Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Data silos would not scale, so analysis could not be generated in real time. With siloed data
there was no practical way to connect online, retail, and Nook purchase and preference informa-
tion from one location to another. For example, company executives wanted to learn more about its
customers—how far they might live from a store, whether they had children, their loyalty and propen-
sity to buy online, etc.—but that data could not be analyzed quickly enough to meet those needs.
So to fully capitalize on one of the company's most significant assets—its data—Barnes & Noble
turned to Teradata Aster to take full advantage of more effective strategies for deploying data-driven
analytics.
Impact
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Decreasing churn and engaging readers.
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Democratizing access to data.
Many companies capture large sets of customer-oriented data with the goal of adding value to the
customer experience and to their brand. But if that data is locked up in hard-to-access silos, it cannot
be used throughout the organization to add more value to the brand.
So Barnes & Noble began a project using Teradata Aster's decision tools to accomplish several
objectives:
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Learn more about customers by creating one single view into all marketing channels.
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Improve POS systems to enable real-time personalized customer recommendations.
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Analyze trends more quickly to take advantage of tactical opportunities.
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Create more sophisticated models to understand purchase behavior and brand loyalty.
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Gain more visibility into retail and online customers, each of whom had different needs.
Perhaps most importantly, Barnes & Noble wanted to “democratize” access to data—making it
available to everyone in the organization who could use it to improve the customer experience. From
an analytics perspective, the company needed to shift its overall methodology. Instead of creating
individual purchasing behavior theories and testing them over time, the company wanted to run many
different theoretical models across the same data set—and do so in a matter of minutes, not days or
weeks.
Teradata Aster enabled this process. By using Aster SQL-MapReduce, Barnes & Noble has a sin-
gle view into all channels, it has much faster response times, and it delivers personalized analytics
that enable a more customized purchase experience to all customers.
A 360° view: turning browsers into buyers
The business impact was astounding. Now, with a 360° view of the customer's in-store and online
behavior, Barnes & Noble has enhanced its brand and turns more browsers into buyers by more effec-
tively anticipating what customers want.
The company now has a sophisticated real-time POS system that is deployed in the cloud, pro-
vides immediate access to information, and can offer special deals to individual customers, for a more
personalized sales experience.
