Elist Sales and Market Review

Overview

Elist, founded in 2018, is a global e-commerce company specializing in popular electronics. Originally serving the local market, the company has expanded its reach to customers worldwide, offering products through both its website and mobile app. Elist engages its audience through a variety of marketing strategies, including affiliate programs, email campaigns, and social media initiatives. Top-selling products include electronics from renowned brands like Apple, Samsung, and ThinkPad.

Elist possesses extensive sales data that was previously underutilized. This data is now being analyzed to uncover valuable insights and drive improved commercial performance.

The entity relation diagram (ERD) can be found here.

Executive Summary

Elist’s main objectives are to leverage underutilized sales data for global revenue growth, enhance customer satisfaction by reducing refund rates, and optimize marketing efforts. Specifically, the company aims to improve brand penetration in key markets, refine product strategies to match customer buying patterns, and strengthen overall commercial performance through data-driven initiatives.

From 2019 to 2022, Elist generated $28 million in revenue from over 100,000 orders, with peak performance in 2020 and an average order value of $260. Holiday sales surged in November and December, then dropped sharply in January and February before rebounding in March. Four products—27" 4K Gaming Monitor, Apple AirPods, MacBook Air, and ThinkPad Laptops—account for 96% of total sales, while Japan stands out with the highest AOV ($393). Refund rates exceed the 5% average in the UK, Canada, and India (7%), especially for premium laptops. The loyalty program spiked in 2021 but waned in late 2022, and platform preferences show the website primarily attracts buyers of higher-value products, whereas the mobile app caters to lower-cost purchases.

High-Impact Recommendations

• Strategic Growth in Japan: Capitalize on Japan’s preference for premium products and high average order value (AOV) by enhancing localized strategies to drive sales and deepen market penetration.
• March Sales Opportunity: Maximize the 18% March rebound with targeted campaigns focused on post-holiday customers, featuring spring promotions and new product launches.
• Address Refund Rates: Tackle high refund rates in the UK, Canada, and India by identifying root causes and implementing solutions to boost satisfaction and profitability.
  
  

Insights Deep-Dive

This analysis focuses on providing insights and recommendations in the following key areas:

• Sales Insights
• Product Analysis
• Global Market
• Loyalty Program
• Marketing Strategies
• Refund Analysis
• Purchasing Platforms
• Shipping Performance
  
  
  

Sales Insights

Findings:

• Revenue and Order Trends: Between 2019 and 2022, $28 million in revenue was generated from over 100,000 orders, with an average order value of $260. The peak year was 2020, which saw the highest revenue ($10.2 million) and AOV ($300), likely driven by increased pandemic-related spending, while 2021 recorded the highest number of orders at 36,000.
  
  

• Seasonal Sales Patterns: There is a holiday sales surge, with growth rates of 18% in November and 23% in December. This is followed by significant declines in January (-10%) and February (-25%), with a rebound of 18% in March. October sees potential sales stagnation as consumers may wait for holiday deals or shop elsewhere.
• Consumer Behavior Insights: The sales pattern aligns with typical electronics seasonality, with holiday promotions influencing consumer purchasing decisions. October’s lower activity highlights a potential opportunity to better engage customers before the holiday season.
  

Recommendations:

• Maximize November and December Promotions: Expand marketing campaigns starting in early November to capitalize on the sales surge (18% in November and 23% in December) by highlighting exclusive deals, limited-time offers, and bundle packages to drive urgency and increase AOV.
• Retain Post-Holiday Shoppers: Offer “New Year” incentives in January to mitigate the 10% sales decline, such as discount codes for future purchases or post-holiday clearance sales.
• Optimize for March Rebound: Prepare a targeted campaign to capitalize on the 18% sales rebound in March, focusing on customers who paused spending after the holidays, and promote spring deals or "fresh start" themes tied to new product launches or upgrades
• Investigate Drop-off Causes: Conduct customer surveys and analyze competitor trends to understand consumer behavior in October and other slower months, testing incentives like early-bird discounts and pre-holiday bundles to encourage purchases before the deal season starts in November.
  
  
  

Product Analysis

Findings:

• Key Revenue Drivers: The 27-inch 4K Gaming Monitor is the highest revenue-generating product, contributing nearly $10 million. Four products—the 27-inch 4K Gaming Monitor, Apple AirPods, MacBook Air, and ThinkPad Laptops—together account for 96% of total sales.
• Popular Product: Apple AirPods are the most popular product, accounting for 45% of all orders (48,000+ units).
• Inefficiency: The Samsung Charging Cable Pack constitutes 20% of orders but contributes only 2% of total sales, indicating room for optimization.
  

Recommendations:

• Expand Product Catalog: To diversify revenue streams, add more products in the same categories as the top performers (27-inch 4K Gaming Monitor, Apple AirPods, MacBook Air, and ThinkPad Laptops), focusing on in-class alternatives.
• Optimize Samsung Charging Cable Pack Strategy: Increase profitability by exploring price adjustments or introducing a bundled version of the product to capture additional value.
  
  
  

Global Market

Findings:

• Global Reach: Customers placed orders from 195 countries, with the United States contributing 47% of total sales.
• Concentration of Sales: The top 12 countries account for 80% of total sales, emphasizing their critical role in overall business performance.
• High-AOV Country: Among the top-performing countries, Japan (JP) stands out with a significantly higher AOV of $393.
  

Recommendations:

• Prioritize Top Markets: Continue to focus on the top 12 countries that drive 80% of total sales by developing tailored strategies to sustain and grow performance in these regions.
• Optimize Growth in Japan: Conduct further analysis to capitalize on Japan’s preference for premium products, leveraging its high AOV to drive significant sales growth.
• Enhance Tailored Strategies: Ensure localized efforts in top markets, including Japan, to align with consumer preferences and improve overall market penetration.
  
  
  

Loyalty Program

Findings:

• Program Adoption and Performance: The loyalty program, launched in 2019, gained significant traction in 2021. Loyalty members outperformed non-loyalty customers in sales and orders, with higher AOV in 2022.
  
  

• Engagement Decline: Engagement dropped in 2022, with narrowing differences in orders and loyalty sales falling below non-loyalty sales in the last four months.
• Viability Uncertainty: The program's long-term viability is uncertain, requiring further analysis, including customer acquisition costs.
  

Recommendations:

• Investigate Recent Decline: Conduct a detailed analysis to identify the factors contributing to the decline in loyalty sales over the last four months of 2022. -Analyze Costs: Evaluate customer acquisition and retention costs to ensure a positive ROI.
• Enhance Engagement: Revise and strengthen loyalty program initiatives to reinvigorate customer engagement and return to previous sales trends.
  
  
  

Marketing Strategies

Findings:

• Key Channels: The direct channel is the most successful at acquiring customers (~84K) and generating loyalty signups (~32.9K) but has a moderate conversion rate to loyalty members (39%). The email channel ranks second in customer acquisition (~19K) and has the highest loyalty conversion rate (58%).
• Data Gaps: Marketing channels are unidentified for 82 "unknown" and 1,387 "blank" customers.
  
  

• Other Channels: Despite its low number of orders (2,900) and low loyalty member conversion rate (16%), the affiliate channel consistently achieves the highest AOV. The social media channel has a low number of orders (1,293) but demonstrates consistent AOV year-over-year and strong loyalty conversion performance (50%), second only to email marketing.
  

Recommendations:

• Direct Channel: Focus marketing efforts on promoting products to maximize the large customer base, while deprioritizing loyalty program marketing due to its relatively lower success in converting customers to members.
• Email Channel: Emphasize acquiring more customers while leveraging its high loyalty conversion rate to grow loyalty program participation.
• Affiliate Channel: Shift the focus toward customer acquisition to capitalize on the high AOV, while deprioritizing loyalty program efforts for this channel due to its low conversion performance.
• Social Media Channel: Concentrate marketing efforts on acquiring more loyalty members by leveraging the strong loyalty conversion rate, while exploring strategies to increase overall order volume for better channel performance.
  
  
  

Refund Analysis

Findings:

• Country-Specific: The United Kingdom, Canada, and India have the highest refund rates at 7%, which is 2% higher than the overall average of 5%.
  
  

• High Refund Rates for Specific Laptops: The ThinkPad Laptop has the highest refund rate at 12%, followed closely by the MacBook Air Laptop at 11%.
• Correlation Between AOV and Refund Rates: There is a strong correlation (R-squared = 0.8843) between AOV and refund rates, indicating that higher-priced items are more likely to experience higher refund rates.
  

Recommendations:

• Address High Refund Rates in Key Markets: Investigate the factors contributing to the elevated refund rates in the United Kingdom, Canada, and India to identify region-specific issues and improve customer satisfaction.
• Investigate High Refund Rates for Laptops: Conduct a detailed analysis to identify the reasons for the high refund rates of the ThinkPad Laptop and MacBook Air Laptop and implement measures to address product or service-related issues.
• Explore the AOV-Refund Rate Relationship: Perform further analysis on the correlation between AOV and refund rates to understand the underlying causes and develop strategies to reduce refunds for higher-priced items.
  
  
  

Purchasing Platforms

Findings:

• Website Performance: Total sales experienced significant growth in 2020, increasing by 164%, but then declined by 11% in 2021 and 46% in 2022. Both orders and AOV followed similar trends. Despite these fluctuations, all three metrics ended 2022 at levels higher than those recorded in 2019.
• Mobile App Performance: Total sales and order growth surged in 2020, saw slower growth in 2021, and experienced a sharp decline in 2022. Meanwhile, the AOV consistently dropped from $111 in 2019 to $36 in 2022, indicating a shift toward lower-cost items.
  
  

• Customer Preferences: The mobile app was predominantly used for purchasing lower-cost items, with 98% of Samsung Webcam sales and 43% of Samsung Charging Cable Pack sales made through the app. Higher-value items were primarily purchased through the website, highlighting a clear platform preference based on product value.
  

Recommendations:

• Mobile App Strategy: Focus marketing efforts on lower-value items that align with customer purchase behavior, while expanding the inventory of popular products like the Samsung Charging Cable Pack and Samsung Webcam to maximize their demand.
• Website Strategy: Emphasize high-value items in marketing campaigns, leveraging the website's alignment with premium purchases, and ensure the site provides an optimal experience for customers seeking expensive products.
• Cross-Channel Opportunity: Use cross-promotion to encourage app users to complete higher-value purchases on the website, leveraging exclusive deals or bundles to entice them to explore premium items.
  
  
  

Shipping Performance

Findings:

• Shipping and Delivery Times Shipping times range from 1 to 3 days with an average of 2 days and delivery times range from 5 to 10 days with an average of 7.5 days.
• Refund Analysis: Refunds show no correlation with shipping or delivery times, suggesting that customers are not requesting refunds due to delays.
• Outliers in Orders: Out of 108,124 orders, 41 outliers were identified and excluded. Out of the 41 outliers, 18 orders have shipping dates that precede the purchase date and 23 orders exhibit abnormally long shipping times, ranging from 25 to 1297 days. These outliers represent a small fraction of the dataset and warrant separate analysis to uncover potential data quality issues, specifically related to the purchase date column.
  

Recommendations:

• Addressing Outliers: Investigate the purchase date column for the 18 orders with shipping dates preceding purchase dates to correct data entry or system errors. Analyze the 23 orders with extended shipping times to identify their root cause and determine if system improvements are needed.
• Data Quality Improvements: Implement validation checks to prevent shipping dates from preceding purchase dates. Set thresholds for shipping durations and create alert systems to flag unusually long shipping times.
• Ongoing Monitoring: Continue monitoring the refund process to ensure its independence from shipping and delivery performance, while periodically reviewing and auditing the data for consistency and accuracy to maintain reliability.