Which Households Are Increasing Purchase Amounts Over Time?
Are purchase amounts increasing or decreasing over time for any given household? This question can be answered in several ways. The most sophisticated is to define a trend for each household, using the slope of the line that best fits that household’s purchase patterns. Two other methods are also discussed. The first compares the earliest and latest spending values, using a ratio or difference for the comparison. The second uses the average of the earliest few purchases and compares them to the average amount of the last few purchases.
Comparison of Earliest and Latest Values
The first and last purchase values for each household contain information about changes over time. This analysis has two components. The first is calculating the values themselves. The second is deciding how to compare them.
Calculating the Earliest and Latest Values
What is the order amount for the earliest and latest order in each household (that...