Cabela's Moves from CHAID to CART (1,105 words)

Building Better Models

Cabela's manages its databases in-house and relies on historical customer data to determine mailing lists for specific catalogs and promotions. The database marketing team is tasked with extracting a 200,000-case subset from millions of records. This sample then serves as a foundation for building the predictive model and testing data that will determine recipients for the new mailing. Generally, Cabela's selects a customer database that targets a certain profitability level for the mailing, and the 1998 spring catalog was no exception. Unlike previous years, however, segmentation of this spring's database was further optimized using Salford Systems' CART regression tree software.