"Power is shifting to the consumer. The question is how do you survive and thrive in this era," he said.

From a BI standpoint, Hallmark already has data compiled from more than 13 million consumers in its loyalty program. That data must be merged and rationalized with the data that Hallmark collects as part of the new program. "We've got to figure out how to merge the data and how to organize it. We've got to figure out how to architect the system," he said.

Hallmark currently uses technology from SAS Institute, including the Enterprise BI Server, as well as its data mining and advanced analytic tools to support its overall BI requirements.

The SAS tools are used to analyze data compiled from Hallmark's point-of-sale systems, its loyalty program and other sources.

Hallmark also uses SAS software for predictive modeling.