What To Do When There Is No Data ?

 

Proxy data examples

Sometimes the data to support a business objective isn’t readily available. This is when proxy data is useful. Take a look at the following scenarios and where proxy data comes in for each example:

Business scenario	How proxy data can be used
A new car model was just launched a few days ago and the auto dealership can’t wait until the end of the month for sales data to come in. They want sales projections now.	The analyst proxies the number of clicks to the car specifications on the dealership’s website as an estimate of potential sales at the dealership.
A brand new plant-based meat product was only recently stocked in grocery stores and the supplier needs to estimate the demand over the next four years.	The analyst proxies the sales data for a turkey substitute made out of tofu that has been on the market for several years.
The Chamber of Commerce wants to know how a tourism campaign is going to impact travel to their city, but the results from the campaign aren’t publicly available yet.	The analyst proxies the historical data for airline bookings to the city one to three months after a similar campaign was run six months earlier.