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Benchmark performance against a competitor
Benchmark performance against a competitor

A walkthrough that outlines how Almanac can help you understand competitor performance

Matt Taaffe avatar
Written by Matt Taaffe
Updated over a year ago

This article outlines how Almanac can be used to generate an instant report comparing the performance of multiple retail chains.

↳ Who’s this guide for?

This guide is for users working within the strategy and insights function who are involved in competitor analysis.

If you need to have your finger on the pulse of how the market is performing - this guide is for you.


1. Create a Benchmarking Report

Above: The Reports page; the Benchmarking Report is in the center

Start by selecting Reports on the navigation bar. You’re going to create a Benchmarking Report, so click the ‘Create a Report’ button that’s on that report tile (highlighted above).

Above: Searching for a Chain to add to a Benchmarking Report

↳ Select a Chain

A dialog box will appear so that you can make your first selection. Above the map, there are a few options to choose from to help you select a Chain. The three components are:

  • Selection dropdown: Allowing you to switch between Chains and Places.

  • Search box: Allowing you to search for your Chain

  • Group dropdown: Allowing you to specify the location of your analysis

By default, the Selection dropdown will be set to Chains. No need to change this now.

Click the Search box that reads “Search for your selection”. Here you can search for any Chain in our database - so let’s start by adding your company.

Finally, the Group dropdown lets you select the granularity of your analysis. By default, it will provide analysis on the national performance of the Chain, but you can use the Group dropdown to specify a state, city or other group of stores.

Above: Selecting the time frame for a selection

↳ Selecting a time frame

Next you need to pick a time frame. You can either select an individual month or a date range. Click the Data dropdown to select a date range.


2. Add your competitor to the report

Repeat Step 1, selecting a competitor instead of your own company. Once that’s added click ‘Load report’.


3. Compare performance

Above: A Benchmarking Report with Starbucks and Dunkin’ added

The Benchmarking Report will now be generated. The table is broken down into three sections:

  • The Profile section contains information about the categorisation and number of stores of each Chain

  • The Visits section contains information about performance

  • The Visitors section contains information about the customers of each Chain

You can add additional selections (up to five) by clicking the “Add New Selection” button next to the table on the right. You can also edit, duplicate and remove any selections you’ve already added.

💡Tip: If you’d like to edit any selection, including the time frame, location or even changing the Chain completely - click the ⋮ icon and select ‘Edit’. This will open up the selection dialog again.

Above: The Visits section of the Benchmarking report

↳ Visits section

This section lets you get an instant overview of how each Chain compares.

Total visits: The total number of visits across all stores in the time period.

  • Average total visits per store: The average number of visits per store in the time period.

  • Average daily visits: The average number of daily visits across all stores in the time period.

  • Average daily visits per store: The average number of daily visits per store in the time period.

  • Trend: The total number of visits across all stores compared to the previous period.

  • Year-on-year: The total number of visits across all stores compared to the same month in the previous year.

These fields give you a quick insight into how each Chain is performing. It helps contextualize your success against that of the wider market and reveals how each company is trending.

The next section, Visitors, lets you compare the audience of each Chain.


4. Compare customers

Above: The Visitors section of the Benchmarking report

The Visitors section provides an overview of each Chain’s customers.

↳ Visitors section

Here there are five key demographic traits analyzed:

  • Top educational attainment: The highest level of education most commonly completed by visitors.

  • Top household common: The most common household income of visitors.

  • Top age range: The most common age bracket of visitors.

  • Top commute type: The most common mode of transportation of visitors.

  • Top occupation: The most common type of occupation of visitors.

In the first column, there’s an ▿ icon. Clicking here will reveal a detailed breakdown of each trait.

These fields let you see the variance between the visitors of each Chain. By specifying a state or city, you can also see how the visitors change geographically. By changing the time frame, you can see how the visitors have changed over time.


5. Export the report

Above: The Benchmarking Report, exported as a .pdf

If you’d like to share the analysis with your team, you can export the report as a .pdf by clicking the export icon in the top right hand corner.

Above: The Export data dialog box

A new dialog box will open up. Simply enter a name for your file and click ‘Export’ to download the report.


↳ Summary

So now you know how to use Almanac to run a benchmarking analysis against competitors. You’ve learnt how to create a Benchmarking Report, how to compare foot traffic performance between multiple Chains and how to compare the customer bases. Then, once you’ve found something worth sharing, how to export it as a .pdf.

Now you’ve got up-to-date analysis on competitor performance. Great job!

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