Pizza place sales analysis
How to evaluate the pizza business performance?
The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the annual performance of a pizza café, identify peak hours, average sold quantity, bestsellers, seasonality, and propose recommendations based on insight gained from the annual sales data. The data set, obtained from Maven Analytics data playground, consists of over 48,000 variables from January 2015 to December 2015.
To prepare the data, I used Power Query within Power BI to review and modify column formats, delete unnecessary information, merge queries, extract weekdays and hours, and set up relations between tables. Afterwards, I created a final dashboard.
The aim of the analysis and dashboard is to provide answers to the following questions:
• How many customers do we have each day? Are there any peak hours?
• How many pizzas are typically in an order? Do we have any bestsellers?
• How much money did we make this year? Can we identify any seasonality in the sales?
• Are there any pizzas we should take off the menu, or any promotions we could leverage?
The choice of dashboard themes was made according to Microsoft’s recommendations, taking into consideration disadvantaged people.
Results of analysis
Question: How many customers do we have each day? Are there any peak hours?
The total number of distinct customers who visited the pizzeria was 21,350. In January, the business had 1,845 customers, in February 1,685, in March 1,840, and so on. The peak hours are from 12 pm to 1 pm and 5 pm to 6 pm. The busiest days are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Question: How many pizzas are typically in order? Do we have any bestsellers?
The average number of ordered pizzas per customer is 2.32, and the average paycheck is $16.82. The maximum kitchen load is 19 pizzas in an hour, the minimum is 1, and the average is 5 pizzas per hour, except for peak hours.
The best-selling categories by revenue are Classic (the most popular size is L, the least popular is M) and Supreme (the most popular size is L, the least popular is S). The only category that was sold in XL size is Classic.
The top 3 Classic pizzas, according to sales, are The Pepperoni, The Greek, and The Italian Capollo Pizza.
The top 3 Supreme pizzas, according to sales, are The Pepperoni Salami, The Prosciutto and Arugula, and The Sopressata.
Question: How much money did we make this year? Can we identify any seasonality in the sales? Are there any pizzas we should take off the menu, or any promotions we could leverage?
The annual revenue for 2015 is $817.860, and according to the graph, there is no seasonality detected. Overall, the pizzeria has a wide selection of pizzas and sizes. However, not all of them are feasible to keep.
Recommendations
- Keep only in-demand pizza types:
- I suggest reducing the number of selections and keeping only the most profitable ones. For example, keep only pizzas that have an annual revenue of at least $16,000. However, I recommend reviewing the contribution margin of each type first, and afterward excluding those that are not in demand and have a small contribution margin.
- Consider introducing new pizza flavors or specials to the menu to attract more customers and increase sales. Based on the sales data, you can identify which types of pizza are most popular and try to create new flavors or specials that cater to similar tastes.
- Know your customers:
- I suggest limiting the size selection of pizzas up to L because, according to the report, no one buys XL. However, the demand for L-size pizzas exists in the Classic category. Therefore, I recommend investigating why other categories are not in demand, such as asking for reviews and feedback. To promote more L-size pizzas, I recommend investing in marketing, for example, positioning it as “Family size”, “Party size”, or bundling it.
3. Know your competitors:
- Evaluate the pricing strategy for the pizzas to ensure they are competitive with other pizzerias in the area. You may want to consider offering discounts or promotions during slower periods to increase sales.