Challenge 

Our client, an ice cream company, needed to have highly relevant and easily accessible information on company operations, in order to make proper and informed decisions. They had their sales data from the last 2 years distributed between their ERP and CRM systems, so it was difficult to access and analyze it in an accurate manner. They needed to see all the sales data centralized and categorized by relevant metrics such as region, type of product, client etc. In addition to this, the strategy had to be built on forecast and analytical views combining various metrics such as sales and weather - this would have helped see if weather had an impact on sales performance. 

Taking into consideration that the client’s activity involved producing and selling ice cream nationwide, keeping evidence of all the resulting data became almost impossible. Fortunately, we were able to deliver a solution that could bring all the KPIs in a single place, through the excellent strengths and capabilities of Power BI. Thus, the client could perform a complete analysis of all their sales data.  

EXE Software took all the sales data provided by our client and historical weather data for the corresponding period then used Power BI Pro in order to create a 5-page report that will help our client in their activity, as follows:

Revenue Overview – Contains overall sales and comparison versus prior year – as well as geographical distribution of sales and top performing brands and agents. Demographic data is included to derive an ice cream consumption rate calculated as sales divided by population.  

Sales Performance – This page reveals top selling periods, agents or regions, thus allowing managers to identify both champions and challenges. Managers can dive into the data and decide over strategic action points.

Sales vs. Target – In this section we took all the target values from the last 2 years and compared it to real-life sales data, in order to measure the level of performance achieved.

Sales by Weather - Ice cream delivery is a seasonal business, which means it depends on weather conditions. We picked one of the many data sources providing weather information available online these days, and put temperature evolution in time over sales volumes. Such analysis is an important differentiator when it comes to pursuing sales opportunities, as well as production planning. 

Sales Forecast – Based on business seasonality and historical data, this page displays data projections referring to both sales volume and number of visits in stores. Therefore, managers may plan better, having information at hand in a very accessible and interactive way. 

Based on our Power BI report, company managers can have a relevant overall image of company sales operations, including sales actual values, targets and agent visits. As overlay data layers, we have also included future projections of actual values, demographics and seasonal weather information, thus allowing company managers to act consciously and take appropriate strategic decisions.