Utilizing a 2013 grant from Target Foundation, the Retail Marketing Analytics Program implemented a Target Case Study this spring semester where four student teams were given an analytics challenge by Target Corporation. After three weeks allotted to analyze aggregated sales data and answer a number of questions, the students were then invited to the Target Corporate Headquarters in March. The teams were each given approximately fifteen minutes to present their findings and answer basic questions to a panel of judges drawn from Target's Business Intelligence and Analytics group. Following all the presentations, the teams met individually with a couple of the judges to more thoroughly discuss their analysis and insights.
Based on the presentations, a one-page summary, and the in-depth debriefs, the top two teams were chosen. Members of the first place team were Elizabeth Klein, Daniel Steffen, Jennifer Starbuck and Tiana Flores (pictured left to right). Since all the teams did an excellent summary, Target has again invited ReMAP to submit a proposal for another Case Study competition in 2015.
In addition to the competition, all Retail Marketing Analytics students toured the Target corporate headquarters and learned more about new merchandise planning tools during the daylong event.