Using Market Research Data aqa

Interpreting market research data

• Once market research has been gathered, it is often fed into a spreadsheet or database

• This information is then used to generate a meaningful presentation of the data

• A good presentation of the data in graph or chart form, makes it easier for the intended audience to understand it

Types of graphs and charts

1. Tables

• Tables summarise data in an organised form

• The table shows that:

  • Flashmaster generates the highest sales in each period

  • Sales of LumoLens are lower at the end of the year than at the start of the year

2. Bar charts

• Bar charts show data that is independent of each other, such as sales per store or category sales

• The bar chart shows that:

  • The top two categories have increased since 2016

  • The bottom three categories have all decreased, with DVD/Blueray in-store rentals falling the most

3. Pie charts 

• Pie charts show how a whole is divided into different elements, such as:

  • The total business sales divided among different product types it sells

  • The market share different competitors have

• The pie chart shows that:

  • iPhones were the product which generated the highest value of sales revenue at 54%

  • Mac sales represent one fifth of the value of iPhone sales

4. Infographics 

• Infographics are easy-to-understand visual representations of data

• The infographic shows:

  • Mars has 140,000 associates

  • Mars is still a privately owned family company

  • Mars generated $45B in net sales

Market size and market share

• Market size can be measured through sales volume  or sales value

  • Sales volume is the number of products sold

    • E.g. The number of chocolate bars sold

  • Sales revenue = price x quantity sold

    • E.g. The total financial value of chocolate bars sold

• The market share that a business enjoys is the proportion of the total sales of its product(s) compared to the market as a whole, e.g. Tesco has 26% of the UK grocery market

• Market Share can be calculated using the formula

<img alt=”Market space share space equals space fraction numerator Sales space of space straight a space business over denominator Total space sales space in space the space market end fraction space cross times space 100″ data-mathml=”<math style=”font-family:Arial” ><semantics><mstyle mathsize=”14px”><mi>Market</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>share</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mo>=</mo><mo>&#160;</mo><mfrac><mrow><mi>Sales</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>of</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi mathvariant=”normal”>a</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>business</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>Total</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>sales</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>in</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>the</mi><mo>&#160;</mo><mi>market</mi></mrow></mfrac><mo>&#160;</mo><mo>&#215;</mo><mo>&#160;</mo><mn>100</mn></mstyle><annotation encoding=”application/vnd.wiris.mtweb-params+json”>{“fontFamily”:”Times New Roman”,”fontSize”:”18″,”autoformat”:true,”toolbar”:”<toolbar ref=’general’><tab ref=’general’><removeItem ref=’setColor’/><removeItem ref=’bold’/><removeItem ref=’italic’/><removeItem ref=’autoItalic’/><removeItem ref=’setUnicode’/>&lt