DoorDash Customer Retention Project

I recently found myself binge-watching the Netflix show Love is Blind, and it got me thinking about relationships—both personal and
commercial. Just like finding your soulmate, businesses often have customers who float between casual encounters and a serious
commitment. In this article, I’ll share my recent project analyzing DoorDash customer behavior, particularly focusing on loyal customers versus those who are in a “situationship.” My goal is to uncover ways to turn those “fence-sitting” customers into devoted fans of DoorDash!

Background

For this analysis, I worked with a dataset of iFood customers taken
from GitHub. It contained 2,206 rows, representing 2,205 unique
customers, and included 38 columns with essential information about demographics, spending habits, and product preferences. This dataset proved suitable because it allowed me to segment customers effectively and understand the nuances of their behaviors.The original dataset can be found here 👉 Dataset

Analysis

I kicked off my analysis with data cleaning to ensure everything was accurate and usable. I employed Excel for various tasks such as data aggregation and visualization—creating scatter plots and column charts to illustrate findings. The advanced formulas I used—like IF
statements and PERCENTRANK.EXC—helped me categorize customers based on their spending behavior.Using Tableau, I explored the different customer segments. I compared loyal customers to at-risk customers by analyzing variables like age, income, and the impact of advertising. I also employed RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) analysis to segment customers effectively. One enlightening realization was that sometimes, the revenue isn’t everything; the loyalty of older generations, for example, offers a long-term relationship that can be more valuable than chasing the latest trends.

RFM Treemap
This chart allowed me to segment customers by frequency and
monetary value. It became clear that loyal customers often spent more
frequently, highlighting the importance of nurturing these
relationships.

Sankey Table
This visual helped me pinpoint customer journeys, showing how they
moved between different levels of loyalty. It was fascinating to see
the flow from at-risk to loyal categories, indicating potential
strategies for re-engaging customers.

Conclusion

Through my analysis, I discovered critical insights that businesses
like DoorDash should consider to strengthen their customer
relationships:- Nurturing Loyalty: It’s clear that loyal customers contribute
significantly to long-term profits. Hence, building programs that
reward these customers could help maintain their loyalty and encourage
them to spend even more.- Targeting At-Risk Customers: Customers who fit into a
“situationship” need tailored strategies. Creating personalized offers
based on their preferences could entice them to engage more fully with
the service.- Generational Engagement: Understanding the demographics of your
customer base is key. While younger customers may be affordable in
terms of advertising, it’s essential to balance efforts with catering
to the established loyalty seen in older customers.- Evolving Marketing Strategies: As trends change, businesses
should adapt their marketing campaigns to fit the medium their
customers prefer. These could include engaging social media campaigns
or appealing email newsletters targeting loyal customers, emphasizing
long-term benefits rather than short-lived promotions.If you enjoyed reading this. Please connect with me on LinkedIn. I'll be posting more like it. This project was done as part of the DAA Boot Camp Projects. Educational purpose.