Case study 03

Global Superstore: a profit brief for the CEO

Tools Power BI, DAX Dataset Global Superstore (Kaggle), 51,000 rows, 24 columns Deliverables Four-page dashboard, six-slide deck, exec summary, README

The question

Revenue is not the same as profit. Framed as a briefing for a chief executive: where in this global retail business is profit actually made and lost, and which levers, discounting, delivery performance, product mix, deserve attention first?

Approach

A four-page Power BI report structured as a drill-down: an executive overview page first, then dedicated pages that decompose profit by segment, examine the relationship between discount bands and margin, and test how delivery time relates to outcomes. DAX measures drive the KPIs, and the companion deck pairs each dashboard page with a business question, the finding, and the recommendation, so the numbers are never presented without their so-what. Superstore deck · exec summary

What it demonstrates

Executive reporting, not just dashboarding

The project is deliberately framed as a document a CEO would receive: one page of headline KPIs, then evidence pages behind each claim. Every figure on the deck is matched against the dashboard before publication. Superstore deck

Discounts above 30% run a -51.27% profit margin

The discount-band analysis shows profit margin falling from 25.32% on undiscounted orders to -5.53% at 20 to 30 percent discount and -51.27% above 30 percent, where discounting stops being a growth lever and becomes the leak. Superstore dashboard · Discount Strategy

$920.65K of profit destroyed by unprofitable orders

30.12% of orders lose money. The loss concentrates in Tables and Furniture, and the Central region alone accounts for $202K of losses, which points spending controls at specific sub-categories and regions rather than across the board. Superstore dashboard · Profit Leakage

Dashboard

Customer and operational performance: segment profit, shipping methods, top customers
Customer and operational performance: segment profit, shipping methods, top customers
Profit leakage diagnosis: which sub-categories, regions, and products destroy profit
Profit leakage diagnosis: which sub-categories, regions, and products destroy profit
Discount strategy effectiveness: profit margin by discount band
Discount strategy effectiveness: profit margin by discount band

Artifacts