The Role Of Data Warehousing In The Infrastructure Of E-Commerce

Abstract

A data warehouse is a repository of data that can be analyzed to gain a better knowledge about the “goings on” in a company.  The value of better knowledge can lead to superior decision making.  Although this architecture has been around for a long time its use is not wide spread. Many researchers have noted the absence of its penetration in business.  So, while on the one hand we find a rapid growth in the e-commerce industry and advances in hardware and software, on the other hand, very few companies seem to know how to use data warehousing technologies to succeed in e-commerce. There are companies that have successfully incorporated a data warehouse and have become pioneers and leaders in e-commerce. This article presents the success of Amazon.com in the business to consumer sector of e-commerce and the success of Walmart as the leader in the business to business sector of e-commerce.