How do I respond to Matthew's post and ask a question:

Hello class,

The common methods that are used in business intelligence to analyze data and present findings related to the state of business for Starbucks include descriptive analytics, diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics, data visualization, and online analytical processing.

Descriptive analytics is used to summarize historical data, such as menu trends and drink/food patterns. Starbucks is able to use this to examine seasonal beverage trends, such as their pumpkin spice latte, by looking at customer visits by location. By determining trends, Starbucks is able to plan for staffing and inventory needs.

Diagnostic analytics examines data in an effort to determine why something happened, such as a drop in customer visits, staffing issues, and changes in customer preferences. Starbucks is able to look at each store's data and determine what the root cause may be and then work on making the correct changes.

Predictive analytics uses machine learning and statistics to forecast future outcomes, which Starbucks can use to forecast customer demand, predict the popularity of new products, and make supplier logistics more efficient.

Prescriptive analytics recommends actions that are based upon data insights, which Starbucks uses to recommend optimal scheduling, competitor pricing, and predicted customer behavior, such as how customers will respond to promotions and loyalty rewards.

Data visualization shows graphed data that highlights patterns, which Starbucks uses to monitor KPIs such as sales and inventory.

Online Analytical Processing gives the ability to interact with data from different perspectives. Starbucks is able to use certain pieces of data, such as product categories, which assist in identifying gaps in performance and customer opportunities.

As for which method I consider as the best for a business to utilize, I would say the Predictive Analytics, as its used to make forecast in trends and customer behavior. This can be effective when planning for inventory and product demands.

The method that is least effective is Online Analytical Processing. This method can be considered very time consuming and could potentially create errors if the person analyzing the data makes errors due to interpreting the data wrong.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/28/starbucks-using-big-data-analytics-and-artificial-intelligence-to-boost-performance/

https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/definition/business-intelligence-BI

-Matthew