Established in a single Kolkata office in 1910, ITC has expanded into a multi-branched corporation. Through strategic diversification, they have entered various sectors such as hotels, paper, and FMCG. Presently, ITC operates 13 businesses that serve consumers in India and beyond. Their products are available in over 6 million stores across 90 countries. By 2023, ITC had achieved a significant milestone by becoming India's largest FMCG company with a market cap exceeding ₹600,000 crore. This remarkable journey showcases their ongoing growth and dedication to the Indian market.
So, how did they get here?
A big part of their success story is data – collecting it, analyzing it, and then using it to make better products for people like you and me. In this article, we are going to understand, how big FMCG companies like ITC might be using geospatial analysis method to improve its sales and logistic performance.
The dataset contains information about retail orders, such as product details, store characteristics, locations, and financial data. It includes variables like order ID, order date, product and store information (IDs, names, types, opening dates), geographical data (city, state, region, population), and financial numbers (MRP, cost per unit, sales, discounts, profits).
Vehicle Insurance Dataset Fields
Column Group
Column Name
Data Type
Description
Order Information
order_id
String
A unique identifier for each order.
dt_order
Date
The date of the order.
Product Details
product_id
String
A unique identifier for each product.
segment
String
The general category or classification of the product.
segment_id
String
A unique identifier for each segment.
category
String
Category to which the product belongs.
subcategory
String
Specific category within the broader category.
product
String
The name or description of the product.
mrp_inr
Float
The Maximum Retail Price (MRP) in Indian Rupees.
cost_per_unit
Float
The cost per unit of the product.
Store Information
store_id
String
A unique identifier for each store.
store_name
String
The name of the store.
store_type
String
The type or category of the store.
opening date
Date
The date when the store was opened.
Sales Team
city_manager_id
String
A unique identifier for the city manager.
Geographical Info
city_id
String
A unique identifier for each city.
Demographic Info
population
Integer
The population of the city.
Transaction Details
quantity
Integer
The quantity of the product sold.
This dataset is designed for analyzing sales performance, market segmentation, location trends, and pricing effectiveness in retail domain. It consists of 33 columns and 10,000 rows.
How ITC Uses Geospatial Analytics to Improve sales & Logistics Performance?
In the era of data-driven decision-making, ITC employs geospatial analytics to enhance its supply chain efficiency. This goes beyond simple map visualization; it involves discovering valuable insights that enhance sales, optimize deliveries, and ensure customer satisfaction. It's about understanding people, their needs, and how to serve them better. Let's explore the simple five essential steps that unlock this competitive edge.
Step 1: Identify the users or stakeholders for the analysis
First up, figure out who's going to use this data. In this case, it’s someone called a Supply chain Manager.
This individual is responsible for ensuring products are successfully delivered from factories to customers. Their daily tasks include planning efficient transportation routes, selecting optimal warehouse locations, and monitoring inventory levels closely. But they also face challenges: dealing with surprises, keeping costs down, and making deliveries faster. By understanding their needs, we can build a data story that helps them win.
User Persona: Supply Chain Manager
Responsibilities:
Analyzing spatial data to identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for optimization within the supply chain.
Utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS) tools to map supply chain networks, including distribution centers, transportation routes, and retail locations.
Evaluating geographical factors that impact supply chain efficiency, such as transportation times, route optimization, and location analysis for new facilities.
Collaborating with supply chain managers to incorporate geospatial insights into strategic planning and operational improvements.
Needs:
Access to high-quality, detailed geospatial data across the entire supply chain network for accurate analysis and mapping.
Advanced GIS and spatial analysis tools to model supply chain scenarios, perform route optimization, and conduct location intelligence studies.
Integration capabilities with other supply chain management systems to ensure a holistic view of operations, inventory, and logistics.
Challenges:
Ensuring the accuracy and currency of geospatial data to reflect real-world conditions and changes in the supply chain network.
Overcoming complexities in modeling and analyzing supply chain operations that span diverse geographical regions with varying factors affecting efficiency.
Addressing the need for scalability in geospatial analyses to accommodate growing or changing supply chain networks without sacrificing precision or speed of insights.
Step 2: Design Empathy Map
To truly connect with the experiences and expectations of Supply Chain Manager, the creation of an empathy map is invaluable. This visual tool allows for a deeper understanding of the emotions, aspirations, and pain points of users.
By empathizing with their perspectives, we can design a data story that not only meets functional requirements but also resonates with the human elements of their roles.
Step 3: Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
Once an empathy map is ready. As a data analyst, you need to decide on the most important things to keep an eye on, called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).The heartbeat of any analysis lies in KPI’s and their Metrics. It's crucial to identify the KPIs that matter most to achieving the defined objectives and by focusing on the most relevant metrics, organizations can gain actionable insights into their supply chain operations.
Vehicle Insurance Dataset Fields
KPI Name
Formula
Description
Total Sales
Sum of all Sales
Measures the overall revenue generated from all sales. This KPI is essential for evaluating the financial health and growth trajectory of the business across all regions and categories.
Sales by Region
Sum of Sales per Region
Analyzes sales distribution across different geographical regions, helping identify which regions contribute most to revenue and where to focus growth strategies.
Top Performing States and Cities
Max(Sales) grouped by State and City
Identifies states and cities with the highest sales, indicating areas of strong market presence and potential regions for targeted marketing or expansion.
Top Performing Categories by Region
Max(Sales) grouped by Category and Region
Reveals the product categories with the highest sales in each region, offering insights into regional consumer preferences and market demand.
Top Product by Sales and Profit
Max(Sales) and Max(Profit) per Product
Determines the products with the highest sales and profit, highlighting successful items that significantly contribute to the company's financial performance.
Step 4: Understand the Goals & Objectives of User
Based on the Empathy Map and KPIs, it is essential to establish the goals and objectives of the Users. This will help align with the data story functionalities for effective decision making. Here are the Key Objectives & Goals:
Objective : The Geospatial Analyst's objective centers on leveraging geospatial data to refine supply chain efficiency and decision-making. By employing GIS tools for route optimization and site selection, they aim to reduce costs and enhance delivery performance. This role also focuses on utilizing spatial analysis to inform strategic expansions and improve logistics planning.
Goals : The Geospatial Analyst's goals include improving supply chain visibility through advanced mapping, optimizing logistics and transportation routes for efficiency, strategically selecting sites for expansion based on data-driven insights, and enhancing decision-making with accurate, real-time geospatial analytics.
Step 5 : Ask Business Questions
Beyond KPI’s, organizations must engage in business-driven inquiry. This involves asking strategic questions that directly align with overarching business objectives.
1.What is the overall sales and profit performance trend over time?
Metric: Sales and profit
Question: some text
Sales / Profit?
Yearly Sales / profit?
Monthly Sales / profit in 2023 ?
Observation: General increasing trend with Anomalies in 2019 sudden rise in sales and profit and 2023 sudden fall in sales and profit
2. How is my performance across regions?
Metric: Sales and profit
Question: some text
Sales and Profit by region?
Observation: South has highest sales and profit with central having worst performance.
3. How is my performance across Southern States?
Metric: Sales and profit
Question: some text
Sales and Profit by state in the South?
Observation: Karnataka Leads the other states in terms of both sales and profit.
4. How is my performance In cities in Karnataka ?
Metric: Sales and profit
Question: some text
Top 5 cities by Sales / Profit in Karnataka?
Observation: Udupi is the best performing city in Karnataka with Sales of 15.5 million and profit of 2.9 million
5. What are the top performing categories and sub categories in the south?
Metric: Sales
Question: some text
Top 5 category by Sales in South ?
Top 5 sub category by Sales in South ?
Observation: Hair care is the most popular category with hair color being the Driver among the subcategories
6. How are my Products Performing in the south?
Metric: Sales and profit
Question: some text
Sales and Profit by Product in South ?
Observation: Most Product are not performing great with most having sales less than 10 million and profit less than 50 % with few top performers like L'Oréal Paris Feria Hair Color, Garnier Olia Bold Ammonia Free Permanent Hair Color
Outcomes:
Our analysis of sales and profit data reveals some interesting trends. Overall, we've observed a general upward trend over time, with a significant increase in 2019. However, a noticeable decline occurred in 2023, and we'll be taking a closer look at this to understand the cause.
Regional Analysis:
The South stands out as the highest achiever, with the highest sales and profits.
Conversely, the Central region demonstrates the least favorable performance.
State and City Performance:
Within the South, Karnataka stands out as the state with the highest contribution to sales and profit.
Udupi, within Karnataka, boasts impressive results, achieving sales of 15.5 million and a profit of 2.9 million. This makes it the leading city in terms of performance.
Product Insights:
Hair care products, particularly hair color, dominate sales in the South, indicating a strong consumer preference.
Performance among individual products varies. A few, like L'Oréal Paris Feria Hair Color and Garnier Olia Bold Ammonia Free Permanent Hair Color, demonstrate exceptional sales and profit margins. The majority of products show less significant results.
This data provides valuable insights into our customer base and their preferences. It allows us to tailor our offerings to regional markets, identify areas for improvement, and acknowledge the cities and products driving our success. We will continue to analyze these findings and share further insights and strategic plans in future.
Conclusion
The analysis reveals a growth trajectory in sales and profit, punctuated by fluctuations. This highlights the value of geospatial analytics in identifying trends and informing strategic adjustments. The dominance of the South, particularly Karnataka and Udupi, provides valuable insights for targeted marketing and expansion strategies. Additionally, geospatial visualizations can effectively communicate these findings to stakeholders. Looking ahead, ITC can leverage geospatial analytics to delve deeper into customer demographics, optimize delivery routes in real-time, and even predict future demand in specific regions, ensuring continued success in the ever-evolving marketplace.
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