Big data is very interesting to me. The amount of data we produce today versus even a few years ago is unbelievable. "Demystifying Big Data" stated 90% of the world's data was created in the past two years! So the question is what to do with all of this data? There are so many uses for big data, but one of the more beneficial is targeted marking. In my industry, retail, companies have actually been using big data for years. Many companies have loyalty programs and they track customer spending habits and much more. In fact, Target does this so well they are said to know women are pregnant before they even know! I think that Target is one of the leading retailers in big data use. They know have a mobile coupon app, cartwheel, that I think will evolve to personalized ads delivered to customers while they are in the store. The sky is the limit when it comes to big data.
Target, however, is one of the few companies that uses big data to its potential. My company, BJ's Wholesale Club, has just as much data collected about its customers through membership cards, but does not use the data nearly as well as Target does. There is so much data out there it can be overwhelming for companies. The key is to filter through it and decide what will most benefit your company. It's kind of like what I do as a merchant; I have to edit the assortment presented to the end consumer otherwise they get overwhelmed and won't buy.
Lastly, I want to mention that big data is not something that just businesses can profit from. We read an interesting article on how big data is being used in the health industry. Below is an article on how the US Post Office can use the massive amounts of big data they collect/have the potential to collect.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2014/07/03/how-big-data-and-the-internet-of-things-will-change-the-postal-service/
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