PROBLEM STATEMENT

The company’s sales performance varies significantly across regions and

product categories, yet there is a lack of integrated insight into customer
behavior, product effectiveness, and sales trends. The data is fragmented
across multiple sources: sales data resides in a database, customer data is
stored in files within folders, and product information is kept in XML format.
This separation and disconnection of data prevents a unified, comprehensive
view of business performance. Your task is to leverage Excel’s data
connection capabilities to directly connect to, integrate, and analyze these
diverse data sources without manual exporting, enabling timely, accurate,
and data-driven decision-making.

OBJECTIVE

You are tasked with consolidating and analyzing data from diverse sources by
using Excel’s data connection features (Power Query) to connect directly to
the sales database, customer data files, and product XML files. Clean,
transform, and combine the data within Excel to enable analysis of
customer segments, product performance, and sales trends that will
support data-driven business strategies aimed at improving sales
performance and optimizing product offerings.

PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS

1. Data Connection & Integration

i. Use Excel Power Query to connect directly to the sales database

(e.g., via ODBC, SQL Server, or other connectors).
ii. Connect to the customer data folder to import multiple files
dynamically (e.g., CSV or Excel files).
iii. Import product information from XML files using Power Query.
iv. Clean, transform, and merge these datasets in Power Query to
create a unified, refreshable data model inside Excel.
 2. Customer Analysis

i. Profile customers based on demographics and purchase

behavior from the integrated dataset.
ii. Segment customers by revenue contribution and purchase
patterns.
iii. Identify key customer groups and their product preferences.

3. Product Analysis

i. Analyze sales volumes and revenue by product, region, and time

period.
ii. Determine the best and worst performing products.
iii. Evaluate product profitability and impact on overall sales.

4. Sales Trend Analysis

i. Analyze temporal sales patterns including monthly, quarterly,

and seasonal trends.
ii. Investigate sales variations across customer segments and
product categories.
iii. Identify any anomalies or emerging trends in sales data.

5. Cross-Dimensional Insights

i. Analyze the relationship between customer segments and

product sales to uncover marketing and sales opportunities.
ii. Suggest strategies for targeted marketing, cross-selling, and
inventory optimization.
iii. Recommend actionable business decisions based on integrated
data insights.

Deliverables

 A comprehensive analytical report with key findings, insights, and

recommendations.
  Data visualizations highlighting customer segments, product
performance, and sales trends.

 Strategic recommendations to drive sales growth and enhance

customer targeting.

ADDENDUM

Data Dictionary/Description

Customer Table

Column Data Type Description Example

Unique identifier for
Customer ID Text DV-13045
each customer
Customer Full name of the
Text Darrin Van Huff
Name customer
Customer segment
type (e.g.,
Segment Text Corporate
Corporate,
Consumer)
Age of the
Age Integer 31
customer
Country Text Customer’s country United States
City Text Customer’s city Los Angeles
State Text Customer’s state California
Postal Code Integer Postal/ZIP code 90036
Geographical
region (e.g., West/East/South/
Region Text
West/East/South/No North
rth)

Product Table

Data
Column Description Example
Type
Unique identifier for FUR-BO-
Product ID Text
each product 10001798
High-level product
Category Text Furniture
category
More specific category
Sub-Category Text Bookcases
within main category
Bush
Product Name Text Full product name
Somerset
 Collection
Bookcase

Sales Table

Column Data Type Description Example

Line number of the
Order Line Integer 1
order (item count)
Unique order
Order ID Text OF-2019-103800
identifier
Barcode number
Bar code value Integer associated with 76712049
the product
Date when the
Order Date Text order was placed 26-06-2021
(varied formats)
Date when the
30-06-2021 or
Ship Date Text order was shipped
1/7/2021
(varied formats)
Shipping
Ship Mode Text Standard Class
method/class
Unique identifier
Customer ID Text for the customer DP-13000
making the order
Unique product
Product ID Text OFF-PA-10000174
identifier
Total sales amount
Sales Float 16.448
for the order line
Quantity of
Quantity Integer product sold in this 2
order line
Discount applied
Discount Float to the sale (e.g., 0.2
0.2 = 20%)
Profit earned on
Profit Float 5.5512
this order line