Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst AssociateVisualize and analyze the dataHard
A retail company is analyzing customer purchase patterns to identify products frequently bought together. The goal is to recommend complementary products to customers, thereby increasing sales. The analyst needs to visualize the relationships between products in a way that highlights co-occurrence. Which analytical approach and corresponding Power BI visual would be most appropriate for this task?
- ATime series analysis with a Line chart.
- BClustering analysis with a Scatter plot matrix.
- CRegression analysis with a Scatter chart.
- DMarket Basket Analysis with a Network or Sankey diagram.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Market Basket Analysis with a Network or Sankey diagram.
The scenario describes a classic Market Basket Analysis problem, which aims to find associations between items in transactions. A Network diagram or Sankey diagram are effective visuals for showing these co-occurrence relationships and flows between products.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Time series analysis focuses on trends over time, not product co-occurrence.
- B. Clustering analysis groups similar data points, which is different from identifying frequently co-purchased items.
- C. Regression analysis models relationships between variables for prediction, not direct co-occurrence visualization.
Market Basket Analysis
Market Basket Analysis is a data mining technique used to discover relationships between items in large datasets, typically transaction data. It identifies products that customers frequently buy together, often expressed as association rules (e.g., 'If A is bought, then B is also bought').
- Identifies co-occurring items in transactions.
- Uses metrics like Support, Confidence, Lift.
- Commonly visualized with Network or Sankey diagrams, or matrix visuals.
Memory trick: Baskets of products, connections they show, a network of buys, watch your sales grow.