives companies unprecedented abilities to do “deep dive analysis” on their
data. Need to understand how your market clusters statistically? Need to see
correlations between factors and parameters within the data? SPSS and
Cognos offerings can help you get started.
Wondering how your company can efficiently store and process big data?
The jStart team can also help with Apache Hadoop™ deployments to solve
that very issue.
By leveraging these technologies, your business could extract information
from publicly available sources, internal data sources, and partner resources, and use them to identify patterns, markets, and opportunities to
make the sale. In the end, big data can help identify big opportunities for
retail. Ready to get started? jStart is. Contact us today.
Who is jStart?
jStart is a highly skilled team focused on providing fast, smart, and valuable
business solutions leveraging the latest technologies. The team typically focuses on emerging technologies which have commercial potential within 1218 months. This allows the team to keep ahead of the adoption curve, while
being prepared for client engagements and partnerships. The team’s focus
in 2010 includes: big data, text analytics, business events processing, mobile platforms, and mashups/widgets.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2010, IBM Corporation Software Group, Route 100, Somers, NY 10589, USA. Produced in the United States of America, 0610, All Rights Reserved. IBM, the IBM logo, and jStart, are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.