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ABSTRACT
Given the persistent poor, uncertain economic performance in the print media industry, newspaper distributors are challenged to visualize and leverage data from their various distribution routes and business store points to identify the routes and distribution points along those routes that hold the potential for profitability. This paper analyzes the geographic overview and corresponding data from the prime distribution areas of a newspaper distribution company operating in the major urban corridors of southwestern Pennsylvania and north-central New Jersey regions. Trend line forecasts are then generated to predict sales performances in each area for specific newspaper products. A waterfall model further pinpoints the type of newspaper and product and the best distribution points in the company 's areas of responsibility.
Index Terms-data visualization, newspaper distribution, sales trend line forecasting, seasonality
Introduction
Liberty News Distributors, Inc., founded in 2006, encompasses more than 5,000 national accounts and distributes more than 1,500 titles including domestic newspapers, periodicals and international magazines. Major distribution points include convenience stores, shopping plazas and airports along with more than 300 select independent and chain stores accounts via the FedEx Corp.
Recognizing the need to identify sales opportunities and ongoing positive communication with retailers, distributors and publishers, the company tasked a research team of university students, led by a faculty member, to use data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau and Microsoft Excel) to finetune daily distribution operations that reflect consumer buying behavior of newspaper products and the distribution points at stores they patronize.
This study focuses on distribution of four newspapers in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey market covered by the company: Delco Times, The New York Times, New York Daily Post and New York Daily News.
Literature Review
Distribution and Seasonality
Newspapers have a short time-sensitive life. For national dailies, such as The New York Times and The Daily News, the respective value of each copy is zero the day following its publication. The lifecycle is rapid, as most readers prefer to receive the news before 9 a.m. or whatever time their workday begins, unlike with longer-form media products (e.g., novels, hardbacks, magazines, or other periodicals). These problems have been compounded by large-scale changes in commuting habits of consumers who must contend with heavy traffic volume, especially during the morning hours in major urban areas.