Databases and brand software used by Wal-Mart

The main databases that are used by Wal-Mart are Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) and another called Retail Link. The CRM is primarily used for tracking customers by looking at orders, complaints, amount of money spent, products purchased, etc. The other program, Retail Link is a support system for Wal-Mart and their suppliers. The specific brand that they use is called NCR’s Teradata Software, which is said to hold approximately 583 terabytes.

Wal-Mart also uses what is called Neo Vista Software. Neo Vista software is used to help Wal-Mart do research and data mining for their database. One advantage of this software is that the company was able to further enhance their inventory management system. The initial reasoning for using data mining for their database is partly because of Wal-Mart's goal to deliver what customers want and need; they want to get the right item, to the proper store, at the time it is needed and with low pricing in order to satisfy their clients. The NeoVista Decision Series is also used to look at certain items for their stores to decide their seasonal sales promotions for that year, to give them a forecast of the appropriate amount inventory during that time.

What are some of the files used by Wal-Mart?

The files the company creates for the system would be Customer Number, Order Number, Delivery Address, Order Date, and the Amount Ordered. They also keep track of employee files on the system, which also carry the data of, Date of Hire, Employee Name, Employee Number, etc. Most of the information is obtained by customers that place their orders on the website.