Do past purchases predict future purchase behavior? A Tuesday morning panel at MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit agreed to disagree. Aside from staple products, the past absolutely does not
inform future purchases, said Joelle Kaufman, Head of Marketing and Partnerships at BloomReach. “Historical purchase behavior is not a predictor,” she said. Just because someone bought a
lighting fixture to redecorate their bedroom doesn’t mean they’re ever going to buy another light fixture, according to Kaufman. Not buying her argument were Shreya Kushari, SVP of Search
Marketing at DigitasLBi, and Jeff MacGurn, SVP at Covario. It just requires that retailers take a more sophisticated approach to measuring purchase data, they said. A single lighting fixture is one
thing, but a Baby Bjorn is something else entirely.