Homework 2 - Retail analysis of a particular brand in the Boston Area

Author
Affiliations

Esteban Moro

Network Science Institute, Northeastern University

NETS 7983 Computational Urban Science

Published

March 31, 2025

Objective

In this homework, we will investigate the demographics and competition of a particular brand of stores/establishments in the Boston Area. We want to understand:

  1. What are the demographic characteristics of people visiting these stores and their competitors?
  2. How does our particular brand depend on the competitors?

Methodology

Choose a brand

For this project, you have to choose a particular brand and its competitors. For example, here is a table of possible choices

Brand Competitors
Starbucks Dunkin Donuts, Nero, Peet’s Coffee, etc.
Nero Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Peet’s Coffee, etc.
McDonald’s Burger King, Wendy’s, etc.
Walmart Target, Costco, etc.
Star Market Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, etc.
CVS Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc.
… ….

You can choose any brand you like, but it should have multiple locations in the Boston Area. You should also choose at least three competitors for that brand.

Data

Use the Advan data to get the total number of visitors from each census tract to each store in the Boston Area.

Analysis

  1. Market size for each brand: use the Advan data to analyze the total number of visitors to our brand and its competitors in the Boston Area. What is the market share of our brand compared to its competitors?

  2. Customer segmentation and demographics: use the census data to segment the customers of the brand and its competitors. What are the demographic characteristics of the people who visit each store? How do they differ from the demographics of the general population in the area where the store is located? As demographic characteristics, use income at least. You can add some other demographic characteristics if you want.

  3. Impact of competitors:

  • Model the visits to all stores using a Huff model as we did in Lab 12-2.
  • Using this model, simulate the % change in visits to our brand if one of the competitors becomes 10% more popular.
  • What are the competitors that have the most significant impact on our brand?

Submission

The submission should be a Jupyter/Quarto/RMarkdown notebook and must include the following sections:

  • Introduction: A brief introduction to the project/problem, the brand selected, and its competitors.
  • Data: A description of the data you are using and how you are processing it.
  • Market size for each brand: A description of the market size for each brand and the market share of our brand compared to its competitors.
  • Customer segmentation and demographics: A description of the demographic characteristics of the people who visit each store and how they differ from the general population.
  • Impact of competitors: A description of the impact of competitors on our brand and the competitors that have the biggest impact.
  • Discussion: A brief discussion summarizing the main findings of your analysis.

How to submit

  • Produce the report in PDF format
  • Put all your material (PDF + code used, NO DATA!!) in a zip code.
  • Submit your zip code to Canvas.

Deadline: April 7th, 2025, 11:59pm

Grading

Total points available: 50

Component Points
Introduction, City, and Context 5
Data: preparation and preprocess 5
Market size analysis 10
Customer segmentation. 10
Impact of competitors 10
Conclusion 5
Workflow & formatting 5