Answer to Question #326158 in Management for tay

Question

You have recently been employed by Marks & Spencer, a major UK high street retailer, as part of the development of a business analytics function within the company. Marks & Spencer are aware of the concepts of ‘big data’ and ‘analytics’ but they are not particularly sure how it can benefit their business. 

You need to demonstrate to the company’s regional directors for Scotland, how analytics can help them to better understand their business and facilitate informed decision-making.

You have been provided with sales data, in a CSV file, for the trading period 01/01/21 to 31/03/21 inclusive. The sales data is from nine separate M&S stores in the Scotland. Daily sales are recorded at the departmental level: Food, Homeware and Clothing & Footwear.

Additional information is also available:

·        Store code

·        The size of each department in each store to aid comparative analysis

·        Running of major sales promotions in a particular department for each trading day.