Browsing by Author "F., Gerard Shu"

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A Comprehensive Study of Walmart Sales Predictions Using Time Series Analysis
(Sciencedomain International, 2024-06) C., Cyril Neba; F., Gerard Shu; Nsuh, Gillian; A., Philip Amouda; F., Adrian Neba; Webnda, F.; Ikpe, Victory; Orelaja, Adeyinka; Sylla, Nabintou Anissia
This article presents a comprehensive study of sales predictions using time series analysis, focusing on a case study of Walmart sales data. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of various time series forecasting techniques in predicting weekly sales data for Walmart stores. Leveraging a dataset from Kaggle comprising weekly sales data from various Walmart stores around the United States, this study explores the effectiveness of time series analysis in forecasting future sales trends. Various time series analysis techniques, including Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Seasonal Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), Prophet, Exponential Smoothing, and Gaussian Processes, are applied to model and forecast Walmart sales data. By comparing the performance of these models, the study seeks to identify the most accurate and reliable methods for forecasting retail sales, thereby providing valuable insights for improving sales predictions in the retail sector. The study includes an extensive exploratory data analysis (EDA) phase to preprocess the data, detect outliers, and visualize sales trends over time. Additionally, the article discusses the partitioning of data into training and testing sets for model evaluation. Performance metrics such as Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) are utilized to compare the accuracy of different time series models. The results indicate that Gaussian Processes outperform other models in terms of accuracy, with an RMSE of 34,116.09 and an MAE of 25,495.72, significantly lower than the other models evaluated. For comparison, ARIMA and SARIMA models both yielded an RMSE of 555,502.2 and an MAE of 462,767.3, while the Prophet model showed an RMSE of 567,509.2 and an MAE of 474,990.8. Exponential Smoothing also performed well with an RMSE of 555,081.7 and an MAE of 464,110.5. These findings suggest the potential of Gaussian Processes for accurate sales forecasting. However, the study also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each forecasting methodology, emphasizing the need for further research to refine existing techniques and explore novel modeling approaches. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of time series analysis in retail sales forecasting and provides insights for improving future forecasting endeavors.
Advancing Retail Predictions: Integrating Diverse Machine Learning Models for Accurate Walmart Sales Forecasting
(Sciencedomain International, 2024-06) C., Cyril Neba; F., Gerard Shu; Nsuh, Gillian; A., Philip Amouda; F.. Adrian Neba; Webnda, F.; Ikpe, Victory; Orelaja, Adeyinka; Sylla, Nabintou Anissia
In the rapidly evolving landscape of retail analytics, the accurate prediction of sales figures holds paramount importance for informed decision-making and operational optimization. Leveraging diverse machine learning methodologies, this study aims to enhance the precision of Walmart sales forecasting, utilizing a comprehensive dataset sourced from Kaggle. Exploratory data analysis reveals intricate patterns and temporal dependencies within the data, prompting the adoption of advanced predictive modeling techniques. Through the implementation of linear regression, ensemble methods such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting Machines (GBM), eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), this research endeavors to identify the most effective approach for predicting Walmart sales. Comparative analysis of model performance showcases the superiority of advanced machine learning algorithms over traditional linear models. The results indicate that XGBoost emerges as the optimal predictor for sales forecasting, boasting the lowest Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 1226.471, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 1700.981, and an exceptionally high R-squared value of 0.9999900, indicating near-perfect predictive accuracy. This model's performance significantly surpasses that of simpler models such as linear regression, which yielded an MAE of 35632.510 and an RMSE of 80153.858. Insights from bias and fairness measurements underscore the effectiveness of advanced models in mitigating bias and delivering equitable predictions across temporal segments. Our analysis revealed varying levels of bias across different models. Linear Regression, Multiple Regression, and GLM exhibited moderate bias, suggesting some systematic errors in predictions. Decision Tree showed slightly higher bias, while Random Forest demonstrated a unique scenario of negative bias, implying systematic underestimation of predictions. However, models like GBM, XGBoost, and LGB displayed biases closer to zero, indicating more accurate predictions with minimal systematic errors. Notably, the XGBoost model demonstrated the lowest bias, with an MAE of -7.548432 (Table 4), reflecting its superior ability to minimize prediction errors across different conditions. Additionally, fairness analysis revealed that XGBoost maintained robust performance in both holiday and non-holiday periods, with an MAE of 84273.385 for holidays and 1757.721 for non-holidays. Insights from the fairness measurements revealed that Linear Regression, Multiple Regression, and GLM showed consistent predictive performance across both subgroups. Meanwhile, Decision Tree performed similarly for holiday predictions but exhibited better accuracy for non-holiday sales, whereas, Random Forest, XGBoost, GBM, and LGB models displayed lower MAE values for the non-holiday subgroup, indicating potential fairness issues in predicting holiday sales. The study also highlights the importance of model selection and the impact of advanced machine learning techniques on achieving high predictive accuracy and fairness. Ensemble methods like Random Forest and GBM also showed strong performance, with Random Forest achieving an MAE of 12238.782 and an RMSE of 19814.965, and GBM achieving an MAE of 10839.822 and an RMSE of 1700.981. This research emphasizes the significance of leveraging sophisticated analytics tools to navigate the complexities of retail operations and drive strategic decision-making. By utilizing advanced machine learning models, retailers can achieve more accurate sales forecasts, ultimately leading to better inventory management and enhanced operational efficiency. The study reaffirms the transformative potential of data-driven approaches in driving business growth and innovation in the retail sector.