A consumer must be viewed 360 degrees, and analysed to profile him thoroughly and predict his behaviour. To do this, data that is used is drawn from social media, transactions, click streams, voter bank information, off-line data. These multiple data streams create holistic consumer profile. It allows a deeper understanding of behavioural patterns, context and trends. Each consumer is unique. It is a matter of personalization. More data improves the accuracy of the predictions. Predictive analytics and semantic technologies are used to connect the silos with the information in the knowledge bases to make relevant personalization. A balance is struck between the  ‘acquisition of big data’, and ‘machine learning’. It is necessary to invest in technology to develop it further to process data streams faster.

In the short term, predictive analytics firms facilitate the traditional research and answer the marketing problems economically and faster. In the long run, predictive analytics can be applied to diverse fields — governance, financial markets, hospital administration etc.

Infinite Analytics is an organization that uses predictive analytics technology to drive retail clients’ conversions and revenues. Its  ‘recommendation engine’  has been used for Cromaretail.

Predictive analytics market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 40 per cent to touch $ 150 billion.

Kindly also read the write up on Recommendation Engine dt 26th August 2015 on this site.