As noted in the introduction to this chapter, managing inventory for retailers is a complex activity to handle. Holidays, special events, and markdowns can have a significant impact on how a store performs and, in turn, how a department within a store performs.
The Kaggle dataset contains historical sales for 45 stores, with each store belonging to a specific type (location and performance) and size. The retailer runs several promotional markdowns throughout the year. These markdowns precede holidays, such as SuperBowl, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
