Answer Sheet / Using Excel Pivot Tables for Analytics

STUDENT NAME Alisher Alimov

Provide screenshots to support your answers. Questions 1-24 are 2 points each and
questions 25-28 are 4 points each for a total of 64 points.

Question 1: What was the overall Revenue and Net Sales for all years? Which year had
the highest Revenue and Net Sales and what was the Net Sales during that
year? Why do you believe the Revenue and Net Sales values are different?
(If necessary, do a Google search to answer this question.)

Overall Revenue: $294 507 977

Overall Net Sales: $285 360 453

The highest revenue and net sales were in 2020

Net sales in 2020 made up $61 887 689

Revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of

goods/services.
Whereas, Net Sales = Revenue - (Returns + Allowances + Discounts)

Question 2: What was the Sales and Revenue for E-Bikes in all years? Which years had
no sales or revenue?

Overall Revenue of E-Bike Tailwind: $7 746 338

Overall Net Sales of E-Bike Tailwind: $7 528 068

Years in which had no sales and revenue: 2016, 2017

Question 3: Which customer sold the most E-Bikes in 2020 and what was the Total Sales
Quantity by all customers for that year?

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 Rädlelland sold the most E-Bikes in 2020 (98 units).

Total sales quantity in 2020 made up 718.

Question 4: What year had the highest Sales Quantity?

The highest Sales Quantity was in 2016.

(37 537 units)

Question 5: What year had the highest Net Sales and what year had the lowest Net
Sales? Is this consistent with the question 4 response for the year with the
highest Sales Quantity. What would be one possible explanation for an
inconsistency?

The highest Net Sales were in 2020. ($61 887 689)

The lowest Net Sales were in 2018. ($52 917 442)

It is inconsistent with question 4 and one of the

reasons may be that in 2020 the company offered
fewer discounts and/or the return rate was higher in
2016.

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Question 6: In the year with the lowest Net Sales, which Material Desc had the lowest
Net Sales? Which Material Desc had the highest Net Sales?

The lowest: Fixed Gear Bike Plus

The highest: Professional Road Bike (Shimano)

Question 7: Which material had the lowest Net Sales overall?

Water Bottle material had the lowest net sales overall

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Question 8: In the year that had the highest Net Sales, what division and customer had
the highest Net Sales?

In 2020 (the highest net sales year), BI division and

customer “15000” had the highest Net Sales

Question 9: In the year with the lowest Net Sales, what division and customer had the
highest Net Sales?

In 2018 (the lowest net sales year), customer “15000”

in BI division had the highest Net Sales

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Question 10: What customer provided the highest Net Sales for Accessories (AS
Division) in all years?

The customer “1500” provided the highest Net Sales

for Accessories in all years.

Question 11: In 2019, for Bicycles (BI Division), what is the total Net Sales for the top
three customers?

The total Net Sales for the top three customers in 2019
made up $13 875 533

Question 12: What is the average Net Sales per customer?

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 The average Net Sales per customer made up $9 738

Question 13: What was the average Net Sales per customer each year?

Average Net Sales per customer each year:

2016: $9 653
2017: $9 719
2018: $9 147
2019: $9 363
2020: $10 823

Question 14: What was the average Net Sales per customer per year per division?

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 BI division: 2016 = $15 553
2017 = $15 656
2018 = $14 686
2019 = $14 948
2020 = $17 268

AS division: 2016 = $211

2017 = $212
2018 = $188
2019 = $232
2020 = $223

Question 15: Can you determine from this table whether GBI gained or lost a customer
based on Net Sales? Explain your answer.

By looking at the table we can state that

GBI lost a customer (Silicon Valley
Bikes) since there is no data (Average
net sales) in 2020.

Question 16: What was the average Net Sales per customer for each of the years? Which
year has the highest average Net Sales per customer? How much was that
amount?

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 Average Net Sales per customer each
year:
2016: $9 653
2017: $9 719
2018: $9 147
2019: $9 363
2020: $10 823

The highest was in 2020, which made

up $10 823

Question 17: Briefly describe any differences in the historical (year by year) Net Sales
trends for the US and Germany (DE).

As we can see from the chart Germany has an

upward trend in the “Sum of Net Sales”, while the
United States has a downward trend.

Question 18: Is there seasonality in Net Sales? If so, what month has the highest Net
Sales? Is the seasonality similar in both Germany and US?

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 Yes, there is a seasonality in Net Sales. The
peak in Net Sales is in the month of June.
Also, by choosing each country separately in
the filter “Country Desc” we can state that
both in Germany and US the seasonality are
the same.

Question 19: Do any products show a significant change in Net Sales over time? Provide
one example and are the changes the same for both Germany and US?

Yes, there are some significant changes in

products. For example, we can see from
the sparklines that net sales for the product
“City Bike Max” dropped significantly in
the period of 2016 – 2020.
Annual mean drop made up -7.3%
(calculation made using excel formula
=geomean).
The changes are not the same for Germany
and US.

Question 20: Do any of the AS Division materials not display significant seasonality?
Explain your answer.

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 The material “First Aid Kit” doesn’t display
significant seasonality, because of more
consistent sales month to month. If we look at
other materials for the AS Division, we can see
that peak sales (seasonal pattern) fall in the
month of June.

Question 21: What customer has the highest percentage contribution to Total Sales?
What has been the trend of that customer’s percentage contribution over
the years?

Bavaria Bikes has the highest percentage contribution

(10,99%) to Total Sales.
The trend over the years is positive, which means that
the customer’s percentage contribution increased
gradually on a yearly basis.

Question 22: What year had the highest overall gross margin? What was the gross
margin during that year?

The highest overall Gross Margin was in 2020,

making up $32 362 478

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Question 23: What was the gross margin (as a percentage of sales) for Germany for the
year with the highest gross margin? Comment on the trend.

Gross margin (as a % of sales) for Germany

in 2020 made up 64,99%.
The trend was positive with gradual annual
growth.

Question 24: What was the gross margin (as a percentage of sales) for US during the
same year?

Gross margin (as a % of sales) for the US in 2020

made up 35,01%.
The trend was negative.

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Question 25: Develop a 2021 forecast trendline chart (with formula and R 2 value) for Tailwind
E-Bikes annual sales quantity. Which trendline option would you select to
forecast 2021 E-Bike sales? Comment on any concerns with using this forecast
approach for 2021 planning.

The linear regression model was used to forecast 2021 E-Bike sales. The main concern with this approach (and actually
with the rest) is that we got historical data only for 3 years, which makes our forecast not accurate. Moreover, lack of
time series makes it impossible to identify the underlying patterns in the time series data.

Question 26: Develop a 2021 forecast chart for Tailwind E-Bikes monthly sales quantity using
an Excel Forecast Sheet and a 95% confidence level. Comment on the
differences between the monthly forecast and the annual trendline forecasts.

200

150

100

50

-50

-100
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47

Sales Quantity Forecast(Sales Quantity)

Lower Confidence Bound(Sales Quantity) Upper Confidence Bound(Sales Quantity)

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The main difference between monthly forecasts and annual trendline forecasts is the level of detail. Monthly forecasts
provide a more detailed view of future trends, while annual trendline forecasts provide a more general overview of the
direction of a metric.

Question 27: Which method (Annual Trendline or Monthly Forecast Sheet) and what 2021
forecast quantity would you recommend to the team? What is your rationale?

I would recommend the Annual Trendline method because this method fits more to track long-term trends and make
decisions about strategic planning.
Therefore, the forecast Sales Quantity for 2021 would be recommended and calculated as follows: y = 145*x+238,67 =
819

Question 28: Is there another timeseries forecasting approach other than Annual Trendline or
Monthly Forecast Sheet you would consider for Tailwind E-Bike? What is your
rationale?

ARIMA (autoregressive integrated moving average) method can also be used since in our case we have a time series
with one variable and has a clear trend and seasonal pattern. This approach is very useful for forecasting time series
data, but we should bear in mind that it also can be sensitive to changes in the data, and may not be accurate for long-
term forecasting.

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