SKILLAHEAD DATA ACADEMY

Data Analytics Challenge July 2026

Official Business Brief & Participant Guide

GlowMart Nigeria Ltd | Sales & Inventory Intelligence | FMCG Beauty & Personal Care

Challenge

SkillAhead Data Analytics Challenge July 2026

Organized by

SkillAhead Data Academy

Industry

FMCG, Beauty & Personal Care Retail

Dataset Period

2022 – 2024 (3 Years)

Submission Deadline

Thursday, 28th June 2026

Coordinator

Coach Anietie | @etukanietie

1. About This Challenge

The SkillAhead Data Analytics Challenge is a real-world, project-based assessment that gives analysts the opportunity to work on a simulated business case modelled after a mid-size FMCG beauty and personal care retail company operating across five Nigerian cities.

Participants will receive a complete business dataset, a business brief describing a real management conflict, and a KPI reference guide. Their task is to build a professional analytics solution, a dashboard or report, that resolves the conflict and answers the business questions using data.

2. The Business Scenario

Company: GlowMart Nigeria Ltd

GlowMart Nigeria Ltd is a mid-size FMCG beauty and personal care retailer with 500 customers, 90 products across 4 brands, and operations in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt. The company has recorded 15,000 transactions between 2022 and 2024.

The Conflict

Emeka Okafor (Sales Manager)

"My team is losing sales because Inventory is not stocking the right products in the right cities. Port Harcourt and Kano customers are ready to buy, but the shelves are empty."

Tunde Adeyemi (Inventory Manager)

"I stock based on what Sales tells me to plan for. Nobody gave me updated numbers. My records show equal allocation across all five cities, show me the data."

The MD, Mrs. Chidinma Eze, stepped in and commissioned the Head of BI & Data Analytics to build a single dashboard that resolves this conflict with evidence, and guides future inventory allocation decisions.

3. Dataset Overview

The dataset provided contains four related tables that must be connected in a star-schema data model:ble

Primary KeyoKey Columns

Sales (Fact)

SalesID

All transactions

CustomerID, ProductID, OrderDate, Quantity, Unit Price, Discount, Total Sales

Customers

CustomerID

Who bought

City, Region, Gender, Age Group

Products

ProductID

What was bought

Brand, Cost Price (90 products, 4 brands)

Date

Date

Time intelligence

Year, Month, Quarter, Day of Week

Data covers: 500 customers · 90 products · 4 brands · 5 cities · 15,000 transactions · Price range NGN 1,000 – NGN 20,000 · Discount 0% – 20% · 1 – 5 units per order.

4. Your Task

Using the dataset provided, build a professional analytics solution that:

•      Connects the four tables in a correct data model (star schema)

•      Calculates the required KPIs and metrics (see Section 5 and the KPI Reference Document)

•      Presents the findings in a clean, well-designed dashboard or report

•      Resolves the Sales vs. Inventory conflict with data-backed evidence

•      Provides at least three business recommendations supported by the analysis

5. Required KPIs & Metrics

Your solution must include, at minimum, the following KPIs. Full formulas and thresholds are provided in the KPI & Metrics Reference Document included in your resource pack.ic

Business Question Answered

Ctegory

01

Total Revenue

How much did GlowMart earn across all cities and brands?

Core Revenue

02

Gross Profit & GP Margin %

Are we making enough profit after cost of goods?

Profitability

03

Total Transactions

How many orders were placed, and is frequency growing?

Volume

04

Avg Order Value (AOV)

How much does a single customer spend per visit?

Efficiency

05

Total Units Sold

How many product units moved across all transactions?

Volume

06

Revenue by City

Which city drives the most revenue, and deserves more stock?

Geographic

07

Revenue by Brand

Which brand is the strongest performer by city?

Brand

08

Total Discount Amount

How much revenue was given away through discounts?

Discount

09

YoY Revenue Growth %

Is the business growing year-on-year?

Growth

10

Transactions per Customer

How frequently do customers return to buy?

Loyalty

11

Revenue per Customer

What is the average 3-year value of one customer?

Customer

6. Resources Provided

Every registered participant will receive the following three resources upon registration confirmation:#

Resource

Description

01

Business Brief

This document, the full scenario, dataset overview, task description, judging criteria, and submission instructions.

02

The Dataset

The GlowMart Nigeria Ltd dataset, an Excel workbook with four sheets: Sales (15,000 rows), Customers, Products, and Date table. Ready for direct import into your analytics tool.

03

KPI & Metrics Reference

A detailed reference document listing all 11 KPIs with their business questions, arithmetic formulas, DAX measures (for Power BI), threshold benchmarks, and the actual dataset values, built to guide your analysis.

7. Eligibility

The SkillAhead Data Analytics Challenge is open to everyone with an interest in data analytics, regardless of educational background or level of experience.

To participate, you must meet the following requirements:

• Submit an original solution to the challenge before the stated deadline.
• Follow the challenge instructions and submission guidelines.
• Share your submission on LinkedIn and include the required challenge hashtags and supporting materials.
• Ensure that all work submitted is your own. Plagiarised or AI-generated submissions presented as original work may be disqualified.

All eligible participants will be considered for official ranking, prizes, scholarships, and other challenge rewards based solely on the quality of their submissions and presentations.

8. Accepted Tools

You may use any of these data analytics tools to complete your project: Tool

Notes

Microsoft Excel

Dashboard using PivotTables, charts, slicers, and formulas. Must include at least one interactive element.

Power BI

Full dashboard with DAX measures, data model relationships, and interactive visuals. Preferred tool.

SQL / MySQL

Queries that produce all required KPIs, plus a written or visual presentation of findings.

Tableau

Interactive dashboard published to Tableau Public. Share the public link in your post.

9. Judging Criteria

All submissions will be evaluated by a panel using the following weighted scoring framework. Total score: 100 points. Criteria

What We Look For

Weight

Insight Quality

Accuracy of KPIs, correct data model, relevant findings that directly answer the business questions.

40 points (40%)

Visual Design & Dashboard

Clean, readable layout; appropriate chart types; consistent colour use; professional presentation.

25 points (25%)

Business Storytelling

Clarity of narrative, conflict resolution with evidence, and quality of business recommendations.

25 points (25%)

Technical Execution

Correct use of tool features: DAX / formulas / SQL / calculated fields as appropriate to the tool used.

10 points (10%)

Tip: The highest-weighted criterion is Insight Quality (40%). Make sure your KPIs are correct, your data model relationships are properly set up, and your analysis directly addresses the Sales vs. Inventory conflict.

10. Prizes & Rewards

Top 5 Analysts

Each of the top 5 ranked analysts will receive a 100% full scholarship to the SkillAhead Data Academy, Data Science and Machine Learning Virtual Class.

Best Analyst, Grand Prize

The #1 ranked analyst will additionally receive a 100% full scholarship to Coach Anietie's next Mentorship Programme, 90 Days of personal coaching, live sessions, and career guidance.

Prize winners will be announced via SkillAhead's official social media channels and contacted directly via LinkedIn within 5 business days after the submission deadline.

11. How to Submit

Submission Deadline: Thursday, 28th June 2026

Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Follow these steps exactly to submit your work:

1.   Publish your completed project on LinkedIn on or before 28th June 2026.

2.   Follow/Connect with SkillAhead and Coach Anietie on LinkedInType

Tag / Handle

https://www.linkedin.com/company/skillahead/urpose

https://www.linkedin.com/in/etukanietie/

3.   In your LinkedIn post:

Tag SkillAhead and Coach Anietie

@SkillAhead

@etukanietie

And use these hashtags

#SkillAheadChallenge   #JKBChallenge

Makes your post discoverable for the judging panelTy

4.   Your submission must be public, set your LinkedIn post visibility to 'Anyone' before posting.

12. Tips for a Winning Submission

•      Set up your data model correctly first, all analysis flows from proper relationships between the four tables.

•      Start with the conflict resolution angle, the business scenario is your story. Make it clear how your data answers the Sales vs. Inventory debate.

•      Use the KPI Reference Document, it gives you the exact formulas, thresholds, and interpretation guidance for all 11 required metrics.

•      Design matters, a clean, well-organized dashboard with consistent colours will score higher than a cluttered one, even if the numbers are correct.

•      Write at least 3 recommendations, go beyond charts. Tell the MD what GlowMart should do next, and back it with numbers.

•      Post early, do not wait until June 19th. Technical issues on deadline day are not grounds for extension.

Questions? Reach out to Coach Anietie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/etukanietie/ | SkillAhead Data Academy | Data Analytics Challenge 2026