Data analytics can play a very important role in many business planning activities. This exercise will analyze sales results for the Big General Merchandise retail company, which owns and operates seventeen stores. The results of this analysis will be used to determine a high-level inventory plan for each store in the company for one month. Once this plan is established, more details can be researched with regard to how the total inventory plan should be broken down by product. The data provided by the company contains the amount of units sold over a two-month period for each store. The total units sold by the company in 2019 for the month of October was 55,400 and for the month of November 63,670. Additional data will be added to the workbook to continue the planning process for future months. Unit sales data can help a retailer determine how many people a store can attract and how much total inventory will be required to supply the store. Stores that have the highest amount of units sold will be a critical area of focus. Stores that have a high volume of unit sales could be in danger of running out of inventory if plans are not properly arranged. This can lead to lost sales opportunities and disappointed customers.
1. Define each component of the DATA Analytics Framework. (Decision, Acquisition, Time, Analysis)
2. What data design choices should be considered before starting this project?
3. What data should you verify by conducting a data audit before starting this project?