A look at big data: How big brands use their information

Over the past few years, big data has gotten, well, big. And in the coming years, research shows that it will only get bigger.

Gartner has predicted that big data in connection with enterprise use will grow by 650 percent over the next few years. At the same time, IDC forecasted that the data used by organizations across the globe doubles every 18 months.

To put this in perspective, consider the data we as individuals create every day. In each of the day’s 1,440 minutes, users:

• Send over 200 million emails
• Carry out more than 2 million Google searches
• Create 48 hours of new YouTube videos
• Share 684,000 bits of content on Facebook
• Share more than 100,000 tweets on Twitter
• Spend $272,000 on e-commerce

That’s a ton of information that we, as users, send into the cybersphere each and every day. And our favorite brands are utilizing this big data to better understand consumers and tailor their offerings accordingly. Let’s take a look at some of the ways big brands are using big data:

Wal-Mart’s search capabilities
Ever wonder how a store determines which items to pull up in its website search results? According to TechTarget, Wal-Mart utilizes technology that leverages text analysis, machine learning and synonym mining to help present the best search results for its customers. In this way, big data is harnessed to ensure that you, as the customer, find exactly what you’re looking for.

Wal-Mart has found considerable success with this approach, noting a 10 to 15 percent increase in the number of completed purchases by shoppers using its advanced search capabilities. Gartner analyst Doug Laney told TechTarget that this translates to billions of dollars for the retailer.

Morton’s Steakhouse publicity stunt
Famous Chicago steakhouse chain Morton’s leveraged their big data based on a single customer to pull off what might be the best publicity stunt we’ve ever seen. According to reports, a frequent customer of the steakhouse shared a tweet that joked about Morton’s dinner being sent to the Newark airport, where the customer would be arriving after a work trip. The brand not only saw the tweet, but pulled up its wealth of information on the individual to help in the stunt.

Today’s companies are doing amazing things with their big data.

“The steakhouse saw the tweet, discovered he was a frequent customer (and frequent tweeter), pulled data on what he typically ordered, figured out which flight he was on, and then sent a tuxedo-clad person to serve him his dinner,” TechTarget senior news writer Nicole Laskowski wrote.

Although some may dub this as a publicity stunt that might have gone a little far, Laney pointed out that the point here is that the brand was able to pull off the event with the big data it had on hand.

“Is your company even capable of something like this?” Laney said.

These are just a couple of examples of the powerful things brands are doing with big data. Other companies are also improving business intelligence, product generation, performance efficiency and enhancing their ability to repurpose resources. However, without a proper data management system in place, big data becomes nothing more than a repository of information.

In order to glean insights and leverage their big data in the most impactful manner, businesses need data management. To find out more, contact iT1 Source today.