Identifying Shopping Trends using

Data Analysis

A Project Report

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

of

AICTE Internship on AI: Transformative Learning

with

TechSaksham – A joint CSR initiative of Microsoft & SAP

by

Ganesh K J

ganeshjadar2004@gmail.com

Under the Guidance of

Jay Rathod sir

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have supported and guided me
throughout the process of completing this data analysis project on identifying shopping
trends.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Jay Rathod for providing invaluable guidance and
support throughout the project. Their insights and feedback have been essential in shaping
the direction of this work.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to my family and friends for their
encouragement and patience during this project. Their continuous motivation kept me
focused and driven.

Furthermore, I am grateful to the creators and maintainers of the dataset, which provided me
with a rich source of information and was crucial for my analysis.

Finally, I acknowledge the contributions of the various online communities and resources,
which provided tutorials and solutions to help me navigate through challenges, especially as
I worked with Python, pandas, and data visualization techniques.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this project a success.

 ABSTRACT

This project focuses on analyzing shopping trends to identify patterns and insights that could
help businesses improve their marketing strategies and customer engagement. The primary
objective is to examine how various factors such as customer demographics, product
categories, payment methods, and seasonality affect purchase behaviors. Using data analysis
techniques, the project aims to uncover meaningful trends that can aid in decision-making
processes for businesses in the retail sector.

The methodology for this analysis includes the use of Python’s data manipulation library,
pandas, to clean and process the dataset, followed by the application of various data
visualization tools such as bar charts and pie charts to represent the findings. Several
questions were explored, including customer purchase behavior based on location, age,
payment methods, and the impact of discounts and seasons on purchasing trends.

Key results of the analysis revealed that certain locations show higher purchase amounts,
while popular product categories such as clothing dominate the sales data. The analysis also
found that customers who applied discounts tended to spend more, and that review ratings
varied significantly across different product categories. Additionally, customer purchase
frequency exhibited patterns based on payment methods and seasons.

In conclusion, this project highlights the power of data analytics in understanding shopping
trends and provides actionable insights for businesses looking to optimize their product
offerings and marketing strategies. By leveraging the findings, companies can better align
their operations with customer preferences, ultimately enhancing their profitability and
customer satisfaction.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Abstract ........................................................................................................... I

Chapter 1. Introduction ..................................................................................... 1

1.1 Problem Statement ............................................................................ 1
1.2 Motivation ......................................................................................... 2
1.3 Objectives.......................................................................................... 3
1.4. Scope of the Project.......................................................................... 4
Chapter 2. Literature Survey ......................................................................... 5-7
Chapter 3. Proposed Methodology ............................................................... 8-15
Chapter 4. Implementation and Results .................................................... 16-21
Chapter 5. Discussion and Conclusion ...................................................... 22-24
References ............................................................................................................. 25
 LIST OF FIGURES

Page
Figure No. Figure Caption
No.

Figure 1 Top Selling Categories 21

Figure 2 Distribution of Payment Methods 21

Figure 3 Average Purchase Amount by Age Group 22

Figure 4 Total Purchase Amount by Product Category 22

Figure 5 The Average Review Rating for each Product Category 23

Correlation Between Previous Purchases and Current Purchase
Figure 6 23
Amount
Figure 7 Distribution of Shipping Types Selected by Customers 24

Figure 8 Total Purchase Amount by Seasons 24

Figure 9 Distribution of Customer Ages 25
Figure 10 Correlation Between Customer Age and Purchase Amount 25

Figure 11 Purchase Frequency by Payment Method 26

Figure 12 Average Review Rating by Product Category 26

Figure 13 Distribution of Previous Purchases 27

Figure 14 Breakdown of Customers by Subscription Status 27

Figure 15 Effect of Discount on Purchase Amount 28
Figure 16 Total Purchase Amount by Location 28
Figure 17 Top 10 Most Common Products Purchased 29

Figure 18 Payment Method vs Frequency of Purchases 29

Figure 19 Average Review Rating by Product Category 30

Figure 20 Purchase Frequency by Seasons 30

 LIST OF TABLES

Page
Table. No. Table Caption
No.
1 Chapter 1 : Introduction 01-04
1.1 Problem Statement 01
1.2 Motivation 02
1.3 Objectives 03
1.4 Scope of Project 04
2 Chapter 2 : Literature Survey 05-07
2.1 Reviewing relevant literature or previous work in this domain 05
Existing models, techniques or methodologies related to
2.2 06
problem
Highlighting gaps or limitations in existing solution and
2.3 07
solution for them
3 Chapter 3 : Proposed Methodology 08-15
3.1 System Design 08-12
3.1.1 Sequence diagram 08
3.1.2 Component diagram 09
3.1.3 Class diagram 10
3.1.4 Use case diagram 11
3.1.5 Deployment diagram 12
3.2 Requirement Specification 13-15
4 Chapter 4 : Implementation and Results 16-31
4.1 Snap shots and Result 16-30
4.2 GitHub link for Code 31
5 Chapter 5 : Discussion and Conclusion 32.34
5.1 Future Works 32-33
5.2 Conclusion 34
References 35
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction

1.1 Problem Statement:

In today’s rapidly evolving retail landscape, understanding consumer behavior is
essential for businesses to optimize their marketing strategies, enhance customer
engagement, and improve sales performance. However, many businesses lack the tools
and methodologies to extract meaningful insights from the large volumes of data they
collect. This project addresses the problem of identifying and analyzing shopping trends
based on various customer-related factors such as demographics, product categories,
payment methods, and purchase frequency. By conducting a comprehensive data
analysis, we aim to provide insights that can help businesses understand the factors
driving consumer purchase decisions and improve their overall business strategies.

Understanding these trends is crucial as it enables businesses to better cater to customer

needs, optimize inventory, and personalize marketing efforts, ultimately improving
customer satisfaction and revenue generation.

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1.2 Motivation :
This project was chosen due to the growing importance of data-driven decision-making
in the retail industry. With the rise of e-commerce and the increasing reliance on digital
platforms, businesses need to adapt by leveraging data analytics to make informed
decisions. By identifying shopping trends, businesses can fine-tune their marketing
strategies, predict consumer behavior, and offer tailored product recommendations.

The potential applications of this project are far-reaching. Retailers can use the insights
to understand which products are popular, which locations generate the highest sales,
and which payment methods customers prefer. Moreover, by analyzing the relationship
between discounts, seasonality, and purchase behavior, businesses can optimize
promotions and sales strategies. The impact of this project could help businesses stay
competitive and increase customer loyalty in an ever-changing marketplace.

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1.3 Objective:
The objectives of this project are as follows:

1. To analyze the shopping trends of customers based on various factors such as age,
location, product category, payment methods, and review ratings.

2. To identify patterns in customer purchase behavior and its relationship with

seasonality, frequency of purchases, and promotional offers.

3. To use data visualization techniques such as bar charts and pie charts to present the
results in a clear and actionable manner.

4. To provide actionable insights that can help businesses enhance their marketing
strategies, improve customer engagement, and optimize sales performance.

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1.4 Scope of the Project:
This project focuses on the analysis of a dataset containing information on customer
demographics, purchase behavior, product categories, and payment methods. The
analysis covers various aspects of customer shopping behavior, including purchase
frequency, product preferences, and spending patterns. The primary scope of the project
is to analyze the data and identify trends that can provide valuable insights for businesses
in the retail industry.

However, there are certain limitations to the project. First, the dataset used in the analysis
may not be fully representative of all customer demographics, as it may only reflect a
specific subset of the population. Additionally, the analysis is limited to the factors
available in the dataset, such as product categories and payment methods. Further
research could explore additional factors or conduct a more granular analysis to include
a broader range of customer behaviors and market segments.

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 CHAPTER 2
Literature Survey

2.1 Reviewing of Relevant Literature or Previous Work in This

Domain:

In recent years, the field of consumer behavior analysis has gained significant attention
from both academics and businesses. Many studies have focused on understanding
consumer purchasing decisions through data analytics and machine learning models.
According to a study by Kumar et al. (2020), businesses can benefit from analyzing
large volumes of consumer data to derive actionable insights related to purchasing
behavior, preferences, and spending patterns. By leveraging techniques like clustering,
classification, and regression, businesses can improve customer segmentation, optimize
marketing campaigns, and enhance sales performance.
In the realm of shopping trends, various studies have explored factors influencing
purchase behavior, such as product type, price sensitivity, and demographic factors.
Research by Smith and Tan (2019) highlighted that seasonal promotions, discounts,
and personalized product recommendations significantly affect consumer spending
behavior. Additionally, a report by PwC (2021) emphasized the growing importance of
digital payment methods and their influence on consumer preferences in the e-
commerce sector.
Several research papers have also discussed the application of data visualization
techniques in understanding shopping trends. For example, a study by Zhou et al.
(2018) demonstrated the effectiveness of bar charts, pie charts, and scatter plots in
presenting shopping data to uncover key patterns, such as the most popular products
and preferred payment methods.

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2.2 Existing Models, Techniques, or Methodologies Related to the
Problem:

Existing models in the field of shopping trends often involve data preprocessing,
statistical analysis, and machine learning techniques to identify key purchasing
patterns. These include:
1. Clustering Algorithms: Techniques like K-means and DBSCAN have been widely
used to group customers based on their shopping behavior, such as spending habits,
preferred product categories, and purchase frequency. These models help
businesses understand different customer segments.
2. Market Basket Analysis: Techniques like association rule mining (e.g., Apriori) are
used to identify frequently co-purchased items. This method helps businesses
optimize product placement and cross-selling opportunities.
3. Predictive Analytics: Regression models and time series forecasting techniques
have been applied to predict future purchase behavior based on historical data.
These models help businesses forecast demand and plan inventory accordingly.
4. Sentiment Analysis: Analyzing customer reviews and feedback using Natural
Language Processing (NLP) techniques can help businesses understand customer
satisfaction and preferences, which are vital in shaping product offerings and
marketing strategies.
The use of data visualization tools like Python’s matplotlib and seaborn libraries has
become an essential part of analyzing and presenting shopping trends. These tools help
present complex data in an intuitive manner, allowing businesses to make informed
decisions based on visual insights.

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2.3 Highlighting the Gaps or Limitations in Existing Solutions and
How Your Project Will Address Them:

Despite the extensive work in the domain of shopping trends analysis, there are certain
gaps and limitations in existing solutions:
1. Limited Focus on Seasonal Trends: While several studies focus on customer
demographics and spending habits, fewer explore the specific impact of seasons,
promotions, and discounts on purchasing behavior. This project intends to fill this
gap by analyzing how different seasons and promotional offers influence customer
spending across various product categories.
2. Lack of a Holistic View of Multiple Factors: Many existing models focus on one
specific aspect of shopping behavior, such as payment methods or product
preferences. However, there is limited research on combining multiple factors—
such as age, location, product category, payment method, and review rating—into a
single analysis. This project will address this by conducting a multi-faceted analysis
of shopping trends using various demographic and transactional data points.
3. Insufficient Use of Data Visualization for Business Insights: While data
visualization is widely used, many studies focus on technical or statistical results,
often overlooking the value of presenting insights in an accessible format for
decision-makers. This project will emphasize the use of clear and concise
visualizations (e.g., bar charts, pie charts) to present actionable insights that
businesses can use to optimize their strategies.
4. Dataset Limitations: Many existing analyses use publicly available datasets that
may not represent the full spectrum of consumer behavior. This project will address
this limitation by using a more comprehensive dataset that includes various
customer attributes, product types, and purchase behaviors, which can provide a
more accurate representation of shopping trends.
By addressing these gaps, this project will provide a more comprehensive
understanding of shopping trends and offer actionable insights that businesses can
apply to enhance customer experience and drive sales growth.

pg. 7
 CHAPTER 3
Proposed Methodology

3.1 System Design

3.1.1 Sequence diagram

Explanation:
1. Customer provides purchase data to the Data Collection system.
2. The Data Collection component sends the data to Data Analysis.
3. The Data Analysis component performs the analysis, such as identifying purchase
trends and customer behavior.
4. The analysis results are sent to Data Visualization, which generates charts (e.g., bar
and pie charts).
5. The Business Insights component receives visual insights and provides them to the
Customer, showing actionable results.

pg. 8
3.1.2 Component diagram

Explanation:
• The Data Collection component collects the data and passes it to Data Analysis.
• Data Analysis analyzes the data and sends results to Data Visualization.
• Data Visualization presents the insights visually and sends them to the Business
Insights component.
• Customer Database stores customer information for analysis.
• Reporting System generates detailed reports based on the business insights.

pg. 9
3.1.3 Class diagram

Explanation:
• The Customer class represents customers with attributes like customerID, name, and
email. It has a method to retrieve the purchase history.
• The Purchase class represents each purchase with attributes like purchaseID,
amount, and relationships with both Customer and Product.
• The Product class represents products with attributes like productID, name, and
price.

pg. 10
3.1.4 Use Case diagram

Explanation:
• Customer can provide purchase data and view shopping trends.
• Business Analyst can analyze trends, visualize data, and generate reports based on
the insights.

pg. 11
3.1.5 Deployment diagram

Explanation:
• Client Device runs the Web Application, which interacts with the server.
• Server hosts the components responsible for data collection, analysis, visualization,
and reporting.

pg. 12
3.2 Requirement Specification

3.2.1 Hardware Requirements:

1. Processor:
• Minimum: Intel Core i3 or equivalent.
• Recommended: Intel Core i5 or higher for faster processing, especially if
handling large datasets.

2. RAM:
• Minimum: 8 GB of RAM.
• Recommended: 16 GB of RAM to ensure smoother performance,
especially when performing large-scale data analysis and running
complex visualizations.

3. Storage:
• Minimum: 256 GB HDD.
• Recommended: 512 GB SSD for faster data retrieval and quicker
processing times, especially when working with large datasets.

4. Graphics:
• Integrated graphics (Intel HD or similar) should be sufficient for
generating visualizations and charts. However, if more intensive
graphical outputs are required, consider a dedicated GPU.

5. Networking:
• Basic internet connectivity for cloud access and data updates (if
applicable), as well as for retrieving datasets if needed.

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3.2.2 Software Requirements:

1. Operating System:
• Windows 10 (as per your setup), or macOS and Linux can also be used, but the
project has been tailored for Windows 10.

2. Development Environment:
• IDE: Visual Studio Code (VS Code) for writing the code.
• Text Editor: VS Code itself acts as both an editor and IDE, but you can also use
Notepad++ or Sublime Text for basic editing.
• Jupyter Notebook: To create and run Python scripts interactively and generate graphs
and charts.
• Anaconda: A Python distribution that helps manage packages, dependencies, and
environments (especially useful for data analysis projects).

3. Programming Languages:
• Python 3 : The primary language for data analysis, statistics, and scripting.
o Libraries:
▪ Pandas: For data manipulation and analysis.
▪ NumPy: For numerical operations and handling arrays.
▪ Matplotlib & Seaborn: For generating visualizations like bar charts,
pie charts, etc.
▪ SciPy: For scientific and technical computing.
▪ Scikit-learn (optional): For machine learning (if you plan to
implement any predictive models or clustering in the future).
▪ Plotly or Bokeh (optional): For interactive visualizations.

pg. 14
4. Database:
• SQLite (as mentioned in your project) or PostgreSQL (if you decide to switch in
the future for more advanced features).
5. Version Control System:
• Git: For version control, ensuring proper management of your project code.
• GitHub or GitLab: For hosting your project repository online and collaborating (if
needed).

6. Data Visualization Tools:

• Matplotlib: A basic library for plotting static graphs (e.g., bar charts, pie charts).
• Seaborn: For more advanced statistical visualizations and improving the aesthetics
of charts.
• Plotly: If you require interactive charts or web-based dashboards.
• Tableau or Power BI (optional): These are powerful tools for creating interactive
dashboards and visualizing data in a more business-friendly way.

7. Web Framework (optional):

• Flask or Django: If you want to extend the project to a web application. Since your
project is based on analysis, this step would be optional unless you want to provide
a user interface for interacting with the results.

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 CHAPTER 4
Implementation and Result

4.1 Snap Shots of Result:

4.1.1 Showing the First few rows of Dataset

4.1.2 The average purchase amount for each age group

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4.1.3 Total purchase amount for each product category

pg. 17
4.1.4 The average review rating for each product category

pg. 18
4.1.5 Scatter plot shows the correlation between previous purchases and current
spending

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4.1.6 Pie chart showing the distribution of shipping types selected by customers

pg. 20
Result Figures :

Figure 1 : Top Selling Categories

Figure 2 : Distribution of Payment Methods

pg. 21
Figure 3 : Average Purchase Amount by Age Group

Figure 4 : Total Purchase Amount by Product Category

pg. 22
Figure 5 : The average review rating for each product category

Figure 6 : Correlation between Previous Purchases and Current Purchases Amount

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Figure 7 : Distribution of Shopping Types Selected by Customers

Figure 8 : Total Purchase Amount by Season

pg. 24
Figure 9 : Distribution of Customer Ages

Figure 10 : Correlation Between Customer Age and Purchase Amount

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Figure 11 : Purchase Frequency by Payment Method

Figure 12 : Average Review Rating by Product Category

pg. 26
Figure 13 : Distribution of Previous Purchases

Figure 14 : Breakdown of Customer by Subscription Status

pg. 27
Figure 15 : Effect of Discount on Purchase Amount

Figure 16 : Total Purchase Amount by Location

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Figure 17 : Top 10 Most Common Products Purchased

Figure 18 : Payment Method vs Frequency of Purchases

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Figure 19 : Average Review Rating by Product Category

Figure 20 : Purchase Frequency by Season

pg. 30
4.2 GitHub Link for Code :

https://github.com/ganeshjadar2004/Identifying_Shopping_Trend.ipynb

pg. 31
 CHAPTER 5
Discussion and Conclusion

5.1 Future Work:

While the project successfully identifies shopping trends and provides insightful
visualizations, there are several areas where it can be expanded and improved:

1. Integration with Machine Learning Models :

• Incorporating machine learning algorithms to predict future shopping

trends based on historical data.
• Clustering customers into segments based on purchasing patterns using
techniques like K-Means or hierarchical clustering.

2. Interactive Dashboards :

• Building interactive dashboards using tools like Plotly Dash, Tableau, or

Power BI to allow users to explore data dynamically.

3. Expanded Dataset:

• Incorporating larger datasets from multiple sources, such as e-commerce

platforms or retail stores, to make the analysis more robust.
• Including additional attributes like product ratings, seasonal trends, and
promotional campaigns for more comprehensive insights.

pg. 32
4. Web Application or Mobile App Integration:

• Developing a user-friendly web or mobile application to present the

analysis results to end users.
• Allowing users to upload their own datasets for on-the-fly analysis.

5. Real-Time Analysis:

• Implementing real-time data analysis for dynamic insights, especially for

businesses aiming to adjust strategies instantly.
• Integration with cloud services like AWS or Azure for scalable real-time
processing.

6. Addressing Limitations:

• Handling missing or incomplete data more effectively using advanced

imputation techniques.
• Exploring ways to reduce biases in the dataset for fair and balanced
analysis.

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5.2 Conclusion:

The project on identifying shopping trends has demonstrated the potential of data
analysis in understanding customer behaviors and preferences. By leveraging tools like
Python, Pandas, and Matplotlib, the project successfully extracted valuable insights from
a sample dataset, including:

1. Identifying purchasing patterns by age group and gender.

2. Highlighting seasonal trends in product categories.
3. Analyzing regional preferences and their impact on purchase decisions.
4. Evaluating customer feedback and review ratings to understand product satisfaction.

The project emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making in the retail

industry. These insights can help businesses optimize their inventory, personalize
marketing campaigns, and improve customer satisfaction.

However, there is room for improvement, as outlined in the future work section. By
incorporating machine learning models, interactive dashboards, and real-time analysis,
this project can evolve into a comprehensive tool for businesses to stay competitive in
the market.

In conclusion, this project serves as a strong foundation for further exploration of

shopping trends and offers practical applications for retail businesses, marketing
analysts, and data enthusiasts. It highlights the transformative impact of data analysis in
driving business growth and customer-centric strategies.

pg. 34
 REFERENCES

1. Pandas Documentation:
https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/

2. Matplotlib Documentation:
https://matplotlib.org/

3. Kaggle Datasets:
https://www.kaggle.com/

4. Python for Data Analysis by Wes McKinney.

5. Seaborn Documentation:
https://seaborn.pydata.org/

6. Towards Data Science Blog:

https://towardsdatascience.com/

7. Stack Overflow:
https://stackoverflow.com/

8. Anaconda Documentation:
https://docs.anaconda.com/

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