Case Studies: Starbucks, Indigo Airlines

Case studies offer a real-world context to apply Excel dashboarding techniques. By analyzing business scenarios like Starbucks and Indigo Airlines, students can explore how data visualization and dashboard tools drive better insights, efficiency, and decision-making in different industries.

1. Starbucks: Dashboarding Customer Behavior and Sales Trends

Starbucks uses analytics extensively to monitor customer preferences, optimize product placement, and adjust marketing strategies. In this case study:

• Students can work with sales and product data categorized by region, store, and product types.
• Pivot Tables help summarize total sales by city, beverage type, or promotional periods.
• Pivot Charts and Slicers allow comparisons of peak sales hours or seasonal trends.
• Dashboards may include key KPIs like average ticket size, customer frequency, or campaign ROI.

This practical example helps students understand customer-centric analytics and how Excel dashboards enable operational efficiency and strategic planning.

2. Indigo Airlines: Operational Performance and Load Analysis

In the aviation sector, operational data is vast and critical. Indigo Airlines, one of India’s leading low-cost carriers, tracks performance metrics such as:

• Passenger load factor, on-time departures, flight routes, and ticket pricing trends.
• Students can use Excel to build dashboards that visualize month-wise passenger volume or cancellation rates using Pivot Charts.
• Slicers can allow dynamic filtering by flight routes or aircraft type.
• Performance dashboards can show occupancy rates vs. profitability, highlighting areas for improvement.

This case highlights how Excel dashboards assist in managing logistics, customer satisfaction, and cost optimization in a competitive industry.

3. Learning Outcomes Through Case-Based Practice

By building these dashboards, students gain hands-on experience in:

• Cleaning and preparing raw datasets.
• Using Pivot Tables/Charts for summarization.
• Designing interactive dashboards for specific business functions.
• Drawing insights that are actionable and visually clear.

These case studies bridge the gap between theory and application, preparing students for real analytical roles across industries.