Review of “The Impact of Big Data Market Segmentation Using Data Mining and Clustering

Techniques”

The article is a qualitative study on the impacts of using data mining and Clustering

Technique in market segmentation. I found this study interesting especially because it addresses

a common problem in many businesses, customer segmentation. More importantly it explores the

possibility of using technology, data mining and clustering to solve the issue. According to the

authors, data mining, the process of extracting information from a large set of data can be useful

in businesses where there is an enormous database. The study is factual since it was conducted in

five phases; pre- processing and transformation, segmentation based in customer purchase

behavior, segmentation using clustering algorithms and finally the cluster Quality assessment.

The study used Apache Hadoop on single node Hadoop cluster and POS data from a Kuwait,

medium-sized retailer. The market segmentation results indicated that Female shoppers aged 25-

44 were best customers. The study revealed that using Ranking Matrix was the best method to

classify consumer segments.

I must mention that I agree with the authors, that technology is shaping business activities

in the twenty-first century. Technology has been incorporated in every aspect of daily life and

the authors are trying to face business challenges with technological solutions. As I can imagine

it can be a tedious job trying to understand what different age groups buy often and how much

they spent without using technology.

Overall, I think the findings of this study are important to business development and

value addition to businesses. Clustering is always at the core of most marketing strategies. It is

concerned with creating specific targeted services to specific customer clusters. In the retail

industry the POS transactions yield enormous data which is often seen as huddle to clustering.
The findings of this study can be used to increase the accuracy of consumer segmentation for any

business. Using data mining and clustering software such as Apache Hadoop can provide highly

scalable data for such retailers to categorize and cluster customers into smaller homogenous

groups. This simple yet affordable customer segmentation method can deliver substantial returns

to business and help calculate the customer lifetime value to the business.