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Analyzing a New Product

Student Name

Department, University

Course Number: Course Name

Tutor

Due Date
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Importance of Data Analysis

Data analysis is the science of analyzing primary data to make inferences about the data.

Data analysis is essential to every business because it improves customer service, helps in

predicting customer behavior, and helps in decision-making (Ghelber, 2020). In this scenario, the

investigator uses data analysis to make decisions about a product. When you have data to refer

to, making business decisions becomes more comfortable since they are backed by facts. With

analyzed data, one can see what works well and what needs to be improved or eliminated. If one

product is generating target profits, a company might want to invest more resources, energy, and

time into producing more or improving it. If a company struggles to generate desirable earnings

from a product, the product can be discontinued. All these decisions can be made using analyzed

data. The investigator wishes to use data to determine if a new product the company has

launched is meeting the expectations. The company’s profit aim is 25% of the cost of goods sold

(COGS).

Figure 1 displays the clustered column chart that compares the profit goal against the cost

of goods sold to gain a rough insight into how the profit performs against the COGS. A clustered

column chart compared values across a few categories, thus giving the investigator a

comprehensive view of what is happening in the data. The values are profit goal and COGS, and

the categories are the months.

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Results of the Analysis

FIGURE 1: Profit Goal

$5,000.00
$4,500.00
$4,000.00
$3,500.00
$3,000.00
$2,500.00
$2,000.00
$1,500.00
$1,000.00
$500.00
$0.00
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Ju n Ju l Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

The profit goal has been decreasing throughout the year (Figure 1).

Figure 2: Cost of Goods

30,000.00

25,000.00

20,000.00

15,000.00

10,000.00

5,000.00

0.00
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Ju n Ju l Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

The cost of goods has been decreasing throughout the year (Figure 2).
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Figure 3: Profit Goal vs COGS

Profit Goal Cost of Goods
23,920.00

23,920.00

23,920.00
23,920.00

18,460.00

18,460.00

17,095.00

17,095.00

17,095.00

17,095.00
17,095.00

17,095.00
$4,600.00

$4,600.00

$4,600.00

$4,600.00

$3,550.00

$3,550.00

$3,287.50

$3,287.50

$3,287.50
$3,287.50

$3,287.50

$3,287.50
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Ju n Ju l Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

According to Figure 3, the cost of goods sold is greater than the profit goal from January

to December. It also shows that, as the year progresses, the COGS and corresponding profit goals

decrease. The table below indicates whether the profit goal is 25% of the cost of goods sold

(COGS). In data visualization, tables are about precision, allowing the investigator to dive deeper

into the numbers and explore exact values rather than focus on visualizations and

approximations. Even though the clustered column chart showed us a visual representation of

what is happening in the data, it does not show the exact values.

Table 1 Is the Profit Goal 25% of COGS or Not

Month Profit Goal Cost of Goods 25% or Not

Jan $4,600.00 23,920.00 19.23%
Feb $4,600.00 23,920.00 19.23%
Mar $4,600.00 23,920.00 19.23%
Apr $4,600.00 23,920.00 19.23%
May $3,550.00 18,460.00 19.23%
Jun $3,550.00 18,460.00 19.23%
Jul $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%
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Aug $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%

Sep $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%
Oct $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%
Nov $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%
Dec $3,287.50 17,095.00 19.23%
Annual Numbers $45,225.00 235,170.00 19.23%

In Table 1, it can be noted that in all the months plus the annual numbers, the profit goal

is just 19.23% of the cost of goods sold. The profit goal is short of the target by 5.77%.

The Influence of the Target Audience

The target audience influences the way information is displayed. Most target audiences

do not understand the data analysis jargon and would like results to be reported in a non-

technical, concise, clear, and straightforward manner. The investigator should be able to report

the results in a layman’s language. The investigator remembered that the readers may not be

lacking in intelligence but are unfamiliar with the data analysis terminologies and techniques.

Therefore, the data analyst made the analysis and interpretation as simple as possible.
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References

Ghelber, A. (2020). The Importance of Data Analysis in a Business | By Alon Ghelber. Tealfeed.

https://tealfeed.com/importance-data-analysis-business-3d936