Overview
"Beta" Company is a regional retailer of tires and automotive repair. Beta is a leader in the industry and sells to a diverse audience. Beta was interested in determining which markets represented the greatest opportunity for growth, so as to expand their brand.
Challenge
Create an analytical reporting mechanism for Beta executive management that would allow it to be able to drill down in order to view pockets of opportunity, vis--vis area demographics and competitor locations. Sales penetration by geographic unit and vehicle usage/ownership was also to be considered.
As real estate opportunities became available in a given market, Beta needed a tool that it could reference quickly in order to determine a given site's viability.
Solution
PDS brought in several files of source information in order to build out a solution. A transaction file of Beta's sales activity, a file of Beta locations, a file of competitor locations, a file of big box retailers (Walmart, Sam's Club, etc.) were all pieces to the puzzle. PDS also utilized several internal reference tables containing demographics by Block Group and by ZIP.
PDS first ran a penetration analysis to determine in which areas Beta is currently achieving satisfactory representation. PDS then layered in demographic information -- inclusive of household income level and vehicle count information -- onto each geographic unit. The results were charted into an executive management summary that included tables that could be filtered for dynamic "what-if" games by management. Map images were then created utilizing Google Earth, whereby individual thematic layers for sales penetration, income levels, vehicle counts, plus a layer for competitor locations were displayed. The map layers could be turned on/off with the click of a mouse, allowing for a very user-friendly experience.
Summary
All in all, the full interactive presentation was very robust and allowed for Beta management to digest a large volume of data in a single report.
Beta was very pleased with the output that PDS produced and indicated that it provided a level of analytics that they had not engaged in previously. The analysis was key to Beta selecting areas for growth and expansion, and (as an unknown benefit) helping in understanding why certain locations may be underperforming and thus in need of added support/attention.