Ice Cream Sales: The Effect of Consumers, Carts, and Climate on Purchase Sizes

Purpose: This study focuses on the effect of consumer-base demographics, seller characteristics, and climatic factors on the sale of Ice Creams. Methodology: Through a 6375-row dataset sourced from 15 carts and four major brands during peak Ice Cream season, the study analyses the contingencies involved in the sale of small ticket-size, seasonal retail goods. Applications: The results can help sellers and companies better position their shops and market their products to appeal to the best-paying consumers. Findings: We find that Women tend to buy more expensive Ice Creams than Men, high-income area residents buy more expensive Ice Creams than low-income area residents, older consumers buy more expensive Ice Creams than younger consumers, but tend to buy less frequently, and that an Ice Cream cart is better placed on a main- road than near a market. The best-paying consumer is a Woman aged 60 or more, living in a high-income area, buying from a cart located near a Main Road. Novelty: Pre-existing literature on this topic accounts for only one or two of the several variables that we’ve chosen to select, and usually account for long time scales, causing a seasonal effect on Ice Cream sales. Our research is isolated in its approach to the comprehensiveness of consumer demographics.