Benchmark Report
Release 9.3 Last modified July 7, 2009	Print all topics in : "Reports - general"

About the Benchmark Report

The Benchmark Report allows you to compare multiple trade areas against one another to decipher how different or similar one location is versus the next. You can easily measure the demographic characteristics of one area versus all other areas. The report shows statistical differences in raw number, percent, and index values.

Example of the Benchmark Report

This example shows a Benchmark Report exported directly to Excel format. Business Analyst automatically adds custom formatting to create an "accounting" style. This style emphasizes the negative and positive differences related to the master benchmark values. This accounting style is only available in the Excel export option.

How to run the Benchmark Report

1. Click the Business Analyst menu and click Reports.
   
2. Click Run Reports and click Next.
   
3. Click Benchmark Report and click Next.
   
4. Choose the Business Analyst trade areas you want to include in your Benchmark Report. Use the arrows to add or remove the trade areas.
   

NOTE: The Summarize trade areas with drop-down menu contains the layer that controls your data aggregation. By default, Standard BA Data is used; however, if you created your own BDS layers, they will appear in the drop-down menu.



5. Click the + button to add other polygon layers and click Next.
   
6. Select the fields you want to see benchmarked and click Next.
   
7. Select any additional fields you want to appear on the report. These will not be benchmarked but may be helpful when viewing the report. (For example, you may benchmark a series of franchise locations and need to show whether each location is privately owned or not. This field will be associated with each record, but not benchmarked.)
   
8. Click Next.
   
9. To enable the benchmarking functionality, check on Compare trade area values against a benchmark.
   

NOTE: If this option is unchecked, the Benchmartk Report will only show a list of variables for each trade area. The absolute number, percent, and index differences will not be included.



10. Choose your benchmark type:
    
• Use a Trade Area: This option uses an existing trade area polygon to compare against all other polygons.
  
• Use the Average of all values: This option calculates the statistical average of all data variables in each trade area and shows the differences of each.
  
• Use the Median of all values: This option calculates the statistical median of all variables in each trade area and shows the differences of each.
  


11. Click Next.
    
12. A preview window appears. You can examine this window to get an idea of what output will appear before permanently exporting to a report format. Click Next.
    
13. Review the report options and give your report a name. You can create a Crystal Reports file, export to numerous format options (PDF, CSV, etc.), or export directly to tables.
    
• Check on Generate Excel Spreadsheet to export your information into a presentation-quality .xls file.
  
• Check on Generate Database Table to export your information into a .dbf file.
  


14. Choose the layout orientation and initial sorting options and click Finish.
    
Depending on the options you choose, the Benchmark Report will export to a file or immediately appear on-screen.

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