Midea uses Tableau to uncover new opportunities for growth
More than US$10 million in sales gained in a span of three months from new accounts identified with the help of Tableau
Data literacy has increased with employees able to visualize and make sense of their data
Midea has increased insight into areas of improvement and expansion
Established in 1968, Midea is a publicly listed Fortune 500 home appliance company. The company’s brand promise is to ‘provide surprisingly-friendly solutions for the ones who treasure those tiny moments at home’. These solutions range from air treatment, refrigeration, laundry, large cooking and other kitchen appliances to floor care and lighting—making Midea’s product portfolio one of the most comprehensive in its industry.
Midea is headquartered in Southern China, but is a truly global company with more than 100,000 employees and operations in more than 200 countries. The company also works with retailers globally to take its products to market and it has adopted Tableau to analyze data from these retailers. The insights gained help Midea identify opportunities for improvement and expansion and have led to millions of dollars in sales.
I believe Tableau will be at the forefront and leading the charge into a future where data analytics is the necessity and where AI and machine learning are able to generate the analysis we need automatically.
Identifying ideal customers
In the past, Midea analyzed data using spreadsheets, but those not experienced with data analytics found the results hard to comprehend. The company turned to Tableau to make it easier for employees to understand their data, regardless of their previous experience or understanding of data and analytics. In particular, Midea wanted to identify opportunities to expand its retail footprint.It also wanted more insight into customer and competitor trends so that it could improve its product line and better cater to customer needs.
Midea partnered with Oak Consulting to implement Tableau and leveraged their expertise to build dashboards and visualize data in the best way possible. Some of the dashboards created help Midea visualize the data received from retail stores so that it can understand market penetration rates and make better decisions about where to expand. Midea has also used Tableau to create a target list of ideal customers and monitor the progress made by the sales team.
The ability to prioritize high potential customers has been especially important during the pandemic, given the difficulty in traveling and the need to ensure there are no wasted trips.
The strategy has proved successful as well with Midea gaining more than US$10 million in sales in three months, all from new accounts on its target list.
Driving competitive advantage
Data is now helping Midea shape its product strategy and increase its competitive advantage. For example, the company has dashboards that allow it to better understand customers’ purchasing habits and what product features are most in demand. It also has dashboards that help it identify market changes more quickly and price products more competitively. Midea is now in the process of working with Oak Consulting to build new dashboards which would increase the number of employees using Tableau to understand their data.
In the future, Midea sees data analytics being a basic requirement for decision making—especially with all of the data being collected through IoT applications.
“I believe Tableau will be at the forefront and leading the charge into a future where data analytics is the necessity and where AI and machine learning are able to generate the analysis we need automatically,” said Yeo Luo Han, Channel Management Specialist, APAC, Midea.
