Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
transaction of your enterprise, the Itemset is defined as the agreement on
which that transaction is based. For example:
• In a restaurant, that unit of business activity is the meal documented
on a check. A customer says, “Waiter, check please,” and the waiter
hands the customer a c heck. That check is the lowest-level, most
granular transaction in the enterprise. Let the checks be the Itemset.
• In a retail store, that unit of business activity is the sales transaction
documented on a receipt. The customer presents products for pur-
chase. The cashier records the products in a cash register. Once all
the products have been entered into the cash register, the cash regis-
ter prints a receipt. The cashier presents the receipt to the customer,
who then pays for the products listed on the receipt for the price
listed on the receipt. That receipt is the lowest-level, most granular
transaction in the enterprise. Let the receipts be the Itemset.
• In a contract service company, that unit of work is the work order.
A customer requests services to be performed. The contract service
company and the customer negotiate the services and price, which
are documented in a work order. That work order is the lowest-level,
most granular transaction in the enterprise. Let the work orders be
the Itemset.
It's that simple. For your first attempt at Market Basket Analysis (or
maybe your first attempt at this Market Basket Analysis solution design)
there is no need to make it more complex than necessary. The lowest-level
transaction in the enterprise has the advantages of being ubiquitously
understood in the enterprise, well defined within the enterprise, and usu-
ally well documented. That being the case, the lowest-level transaction is
the most intuitive Itemset and the most tangible Itemset, and therefore,
the most obvious initial definition of an Itemset.
Alternatively, your enterprise might have numerous points of interac-
tion with customers wherein your enterprise exchanges something for
money. A single shop might, for a price, sell hard goods, which have a
physical form that can be touched. That same shop might sell, for another
price, a warranty on the hard goods. Again that shop might sell, for yet
another price, service and maintenance on the hard goods it sells. All these
moments wherein the enterprise exchanges money for something are the
transactions of the enterprise. All those transactions can be defined as
the Itemset; or, each kind of transaction can be its own Itemset definition
