In order to better understand its active co-op members and customers, REI launched an
initiative to build a data warehouse containing many different types of information about
its customers. To better serve its customers, REI needs to know precisely what they do in
the outdoors. With the help of IBM, REI hopes its data warehouse will allow them to identify
and organize all of the ways that each customer interacts with the company, including what
they bought online or retail outlets, whether they attended special training sessions for
equipment and outdoor activities, or items they returned.
REI also deployed IBM’s DB2 9 Viper technology to run REI’s marketing campaigns. REI’s
site will recognize its members when they log in, allowing them to serve up content
customized towards individual users.