Turning Data into Money

Burkitt, L. (2010). Turning data into money. Retrieved April 11, 2010 from: http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/08/citigroup-mastercard-amazon-technology-data-companies-10-bundle.html?feed=rss_home

This article, which is published on the Forbes.com Web site, discusses the use and marketing of anonomized consumer data, which is become more prevalent all the time. With all the e-commerce and electronic transactions that take place in today’s marketplace, there is a tremendous amount of data out there to be harvested and used in business. New York-based startup company Bundles.com is attempting to do just that. They collect financial data from third-party research, government statistics, and other sources, and them anonomize the data so it can be sold to consumers and marketers. This data can be used to pinpoint businesses and marketers down to the zip-codes where their likely customers live and do business. Helping firms make decisions in where they want to place their business and how to market to their targeted customer. Companies like Amazon.com are already using their own data they have from Web shoppers by making suggestions based on present and past searches and purchases. This technology and type of data that is available today is just another example of how the Internet and electronic transactions are changing the way we do our business and the way firms are doing their marketing. It is important that as a manager, that you understand how to use this technology and data to benefit your firm.