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Analyze Causes of November and June Shopify Traffic Spikes

ShopifyData Scientist · Onsite
MediumData ScientistOnsiteAnalytics & Experimentation

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This interview question evaluates metric design, causal reasoning, experiment setup, diagnostics, SQL/statistical checks, and recommendations in a realistic interview setting. A strong answer for Analyze Causes of November and June Shopify Traffic Spikes states assumptions, handles edge cases, explains trade-offs, and shows how to validate the result clearly.

Scenario

A three-year weekly time-series plot of Shopify shopping sessions shows a spike every November and an additional isolated spike in the third year’s June.

Question

Explain plausible business drivers for the recurring November spikes and the one-off June spike. 2) Using the provided dataset (your choice of Python, R, or Google Sheets), explore the spikes further and propose at least two hypotheses to validate with additional data.

Hints

Think seasonality (e.g., Black Friday/Cyber Monday), marketing campaigns, external events, and segmentation by geography or channel.