database
import and analysis of data
identification of significant trends
Now that I have the results of all the queries, I am able to import all of them into Microsoft Excel and create graphs and charts to help me to accurately identify any significant trends in the data set. In this section I will firstly answer the questions that I asked in the previous section and then attempt to tease out from these answers some significant trends.
The first question I asked was: What CD was the most popular with men?
The results show that two CDs where very popular with the men. They where 'Don't Believe what you See' and 'Phantom Chains'. In total, 236 Phantom Chains CDs were ordered and 237 'Don't Believe what you See' CDs were sold. Making the 'Don't Believe what you See' CD the most popular with the men overall.
The third most popular CD is 'Lost Interrupt' which is by the same artist as 'Phantom Chain'. This is significant because it clearly shows that 'Twisted Pear' is the most popular artist with males.
The second question I asked was: Which Artist sold the most records overall?
I have already established from the previous results that 'Twisted Pair' was the most popular with the men and would predict that the same would be true overall. According to the the graph above that is the case - 'Twisted Pair' wins hands down. They are by far the most popular artist in 2005.
The third question I asked was: What record sold the most over the summer period in 2005?
The best seller over the summer months was 'Don't Believe what you See' (this is not surprising seeing as it was the most popular CD with the men). It sold almost double what it's nearest competitor 'Devils Dance' did during summer. This record definitely was a summertime hit!
The fourth question I asked was: What was the best seller Christmas week 2005?
In 2005 the Christmas number one was closely decided. In the end Apollo 13 came out on top with 32% of the overall sales, followed immediately by 'Phantom Chains' with 30%. Only five different CDs where brought during this week, this shows that some CDs where more popular at different times in the year. For example 'Don't Believe what you See' was the summertime hit, but at Christmas it only took up 8% of the total orders - this is a significant trend.
The fifth question I asked was: Where in the country were the most CDs brought last year?
According to the output shown above, in 2005 the company sold the most CDs in Cornwall. In second place was Lancashire and in third was Worcestershire. Only in these three counties were there sales of over 200. Sadly, Somerset and Northamptonshire are lagging behind the rest.
The sixth question I asked was: Who ordered the most CDs - men or women?
The output shows clearly that the trend here is that men and women both order the same amount of CDs over the year. The men did pip the ladies to the post this year though - with 35 more orders overall. However the percentages undoubtedly support the trend I identified.
The seventh and final question I asked was: In what month were the most CDs sold?
There must have been something in the 'Air of Spring' in 2005 - this seasonal period had the most CD sales. Winter has the worst sales with December one of the lowest which is, in my opinion, incredibly surprising. You would expect sales to peak in this period seeing as Christmas lies within it. All normal retail companies would expect a dramatic increase in sales not a dip! The graph also indicates that there are no extreme changes in sales between the months. The amount of sales increases or decreases at a gradual rate.
Another significant trend that sticks out is that in the first half of the year sales progressively increase until July where sales drop below 500. This is the pivotal month since from then on, sales decrease horrifically. On the next page I will make some recommendations that I think will help the company sustain a decent sales rate throughout the year and try to make the most of Christmas and penetrate the January sales market.
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