High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In predictive analytics and machine learning, the concept drift means that the statistical properties of the target variable, which the model is trying to predict, change over time in unforeseen ways. This causes problems because the predictions become less accurate as the times passes. The term concept refers to the quantity you are looking to predict. More generally, it can also refer to other phenomena of interest besides the target concept, such as an input, but, in the context of concept drift, the term commonly refers to the target variable. The behavior of the customers in an online shop may change over time. Let's say you want to predict weekly merchandise sales, and you have developed a predictive model that works to your satisfaction. The model may use inputs such as the amount of money spent on advertising, promotions you are running, and other metrics that may affect sales.