Machine learning is changing the way retailers do business

In 2002, Target hired statistician Andrew Pole. His job was to use predictive analytics -- a form of statistics that makes predictions by observing data trends -- to help the retail giant market certain products to certain groups of people. Along those lines, Pole's first task was to identify pregnant women -- specifically women in their second trimester. As Target's marketing team explained to him, new parents are extremely valuable customers whose brand loyalty tends to change when they have kids because they purchase things they probably weren't purchasing before -- like diapers, formula, baby clothes, etc. New parents also tend to be physically exhausted and therefore more prone to do all of their shopping at one place.