Computerworld: How Macys.com visualizes the future


This article originally appeared on Computerworld. View the original article here.

It's easier to understand a phenomenon visually.

Summary: Macy's has to make a lot of predictions, including what to stock in which stores, when it's a good idea to give a buyer a loan, and what to feature on their website's home page. To assist in making these predictions, Macys.com's VP of Marketing Analytics, Karem Tomak, relies on insight from Tableau, which runs on top of the company's Hadoop installation. "It's easier to understand a phenomenon visually," he says.