MBA504 - Data Analysis, Problem Solving and Digital Operations Report

This report analyzes a sales dataset from a retail organization, focusing on data quality, key factors influencing sales and profit, and the relationships between variables like order quantity, sales, shipping mode, and product category. The analysis identifies insights regarding profitability, highlighting the impact of unit price, shipping costs, and product sub-categories. The report also examines the impact of various factors on sales, such as unit price, quantity, and shipping. Key insights include the impact of discounts, unit price, and shipping costs on profits and sales. Recommendations are provided to maximize profits by focusing on high-performing products and optimizing delivery methods. The report also suggests future strategies like comparing results with peer companies and considering literature on retail sales to enhance the reliability and external validity of the observations.

Data Analysis, Problem
Solving and Digital
Operations

 Data quality seems good
◦ Reasons
 Incidence of missing values is quite minimal which
makes it easier to deal with the same
 Data set includes a large sample size which enables
better understanding of inter-relationships between
variables.
 The data includes key variables such as sales, profit
along with other likely variables which can impact the
above two variables
 The data contains a healthy mix of both qualitative
and quantitative variables thereby allowing a host of
tools to be used
Data Quality

 Given dataset comprises of information on
8399 customer purchases
 Information relates to use of various
qualitative variables and quantitative
variables
 Qualitative variables (Order Priority, product
category, sub-category, Ship Mode,
Province
 Quantitative variables (Profit, Unit price,
Shipping Cost, Sales, Order quantity,
Discount)
Summary of content

 Key factors to consider
◦ Order quantity – Positive relationship but weak in
strength
◦ Sales – Positive relationship and moderately strong
in strength
◦ Shipping Mode – Delivery truck seems to have
highest profitability but may be linked to product
type as well
◦ Product category – Average profit seems to be the
highest in technology
◦ Produce sub-category – Copies and faxes have
significantly higher unit profit
Insights regards
profitability

 Key factors to consider
◦ Unit price – Positive relationship and moderately
high strength
◦ Shipping Cost - Positive relationship and moderate
strength
◦ Order Quantity - Positive relationship and weak
strength
◦ Shipping Mode – Delivery truck seems to have
highest average sales but may be linked to
product type as well
◦ Product sub-category – Copiers and faxes have the
highest average sales
Insights regarding sales

 Profits are expected to be driven by sales
and unit volume, however the relationship is
not as expected owing to the difference in
profit margins on the various products.
 Sales are expected to be driven by unit
price, quantity along with shipping (since its
cost is included in sale price) but the
observed relationship is weaker than
expected owing to the different sale prices
of products
Key insights

 Certain variables do not have impact as
indicated in the following correlation matrix.
 Discount does not impact the sales
 Unit price and shipping cost have negligence
impact on profits
Key Takeaways

Data Visualisation

Data Visualisation
(Contd..)

 Insights with regards to sales and profits are
quite useful since the sample data is
sufficient in size and thereby seems to be
representative of overall sales assuming
random sampling
 Recommendation provided do seem to be
useful as they seem logical and in line with
the empirical understanding of the likely
impact on sales and profits
Critique of insights

 In order to enhance the reliability of the
observations, another sample data should be
obtained with the same sample size and the results
ought to be compared.
 Comparison of the observations ought to be carried
out with peer companies to enhance external
validity
 Available literature on retail sales ought to be
considered to understand the inter-relationships
better
Improvement of Analysis

 Objective is to maximise profits
◦ Strategies Proposed
 Focus on products which tend to lead to higher sale
generation owing to impact on profits.
 Focus on products and sub-category which offer the
highest profitability such as copiers and fax
 Focus on lowering the cost using the appropriate
delivery and travel mode
Possible Future Strategies