Market Basket Associations Dashboard

Use this dashboard in conjunction with the Market Basket Categories and Market Basket Items dashboards.  You'll be able to work through your analysis with a variety of detail using these dashboards, understanding the volume of activity that includes each category or item, and the associated activity that your customers transact.

It is important to note that the data considered begins with the date on the heading panel of the dashboard, under Earliest Transaction Date.  This means that your trends and filtered data will start with the transactions on this date.

You will see a link to this document in the heading of the dashboard, click on Dashboard Help to access the document.

On the right side of the dashboard you will use the filters to select the category you want to analyze and the date range for the analysis.  You must choose a single category for the analysis.  You are able to select specific stores and also whether the sales are web based, store based or both.  You may want to review your entire list of types with the metrics on this dashboard, to assist you in choosing which of them to explore with this dashboard.  There is a table at the bottom of the dashboard, Type Metrics Table, where you can review and then use the filter on the dashboard to select a specific type.

KPIs

At the top of the dashboard are KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that show for the selected date range, category & locations: the volume of transactions that include the selected category, the percentage of all transactions where it occurs, the total transaction value & average transaction value that includes these transactions (and includes the other categories in these transactions).  The top row of KPIs reflects the overall metrics, the second row shows the individual month values - and can be scrolled with the arrows to the left & right of the row.

Also included in the second row of metrics are mini line graphs illustrating the trend (again, per the filtered values of the dashboard) of each metric.  You can hover over the line to see the individual month values, or you can use the right & left arrows to move the KPI line between months.

These metrics will inform you of trends over time, where you can see seasonality and other impacts. Let the KPIs guide you to categories that warrant additional review. Do your stores and web transactions follow similar patterns? Are certain categories stronger during certain times of the year?

Graphics

Below the KPIs are graphics that illustrate the variety of types in transactions and your top categories associated with the category you are analyzing - in terms of sales $ as well as percentage of same transactions.  The pie chart will show you the percentage of your transactions that include only a single type of product, 2 types, 3 types, etc.  Here you can see your opportunities to cross sell products where your customers may be narrowly focused in their purchases. You might find that offering targeted incentives to add lower priced products to a top seller can increase your overall transaction value - these additions can add up quickly on your bottom line.

The next graphic will show you sales $ by category, starting with the selected category and moving in order of descending values. Look here for categories that might have a high % value, meaning that they are included in a high percentage of the transactions - are these naturally purchased with the category you selected, like peanut butter & jelly - or are they items that were suggested in your marketing or merchandising? How can you affect pricing and other factors to maximize associated categories and get more of them into your customers purchases?

The next graphics display trends of the volume percentages and sales $, by week day and by hour. With the filters on the dashboard, you are able to drill into each location, web vs. store sales, even specific weekdays on the graphics that trend over each hour. Notice that you can turn lines on & off in each graphic by clicking on the descriptions in the legend below each graphic. When you click off the line for the category you selected, you'll notice that the other lines come into clearer focus.

Use this information to understand what does (and does not) normally sell together - and during which weekdays and hours the associations are stronger. How can you encourage your customers to add more to their purchases? Are there certain times during the day when category sales are low and could use some suggestive selling? Are there certain days of the week where a sales special could encourage additional sales?

The combination of turning the graphic lines on & off, along with filtering to granular levels can help you understand your business in ways that challenge your assumptions.

At the bottom of the dashboard you will see a correlated sales table for the categories associated with each other in your customer activity. You can use the up & down arrows at the top of each column to sort the table by the metric you want to review. You can see here sales $ by store vs. web, and the percentage of sales that belongs to each category. This activity is for transactions that include the category you selected to analyze - be sure to keep that in mind. Look here to understand that when the selected category X is purchased, categories A, B and C occur in what percentages? Compare that between your stores and web presence. Also note the percentage of total sales that is represented by this contribution to the basket.

Remember that you can look deeper into categories and even items by leveraging additional related dashboards.

Any of the data tables can be exported to work with the data outside the dashboard. Do this by clicking on the 3 dots at the top right corner of the widget, choose Download and export an image or file.  The recommended file type for a spreadsheet is CSV.