RFM
Encyclopedia
On Wikipedia, RFM may refer to Wikipedia:Requests for mediation. For other uses, see RFM (disambiguation)
.
RFM is a method used for analyzing customer
behavior and defining market segment
s. It is commonly used in database marketing
and direct marketing
and has received particular attention in retail
.
RFM stands for
To create an RFM analysis, one creates categories for each attribute. For instance, the Recency attribute might be broken into three categories: customers with purchases within the last 90 days; between 91 and 365 days; and longer than 365 days. Such categories may be arrived at by applying business rules, or using a data mining technique, such as CHAID
, to find meaningful breaks.
Once each of the attributes has appropriate categories defined, segments are created from the intersection of the values. If there were three categories for each attribute, then the resulting matrix would have twenty-seven possible combinations (one well-known commercial approach uses five bins per attributes, which yields 125 segments). Companies may also decide to collapse certain subsegments, if the gradations appear too small to be useful. The resulting segments can be ordered from most valuable (highest recency, frequency, and value) to least valuable (lowest recency, frequency, and value). Identifying the most valuable RFM segments can capitalize on chance relationships in the data used for this analysis. For this reason, it is highly recommended that another set of data be used to validate the results of the RFM segmentation process.
Advocates of this technique point out that it has the virtue of simplicity: no specialized statistical software is required, and the results are readily understood by business people. In the absence of other targeting techniques, it can provide a lift in response rates for promotions.
)
RFM (disambiguation)
RFM may refer to:*RFM, Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value*Reduced Function Mode of Windows Vista*Relative Formula Mass, also known as Molar mass*Remote File Management in connection with OTA...
.
RFM is a method used for analyzing customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
behavior and defining market segment
Market segment
Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function...
s. It is commonly used in database marketing
Database marketing
Database marketing is a form of direct marketing using databases of customers or potential customers to generate personalized communications in order to promote a product or service for marketing purposes...
and direct marketing
Direct marketing
Direct marketing is a channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits to communicate straight to the customer, with advertising techniques such as mobile messaging, email, interactive consumer websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional...
and has received particular attention in retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
.
RFM stands for
- Recency - How recently a customer has purchased?
- Frequency - How often she purchases?
- Monetary Value - How much does she spend?
To create an RFM analysis, one creates categories for each attribute. For instance, the Recency attribute might be broken into three categories: customers with purchases within the last 90 days; between 91 and 365 days; and longer than 365 days. Such categories may be arrived at by applying business rules, or using a data mining technique, such as CHAID
CHAID
CHAID is a type of decision tree technique, based upon adjusted significance testing . The technique was developed in South Africa and was published in 1980 by Gordon V. Kass, who had completed a PhD thesis on this topic...
, to find meaningful breaks.
Once each of the attributes has appropriate categories defined, segments are created from the intersection of the values. If there were three categories for each attribute, then the resulting matrix would have twenty-seven possible combinations (one well-known commercial approach uses five bins per attributes, which yields 125 segments). Companies may also decide to collapse certain subsegments, if the gradations appear too small to be useful. The resulting segments can be ordered from most valuable (highest recency, frequency, and value) to least valuable (lowest recency, frequency, and value). Identifying the most valuable RFM segments can capitalize on chance relationships in the data used for this analysis. For this reason, it is highly recommended that another set of data be used to validate the results of the RFM segmentation process.
Advocates of this technique point out that it has the virtue of simplicity: no specialized statistical software is required, and the results are readily understood by business people. In the absence of other targeting techniques, it can provide a lift in response rates for promotions.
Criticism
Critics take issue on several points. First, the method is descriptive only, and does not provide a mechanism to forecast behavior as a predictive model might. Second, when used to target customers for promotion, it assumes that customers are likely to continue behaving in the same manner. That is, it does not take into account the impact of life stage or life cycle transitions on likelihood of response. Finally, when used as the primary targeting method, it may lead to overmarketing to the most attractive RFM segments and to neglect of other segments that would be profitable if developed properly.Variations
RFD - Recency, Frequency, Duration is a modified version of RFM analysis that can be used to analyze consumer behavior of viewership/readership/surfing oriented business products. (For example, amount of time spent by surfers on WikipediaWikipedia
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)