What is the primary use of descriptive analytics?

Descriptive analytics is focused on summarizing and interpreting historical data to provide insights into what has happened in the past. The primary use of this analytical approach is to identify trends and patterns in data that can provide valuable information for decision-making. By analyzing historical data, businesses can better understand their performance, customer behaviors, and other relevant metrics over time.

This type of analytics utilizes statistical techniques and data aggregation methods to create reports and dashboards that present the data in an easily understandable format. For instance, sales reports, customer demographics, and website traffic analysis all fall under the umbrella of descriptive analytics. The insights drawn from this analysis serve as a foundation for more complex analytics methods, such as predictive and prescriptive analytics, which aim to forecast future outcomes or optimize processes based on historical data.

In contrast, forecasting future outcomes involves predictive analytics, optimizing processes relates to prescriptive analytics, and conducting scenario analysis focuses on evaluating potential future scenarios based on variable changes, which are not the primary focus of descriptive analytics.