The master model will likely be much more like a master data management system or a complex of federated queries that extract data that then may be used in a data mart for special purposes.

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Focusing the scope on individual consumers, the analyst cites data from Wal-Mart, which, given its capacity to relay real time data, allows the retail giant to offer guidance on what and, importantly, when consumers are buying.

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According to data from Wal-Mart's suppliers, items that are made, sourced or grown in the U.S. account for about two-thirds of the company's spending on products for its U.S. business.

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Let us see if Wal-Mart provides any data of substance.

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While large companies, like Amazon and Wal-Mart, have huge budgets and teams dedicated to data analytics, most do not.

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Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)are all known for being data-driven companies and look at the franchises they have created.

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Big Data may seem brand new, but in fact, giant companies like Wal-Mart have been pursuing it for years, and have invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing powerful new tools applications around retail point-of-sale.

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Wal-Mart attorney Theodore Boutrous didn't dispute those figures, but he argued payroll data shows the company treats women and men who are performing similar jobs equally in nearly all of its stores.

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"Investors like to have better visibility into a company's sales and into supply chains, " says Kevin O'Brien, chief executive of Revere Data, a financial information provider that tracks the percentage of sales that hundreds of companies generate through Wal-Mart.

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