Macy’s has been outsmarting the competition based on a three pronged strategy they introduced in 2009, called "MOM". Can you uncover external factors that impact Macy’s revenue growth?

Prize Pool of 12,000 USD.

Objective

Objective is to help uncover external factors that impact Macy’s revenue growth. Factors identified could have impacted the revenue growth of Macy’s between 2009 and 2013 or is seen as something which will impact them in the near future (2014). Solvers are also expected to identify data sources that provide relevant data about the factors for 2009 to 2014.

Solvers are expected to pick at least 3 external factor categories (listed below) or come up with their own and with factors under each.

1. Amazon.com – as a disruptor of brick and mortar retail, all factors pertaining to Amazon that has impacted or is bound to have profound impact on Macy’s revenue
2. Demographics or consumer behaviour shifts – Regional demographic or life-style shifts that impact Macy’s revenue growth
3. Weather, Pandemic or Natural catastrophe5 – Regional weather based factors that impact sales. This will be related to store closure, loss of inventory etc.
4. Competition – Factors related to what competition has been doing and is planning to do in near future that can impact Macy’s revenue growth. Consider only WalMart, Target, JCPenney, Dillard’s, Kohl’s, Nordstrom in the scope
5. Brand or Reputation – Factors impacting the popularity and reputation of Macy’s including their exclusive and private label brands

Guidelines

What to do: Solvers are expected to perform company and industry level research to uncover factors. Factors identified can be regional or non-regional level and can be impacting revenue of any one or more of Macy’s product categories. Solvers are free to use all publicly available sources.

What not to do: Macy’s has been out-smarting the competition and has seen tremendous growth since 2009. They are already in the thick of things embracing the latest technology. In this context, the expectation is not for solvers to come back with what Macy’s has been implementing to aid its growth (as they are already well known). But, if there are risks associated with their efforts, they can be included as external factors.

Deliverable Expectations

The following list will be expected to be delivered in the form of a word document –

• Factor categories that you picked
• External factors (under each factor category) that impact Macy’s revenue
• How to measure the factor and credible data sources to gather data on how factors are trending across years 2009 to 2014 (note that the data sources provided can be a paid or free source)
• Rationale on why you think the factor is a key driver in impacting revenue growth, provide references if appropriate

Prizes

Total prize pool of USD 12,000

• 3 Prizes of USD 1500
• 6 prizes of USD 750
• 6 prizes of USD 500

Submissions that do not meet the evaluation criteria will not be awarded prizes. However, CrowdANALYTIX will provide an opportunity for re-submissions before the submission deadline to allow for improvements that are needed for them to be considered for a prize. Solvers can submit a revised deliverable in order to be considered for a prize in such cases. Prizes will be given out until the prize pool lasts.

Details: https://crowdanalytix.com/contests/research--identify-external-driv...