Case: Data Driven Decision Making

Case Study – Background

 We will look at 2 Modern-Format Retail Stores (Like Big Bazaar,

Spencers or More) of one big player in a city

 Both the Stores are of almost equal size. Both sell wide range of
items like Staples, FMCG, Apparel, Electronic Goods, etc

 Both the Stores have been operational for 3yrs+

 Store 1 (S1) is a highly profitable store, while Store (S2) is a

loss-making one
 Case Study – Background

 Annual Sales and Profits of Store 1 and Store 2 in FY 2015-16,

have been as follows:

Store 1 Store 2

Total Sales Rs 29.8 cr Rs 13.1 cr

Profits Rs 2.9 cr - Rs 0.5 cr

 Data to be diagnosed
Following data is available, to diagnose the poor performance of
Store 2 vs Store 1
 No. of Footfalls (or Walk-Ins) – on a monthly basis
 No. of Bills generated – on a monthly basis
 % of Loyalty Card users – For FY 2015-16 and for only Q4
 Customer Profile of Loyalty Card users
 Details of Customer Transactions (Billing data) for randomly
selected 200 loyalty card customers of Store 1 and Store 2
 “Mystery Shopping” data on feedback of shopping experience at
the two Stores
 Data – Monthly Footfall
Store 1 Store 2
2015-16 Footfall 2015-16 Footfall
Apr 87630 Apr 60019
May 88976 May 60654
June 88874 June 61432
July 90685 July 61891
August 88976 August 61580
September 91877 September 62890
October 92765 October 64581
November 91744 November 64200
December 92870 December 66360
Jan 90685 Jan 65339
Feb 88976 Feb 66230
March 90013 March 68682

(Refer Sheet 1 of MSExcel file)

 Data – Monthly No. of Bills
Store 1 Store 2
2015-16 No.of Bills 2015-16 No.of Bills
Apr 56,908 Apr 36,690
May 58,976 May 36,679
June 60,432 June 36,690
July 60,420 July 36,177
August 58,118 August 37,980
September 60,998 September 38,436
October 61,980 October 36,122
November 61,654 November 36,030
December 62,080 December 36,780
Jan 62,012 Jan 35,012
Feb 59,821 Feb 35,876
March 59,040 March 35,950

(Refer Sheet 1 of MSExcel file)

 Data – Loyalty Card

Store 1 Store 2

% of No. of Bills from Loyalty Card Owners 42% 29%

(Apr 2015 – Mar 2016)
% of No. of Bills from Loyalty Card Owners 44% 35%
(Q4: Jan 2016 – Mar 2016)

% “Value of Bills” from Loyalty Card Owners 49% 30%

(Apr 2015 – Mar 2016)
% “Value of Bills” from Loyalty Card Owners 52% 36%
(Q4: Jan 2016 – Mar 2016)

(Refer Sheet 2 of MSExcel file)

 Data – Customer Profile

 From Loyalty Card usage, the Profiles of the Loyalty Card users
were tabulated for the FY 2015-16
 The Customer Profiles have been given by
- Age
- Gender
- Occupation
(Refer to Sheet 3 of MS-Excel file)
 Data – Loyalty Card Holders’ Transactions

 Purchase transaction data for 200 randomly selected Loyalty

Card users have been given for Store 1 and Store 2
 The purchase transaction detail (i.e. the Billing data) has been
broken up into
- Total Bill Value
- Value of FMCG/Staples purchase
- Value of Apparel/Electronic goods purchase
- Value of any other purchase
- “Private label” purchase and its value
- Catchment area from which the shopper comes
(Refer to Sheet 4 & Sheet 5 of MS-Excel file)
 Data – “Mystery Shopping” Feedback

 This is the data obtained from “Mystery Shoppers”, i.e. trained

data collectors, who pose as shoppers and visit the Stores at
random points, to give feedback on the shopping experience
 “Mystery Shoppers” have given feedback on two broad levels:
- Store Feedback (Temperature, Lighting, Music)
- Staff Feedback (Friendliness, Product Knowledge)
(Refer to Sheet 6 of MS-Excel file)
 THE TASK

1. Looking at Sheet 1 of the spreadsheet, identify the key Problem

Areas for Store 2

2. Based on the problems or issues identified, diagnose the reasons

for the poor performance of Store 2, by analyzing the data in
Sheet 2 to Sheet 6. You may draw some hypotheses and in some
cases, prove / disprove the hypotheses

3. What possible actions could be taken by Store 2 to improve its

performance