Buxton and the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative Partner to Offer Student Data Challenge

Wharton gives students hands-on experience in predictive analytics with the Buxton Challenge

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Nov 11, 2014, 09:25 ET

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Buxton, a leading customer analytics provider, and the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative (WCAI), have partnered during the fall 2014 semester to offer the Buxton Challenge, a student case study competition on the use of analytics for retail site selection. The competition enhances WCAI's existing student programs by providing an applied learning opportunity for students interested in analytics.

In the Buxton Challenge, student teams compete by building econometric models for a mock client with actual consumer and market data that Buxton anonymized and prepared for the program. Teams will be evaluated on creativity, real world application of the model, model accuracy, presentation, and statistical and theoretical soundness of the model.

Twenty-two team proposals were submitted, representing 90 undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral scholars, from the Wharton School, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). Ten teams have been selected to compete in the Buxton Challenge and will present their findings to Buxton executives for evaluation. The winning team will be announced before the end of the fall semester.

"The Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative provides a robust set of programs to educate the next generation of leaders in analytics," said Colleen O'Neill, executive director of WCAI. "WCAI is pleased to work with Buxton to provide students with this hands-on learning opportunity. The strong turnout from students both at Wharton and across Penn is a testament to the collaborative nature of customer analytics and its increasingly central role across industries and disciplines."

"Customer analytics continues to play an increasingly important role in the business decision making process," said Tom Buxton, president and CEO of Buxton. "Buxton is happy to support WCAI's efforts to prepare future business leaders for this new reality."

For more information about the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative, please visit www.wharton.upenn.edu/wcai.

For more information about Buxton, please visit www.buxtonco.com.

About the Wharton School

Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually and a powerful alumni network of 93,000 graduates.

About Buxton

In a world where big data gets a lot of attention, Buxton focuses on providing BIG answers to its clients. Since 1994, Buxton has helped more than 3,000 clients in retail, healthcare, consumer packaged goods and the public sector. We provide answers to business questions around real estate, marketing, and merchandising strategies. Our clients include Red Wing Shoes, Sally Beauty Supply, GNC, and Anthropologie.