INFORMATION JACKPOT WAS IN THE CARDS

Dick's Supermarkets uses data mining tools from Datasage Inc. in Reading, Mass., to gather purchasing-history information from shoppers' scan cards. The company then uses this data to identify product relationships and customer buying patterns.

Kenneth L. Robb, senior vice president of marketing at Platteville, Wis.-based Brodbeck Enterprises Inc., which operates the eight-store supermarket chain, recently talked to Computerworld about the project.

What has data mining done for Dick's Supermarkets?

It has made us smarter about our customers, smarter marketers -- and made us more efficient in our marketing and merchandising investments.

What's the basis of a good data mining program?

You have to establish the integrity of your data because that's important to the decisions you'll make. For us, that means getting our customers to use their scan cards with each purchase so that we have good and thorough data about what goes on in our stores.

How do you get them to use their cards and what kind of response rates are you currently getting?

We developed several incentive programs for customers using the card. We have given away prizes such as lawn mowers and computers.... Currently, 90% of our total store [sales are] captured by these cards.

Are there some general things you've learned about your sales?

We discovered that 45% of our customers represent close to 90% of our volume. ... Using this information, we can offer the best discounts to the best customers ... so that we deliver value to those customers who represent the bulk of our business.

What else have you learned?

We looked over a year-and-a-half's worth of data and displayed the top product correlations. In our stores we found a high correlation between yogurt and granola bars and also pie filling and canned milk. So we placed a display of granola bars adjacent to the yogurt and measured a 60% difference in sales between that type of display and a regular display in the store.