Going through the different phases of the data visualization chain, from data exploration to creating a fully functional and adaptable Tableau dashboard, reinforced the important role that data analysis plays in today’s world, and no company should be falling behind the wave – including our client. A growing jewelry brand with creative collections, our client found itself at a cross-road in designing its business strategy post COVID-19. They hired a new senior manager, who was keen to get up to speed as fast as possible. Through our investigation of the data at hand, data transformations, analysis and visualizations, we were able to highlight not only the key metrics for her to focus on, but we also uncovered several underlying issues that were brought by the transition from an Excel reporting system to a POS one.

Our work highlighted the importance for the company to rely on data-driven decisions going forward, using our dashboard as a stepping-stone for the further development of their analytics infrastructure. Modifications within the business model have been flagged, including improved data entry to avoid further mistakes and higher reliance on what the data is telling, such as increasing the focus on the most selling collections and colors, as well as efficiently channeling promotional efforts. Combining the creativity of the collections offered with the right sales and marketing strategy is bound to create a successful story – empowered by data.

On a more general note, our dashboard can also be applicable to a wide range of businesses. We built a story in an adaptable way, whereby any new senior manager wanting to understand a business can take this dashboard as an initial reference, as it highlights all the key KPIs for one to look for – including general sales trends, sales by transaction, most and least profitable customers and margin trends, among others.

Data-driven decision making is no longer an added value to a company – rather it has, and should, stand at its core, connecting different business departments, translating business decisions into actions, and bringing creative strategies to life.

This work is done by Dalal Darwich, Maha Weiss, Maya El Gharib, Samer Batlouni, and Stephanie Khabbaz