This information is used by businesses for direct marketing, site selection, and customer relationship management.
When many of these potential customers are aggregated in a single area it indicates a fertile location for the business to situate.
[citation needed] In retail, companies can keep detailed records of every transaction made allowing them to better understand customer behavior in store.
Data mining can be practically applied through performing basket analysis, sales forecasting, database marketing, and merchandising planning and allocation.
Sales forecasting shows time based patterns that can predict when a customer is most likely to buy a specific kind of item.