The Heavy-Medium-Light Report manual

The heavy, medium, light analysis provides more insights into the purchase of products by customers. We rank customers based on the quantity and divide them into 4 groups.

Since we perform this analysis based on all purchases of a family, these reports are only based on Xtra user.

How do I get started?

Before you start your analysis, it’s important to select two things:

  1. Which period do you want to analyze? Up to 5 years of data is available. You can select the period you want to analyze via the reference month. The selected month is always the last period of your analysis. For example, if you select ‘Dec 2023’, you will get data up until the end of December.

  2. What do you want to analyze? Here you choose which banner you want (Colruyt, Okay or Spar) and which category. It is not possible to select multiple banners, but you can choose multiple categories at the same time using the 'ctrl' key.

Finally, you will find a lot of information on specific topics in the reports on the page, such as: Is Collect&Go included in the figures? What does ‘a unit’ mean?

How do I customize the report?

You can adjust the report in several ways:

  • Filters above the report:
    • Reference Month: This is the same as on the first page. It allows you to easily adjust the last period of your analysis, for example, to look at a year earlier.
    • Length of the Period: You can choose from the last X months, the performance since the beginning of the year (YTD), the performance over the last 12 months (MAT), or choose a period yourself (VARIABLE). In the latter case, you set the period yourself, at the top right of the report.
  • Selection of Products: Click on ‘Select Products’ in the upper left corner. There are 3 levels in the product selection: product group, brand, and product. When you click on a product group or brand, all products that fall under it are included. You can also make multiple selections at the same time by holding down the CTRL or Shift key and then clicking on the product. Once you have made your selection, you can close the product selection screen again by clicking on ‘Select Products’ again. The selection made appears in the left column.

What data is in the report?

We always start the analysis by providing insight into the distribution of customers into groups. We rank customers based on their purchase volume in the relevant period and then divide them into four groups:

  • Outliers: the customers who purchase the most 
  • Heavy customers: buy a lot, but slightly less than the outliers 
  • Medium customers: buy more than a Light customer, but less than a heavy customer 
  • Light customers: buy the least

We aim for the Outliers to make up 1%, the Heavy customers 19%, the Medium customers 30% and the Light customers 50% of the customers. This can vary somewhat, especially with products that customers buy little on an annual basis. If 60% of customers only buy one product, then the Light customers will be 60%.

In addition to the size of the groups, we show what each of these groups represents in volume. You will see that Outliers and Heavy customers together (20% of the buyers) represent a very large part of the volume (often between 60 and 80%).

In addition, we provide more insights into the purchased quantities for the total volume, the volume per trip and the frequency. These KPIs help you determine how to turn a Light customer into a Medium or Heavy customer. Should you mainly focus on frequency, or rather on volume per trip? You can do this by looking at where the differences lie on these KPIs between the different groups.

If you want to see the evolution of all different values, you can click on ‘show benchmark’. You will then see the same period, a year earlier (or the period you have chosen yourself, in the case of a variable period).

Finally, for each of the four groups, you can see if they have a different customer profile. However, keep in mind that families with children often buy more and are often also more represented in the Outliers and Heavy customers.

Do you want some tips & tricks?

Export your insights

All data used in the report can also be downloaded, via pdf, photo, PowerPoint, and Excel (crosstab). You do this via the button at the top right. The Excel option only allows you to export only one chart per download. You have to select from a list of tables which graph you want to download. If you don't know which one to select, you can first click on the chart and then go to download. The correct table is then selected for you, you just have to click on the download button.

Save your filters

Do you have filters that you often use or would you prefer a different selection as a start screen, then you can go to the bottom of the report and click on ‘view original’. There you can give your selection a name and save it. If you want to consult them next time, you can find them just below where you enter the name.

Need extra information

You have doubts about the definition of a KPI or a term used? By clicking on the question mark at the top right of the report, you conjure up a handy overview with information about the methodology, the KPIs, and the terms used in the report.

Select different product groups

You can select products at different levels, you can select the entire category, but also brands or certain products.

Make use of the different periods available

Also play with the period length, to detect if there are big differences between summer and winter.