DunnHumby buys behavioural firm

DunnHumby is tightening its grip on the customer insight market by taking a 50% stake in Sandtable – a UK firm which specialises in so-called agent-based modelling – to develop ways of understanding consumer behaviour.
The partnership aims to provide brands with a better understanding of customer behaviour and how it might change in the future. This, it is claimed, will allow brands to make better decisions about how best to serve customers’ emerging needs.
For example, modelling how customers’ attitudes towards health are changing will allow brands and retailers to anticipate their future needs and provide a range of products that meets them more effectively.
Sandtable specialises in computer science, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, behavioural psychology, research and marketing strategy.
Agent-based models have been used since the mid-Nineties to solve a variety of business and technology problems. Examples of applications include the modeling of organisational behaviour and cognition, team working, supply chain optimisation and logistics, as well as the modelling of consumer behaviour.
DunnHumby chief executive Simon Hay (pictured) said: “Our strategic priority is to engage customers and earn their loyalty. Helping brands and retailers harness behavioural insight to make the right decisions for customers is crucial to this approach.
“The new joint venture with Sandtable will give our partners unprecedented confidence that their choices and actions are the ones that will resonate the best – improving the experience for customers and the results for marketers.”

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