RM3.3M
Electronics Revenue
Top-performing category generating nearly 3x more than the next highest, establishing it as the store's financial backbone
RM344K
Electronics Profit
Clear cash cow status with highest profit contribution and minimal discount dependency
8.3%
Fashion Return Rate
Highest return rate creating waste and operational costs in a major revenue category
30.1
No Discount Margin
Optimal profit margin level—discounts above 10% significantly erode profitability
Data Sources and Methodology
The dataset contains 34,500 retail and e-commerce transactions covering 17 fields that track orders, products, revenue, discounts, profit margins, returns, and delivery times. This provides a detailed record of both financial outcomes and operational processes.
Customer demographics such as age and gender, along with product category information, were included to enable segmentation and understand how different groups contribute to performance. By combining financial, operational, and demographic data, the analysis delivers a complete picture of store performance and identifies where issues like high return rates or delivery delays impact results.
Performance Analysis Insights
Revenue Concentration in Electronics
Electronics generates RM3.3M—nearly three times more than Home (RM1.1M). This category is the backbone of store sales and should receive priority in stock allocation, promotions, and shelf space. Sports (RM630K) and Fashion (RM470K) contribute meaningfully but are secondary.
True Cash Cows Identified
Electronics leads with RM344K profit, followed by Home at RM263K. Sports and Fashion contribute RM161K and RM129K respectively. Grocery records a loss of RM9K, requiring urgent attention. Electronics and Home are the true profit drivers worth prioritizing.
Return Rates Drain High Performers
Fashion has the highest return rate at 8.3%, with Electronics at 7.3%. Since these are major revenue drivers, addressing size issues in Fashion and quality concerns in Electronics could significantly reduce waste and improve profitability. Grocery and Beauty show the lowest return rates at 1.3% and 3.8%.
Higher Discounts Reduce Revenue Per Order
Orders without discounts generate RM178.9 average revenue. This drops to RM163.9 at 0–10% discounts, RM152.3 at 10–20%, and RM132.5 at 20–30%. Higher discounts actually reduce customer spending rather than increasing it, suggesting blanket markdowns harm revenue.
Delivery Delays Hit Top Categories Hardest
Fashion and Electronics suffer nearly 1,750 and 1,650 delayed orders respectively. Home faces about 1,430 delays. Since these are the biggest profit contributors, delays risk damaging customer satisfaction most. Fixing logistics for these categories should be the top operational priority.
Discount Impact on Margins
Profit margins shrink as discounts increase. Non-discounted orders average 30.1 margin, falling to 26.9 at 0–10%, 24.1 at 10–20%, and just 19.4 at 20–30%. The store average is 25.1, meaning only full-price orders perform above benchmark. Discounts should stay under 10% to protect profitability.
Strategic Discount Distribution
Discounting is spread evenly across categories at about 5% average, with occasional spikes to 30%. This broad approach is not strategic. Management could protect margins by reducing discounts in strong categories like Electronics while focusing promotions on weaker ones like Grocery or Toys.
Optimal Discount Range
Best performance comes from no discounts or modest ones up to 10%. At these levels, both revenue and profit margins remain healthy. Beyond 10%, results fall sharply, with weakest performance at 20–30%. Heavy discounting reduces both sales value and profitability.
Category Performance Breakdown
Product Category Segmentation Analysis
Comprehensive clustering reveals three distinct category groups: Electronics as the cash cow with high revenue and profit; Home, Sports, Fashion, Beauty, and Toys as discount-dependent categories requiring careful promotion management; and Grocery and Fashion as problematic categories needing urgent review or repositioning.
📊 Cash Cow: Electronics | Discount-Dependent: 5 Categories | Problematic: Grocery & Fashion