This project analyzes sales data from a chain of 50 diverse restaurants in 2024. The purpose of this analysis is to identify some patterns in customer behavior, pricing tactics, the success of promotions, the effects of weather, and special events that influence demand and profitability.
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The dataset captures daily item-level sales across 50 restaurants for 2024. Restaurant Types - Cafes, Casual Dining, Fine Dining, Food Stalls, Kopitiams. Sales Metrics - Daily item sales volume, revenue, gross margin. Menu & Pricing Data – Ingredients, costs, market price, actual selling price. Contextual Variables - Weather conditions, promotions, special events.
The restaurant business chain made $32.6 million in 2024, with 76% gross margin. Three categories accounted for almost 85% of sales and had the highest performance: Food Stalls (9.6M), Fine Dining (9.0M), and Casual Dining (8.9M). Fine Dining's premium pricing generated the highest margins (84%) while Food Stalls' low ASP ($7.1) boosted volume. Cafes (4.4M) and Kopitiams (0.6M) made very little contribution. Demand was significantly impacted by weather. Revenue on sunny days (16.3M) was more than twice that of rainy ones (6.3M). Special events performed poorly, making only $2 million, indicating missed opportunities for promotion.
Although promotions made up 25% of sales, they cut margins by 10%, suggesting that more precise targeting is required. There is an unusual decline in weekend sales, while weekday customer behavior is higher (21M vs. 11M on weekends), with office workers showing a strong demand for dinner.
Maximize advertising - Change to targeted use (package discounts, weekday meals, rainy days).
Increase traffic during weekends - Introduce brunch menus in cafes and family/group meal packages in casual/fine restaurants.
Menu rebalancing - Modify the prices of high-volume, low-margin goods and sell high-margin items in bundles.
Weatherproof sales - To mitigate weather-driven decreases, collaborate with delivery apps to launch "Rainy Day Specials."
76% Gross Margin is very healthy for the Food and Beverages industry, indicating strong pricing power or cost efficiency. The largest portion of total revenue comes from Food Stalls. Sales increased most strongly in August (+14.04%) and October (+12.32%), while September saw a sharp decline (-18.51%) that operational or seasonal problems may have caused. That ASP is below the market average, which may result in missed opportunities to increase margin.
September’s drop could also be a result of external shocks, such as a sudden change in weather. Peak months of August and October can signify some seasonal demand drivers that should be capitalized on through festivals, loyalty programs, and bundle offers. To raise ASP closer to the market average without affecting volume, certain small price hikes could be attempted in the fine dining and casual dining categories.
Despite selling comparatively fewer units overall, spaghetti carbonara, mushroom soup, and chicken chops have gross margins of over 80%. And even though Kaya Toast Set, Teh Tarik, and Cendol have slightly lower profits, they have an important portion of sales. These products are essential for traffic and steady demand, but if they are heavily promoted, they reduce margin. If we want to optimize the Menu, we could sell premium items like Spaghetti Carbonara, Chicken Chop in bundles with popular items (e.g., Kaya Toast + Chicken Chop set). Nasi Lemak and Iced Lemon Tea show balanced performance. They are perfect products to include in combos or bundles.
Food stalls, fine dining, and casual dining all follow this weather-driven demand pattern, whereas cafés and kopitiams are less affected by the weather. Partnerships with delivery apps, providing delivery promotions, and offering some discounts can be beneficial to increase sales in rainy weather. Events don't significantly increase sales, which could be because there isn't enough event-driven marketing or because promotions and customer preferences might not align. They should be updated with exclusive menu items or group bundles to increase traffic.
Promotions account for 25.27% of overall sales. They drastically reduce the margin (around 10%). Targeted advertising (rainy days, off-peak periods) might be more effective than general discounts.
Demand is more evenly distributed during the week than it is on the weekends, when sales of all meals decline. This says that customers dine more during weekdays (likely office workers, workday lunches/dinners). Weekends perform unusually poorly, which may indicate that family/group dining options, special activities, and discounts are not utilized. General discounts should be replaced with rainy-day promotions, weekday lunch specials, and bundle deals. Cafes could advertise their brunch offerings to capitalize on the demand for weekend leisure.
Tool: PowerBI