Customer Product Type Purchases

Use this dashboard in conjunction with the other Customer Purchases dashboards - Customer Purchases Overview and Customer Brand Purchases are available. You will be able to enhance your analysis of increases or decreases in product type sales, and percentages of purchases, by looking at the brand shifts that happen in the same purchases.  You might find that your customers have shifted to either higher or lower priced brands. Understanding what your customers are trying, buying and then keeping in their purchases is valuable information.  At what point do the purchases level out, if they do?  Are the shifts steady increases? Do you see certain product types spike upward or fully drop off over time?

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 a customer's "purchase #1" is the first purchase on or after that date.  Also be aware that guest purchases are not reflected here, without a customer id purchases cannot be numbered. Customer purchase numbers are calculated on the basis of all customer activity, without regard to in-store vs. web sales; for example a customer who makes their first purchase in a store and their second purchase online will be reflected exactly in those terms regardless of any filtering on store vs. web orders.

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 range of purchase numbers for the analysis.  You must choose a single category for the analysis.  You are able to select specific stores, narrow the brands and also choose whether the sales are web based, store based or both.

You may want to review your entire universe of product types to assist you in choosing which of them to explore with this dashboard.  By choosing the range of purchases ("Other Purchases Filter"), look to the graphic called Other Purchases as filtered (All Types).  Here you will see both the average sales of all purchases, and the percentage of customers who include the types in the purchase numbers you filtered.  This can help guide you to explore specific types.

KPIs

At the top of the dashboard are KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that show three panels for the selected data as filtered. The first panel shows metrics for purchase #1, this is the first purchase each of your customers made. The second panel aggregates the range of purchases that you selected in the Other Purchases Filter.  The third panel shows each of the purchases you selected in the Other Purchases Filter, and can be scrolled with the arrows to the left & right of the panel. Each of these is of course based on the Earliest Transaction Date in the heading panel.

Included in each panel:

Average type sales based on all purchases - this contemplates all purchases, whether the product type is included or not.

Average total purchase - this represents the entire total purchase amount.

% of purchase(s) - this is the percentage of sales $ in the purchases.

% of customers - this is the percentage of customers who included the selected product type, based on all customers with this purchase number in their history.

Average type sales when type is purchased - this contemplates all purchases where the selected product type is included.

As you compare the different purchases, and range of purchases look for obvious shifts in the metrics. You might see that the percentage of customers who purchased this product type initially is noticeably higher (or lower) in subsequent purchases. You might be able to influence this with incentives after an initial purchase - if you thank your customers after they initially purchase a high margin product type, are they more likely to continue buying it? Are your customers more (or less) likely to add smaller "impulse" items to their baskets in their earlier purchases?  How can you encourage buying habits to continue, or shift higher?

Remember that the purchase history is based on "purchase #", not a calendar based time frame. The influence you have to affect these metrics is how you interact with your customers directly, especially as you show your appreciation to them.

Graphics

Below the KPIs are graphics that illustrate the universe of product types, with average sales based on all purchases (this contemplates all purchases, whether the product type is included or not), and the percentage of customers who purchased each one. If your universe of product types is large, you can use the zoom feature just under the graphic to narrow what is on screen. You can also click on the legend below the graphic to turn each metric on & off, this can sometimes allow better focus on each metric.

There are two similar graphics, which are best viewed together.  The top one reflects "purchase #1" and the bottom one reflects the range of purchases you selected in the filter. you will want to look at both the patterns and the actual metrics - see the metrics by hovering over the point in the graphic that you are studying.  You might see similar patterns, meaning that the overall allocation of product types is similar, yet the metrics themselves can vary up & down. How are your customers shopping differently as they continue to shop with you? Do your longer term customers buy the same array of products as earlier purchases? How are the average sales $ different?

The next set of graphics will show you the trends of customer & type %'s, and how your average type sales are trending.  You will see in the first graphic (Customer & Type Percentage Trends) how the percentage of customers buying this type trends over the history of purchases, and how that compares with the % of each purchase that includes the type.  For a third layer, you will see the trend of total purchase amounts.  If you have stores and an online platform, be sure to focus on each to see the trends.

You might find that as customers make more purchases, the overall share of each purchase for a particular product type may decrease - when this coincides with an increase in total purchase, it is possible that your customers have increased their purchases in other product types - it is also possible that they have switched to higher or lower priced brands or items in their overall purchase. Comparing the total purchase trend alongside a specific type trend can help you understand how your customers are shifting, and where you need to engage them. 

You will see in the second graphic (Average Type Sales Trends) a different view of how many of your customers are purchasing, both in the way overall customers are engaged, and how many of them are buying this type. You'll see three line trends reflecting total purchase, average purchase of the type based on all purchases and average purchase of the type when that type is included. You might find that when a particular product type is purchased, the average sales in that type are steady or increasing - yet the average sales of that type overall (in all purchases) could be declining - this is a marketing opportunity, perhaps an incentive can be offered to get this product type into more customer baskets. You might see that purchases including this type are decreasing over time - consider customer surveys that focus on specific product types.

The final graphic gives a view of the percentage of customers buying and average type sales, as store vs. online activity compares. It is important to understand of course that customers interact differently in these two venues, and how you impact their buying habits also varies. Pay attention especially to how the average sales compare - are your customers more likely to spend more (or less) online? Is this typical for this particular product type, or does it vary from one to another? Are store trends steadier than online trends?

Next to the final graphic you will see a data table that shows the metrics from many of the graphic displays.  This is simply a different view of the data and can be exported.

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.