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Walmart Demand Forecasting Data
Retail & Consumer Behavior
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About
This dataset provides cleaned time series sales data from Walmart, a leading retail store in the US, ideal for predicting sales and demand, as well as for anomaly detection. Walmart aims to accurately forecast sales and demand, addressing challenges posed by unforeseen fluctuations and occasional stock-outs. The data includes various factors influencing sales, such as economic conditions like the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Unemployment Rate. It also captures the impact of several promotional markdown events run by Walmart throughout the year, particularly those preceding major holidays such as the Super Bowl, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Weeks including these holidays are given a higher weighting in evaluations. This dataset supports the development of robust machine learning algorithms for demand prediction, enabling businesses to better manage stock and operational planning.
Columns
- Index: A row index for the dataset.
- Store: Identifies the unique store number.
- Date: The weekly date for which sales data is recorded.
- IsHoliday: An indicator (1 for True, 0 for False) signifying if the week includes a major holiday.
- Dept: Represents the department number within each store.
- Weekly_Sales: The total sales in US Dollars for a given week.
- Temperature: The temperature in degrees Celsius for the respective week.
- Fuel_Price: The fuel price in US Dollars for the respective week.
- MarkDown1, MarkDown2, MarkDown3, MarkDown4, MarkDown5: These columns represent five different types of promotional markdown initiatives.
- CPI: The Consumer Price Index, which measures the weighted average of prices for a basket of consumer goods and services, including transportation, food, and medical care. It is calculated by averaging price changes for items in a predetermined basket.
- Unemployment: The unemployment rate for the period.
- Type: Categorises the store based on its size, with unique values 1, 2, or 3.
- Size: Denotes the physical size of the store.
Distribution
The dataset is typically provided in a CSV file format and has a file size of approximately 42.03 MB. It contains around 422,000 records, providing a substantial collection of weekly sales data and related features. Specific details on the number of rows for each column are available within the dataset structure.
Usage
This dataset is highly suitable for:
- Developing time series forecasting models to predict Walmart store sales and demand.
- Building regression models to understand and predict sales based on single or multiple features.
- Implementing anomaly detection techniques to identify unusual sales patterns or outliers.
- Analysing the impact of promotional markdown events and major holidays on retail sales.
- Investigating the influence of economic indicators such as CPI and unemployment rates on consumer purchasing behaviour and sales performance.
Coverage
The data originates from 45 distinct Walmart stores situated in various regions across the US. The time range for the sales data spans from 5th February 2010 to 26th October 2012. While specific demographic scope is not detailed within the sources, the data represents general retail sales activity across these varied store locations over the specified period. It offers historical sales data, though modelling markdown effects might present a challenge due to the absence of complete or ideal historical data in certain instances.
License
CC0: Public Domain
Who Can Use It
This dataset is valuable for:
- Retail Analysts: To understand sales trends, assess promotional effectiveness, and predict future demand.
- Data Scientists: For building and evaluating machine learning models, specifically in time series forecasting, regression, and anomaly detection.
- Business Strategists: To inform decisions related to inventory management, marketing campaigns, and economic impact assessments.
- Academic Researchers: For studies on retail economics, consumer behaviour, and predictive analytics in a real-world business context.
Dataset Name Suggestions
- Walmart Store Sales Data
- Walmart Sales Prediction Dataset
- Retail Sales Time Series Analysis
- Walmart Demand Forecasting Data
- US Retail Markdown and Sales Data
Attributes
Original Data Source: Walmart Demand Forecasting Data
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