TheStreet:

"Wal-Mart's scope as a retailer is vast. But it's not just the number and dispersion of its more than 2,600 stores -- there's the number of its customers, the volume of its traffic and the variety of its merchandise. And for years, Wal-Mart's been capturing, storing and analyzing highly detailed, real-time information about every transaction. Probably no other retailer -- and surely, no government statistical bureau -- possesses as much high-quality information about the American public's buying preferences."

Related material:

• Wal-Mart Supplier Requirements (including being part of Retail Link)


• Wal-Mart relies on NCR data warehouse to help manage its business


• Private eHubs vs. Public Exchanges: Wal-Mart Strengthens its eFortress (Oct. 00)


• Statement before a US Senate Subcommittee (Oct. 99)


• Wal-Mart's Data Warehouse More than Doubles in Size (Oct. 99)


• Inside Wal-Mart! (May '97)


• Data Warehousing for Cavemen

The Amazon.com connection:

• Amazon.com, Wal-Mart in alliance talks


• Richard Dalzell profile
(hired through Reed Group)

• Who Owns What You Know? (Oct. 99)


• Wal-Mart V. Amazon.com: The Inside Story (Feb. 99)


• Why Wal-Mart Is Scared of Amazon.com (Oct. 98)


• Mining Amazon.com Purchase Circles for Fun and Profit

I used to work for NCR/AT&T GIS in 1995, but in the PC department, not the datawarehouse Teradata business (the guys kept talking about diapers and beer, and there's anecdotal evidence they're still deep into datawarehousing). When I was at Microsoft, I loved to run queries against their internal datawarehouse (dubbed "MS Sales") and build detailed pivot tables with Excel VBA (eg. for corporate reseller ACME, what percentage of its sales in large accounts during the last four quarters were Exchange Server sales). I had more information on sales by resellers than the resellers themselves!

05/21/01 update: Wal-Mart's Power Play.

08/20/01 update: Customer Data Means Money.

11/27/04 update: What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits.