Retail Case Study
Let’s start with a brief description of the retail business used in this case study. We begin with this industry simply because it is one we are all familiar with. But the patterns discussed in the context of this case study are relevant to virtually every dimensional model regardless of the industry.
Imagine you work in the headquarters of a large grocery chain. The business has 100 grocery stores spread across five states. Each store has a full complement of departments, including grocery, frozen foods, dairy, meat, produce, bakery, floral, and health/beauty aids. Each store has approximately 60,000 individual products, called stock keeping units (SKUs), on its shelves.
Data is collected at several interesting places in a grocery store. Some of the most useful data is collected at the cash registers as customers purchase products. The point-of-sale (POS) system scans product barcodes at the cash register, measuring consumer takeaway at the front door of the...