Consider Rent the Runway (RTR; www.renttherunway.com).

RTR buys designer dresses wholesale and rents them over the Web, charging only a fraction of the price of the dress. When RTR merchandisers decide whether to buy a new dress, they follow a list of 40 data points such as fabric, zippers, stitching, and shape to determine whether the dress will hold up to the rigours of multiple rentals. The longer the lifespan, the higher the return on capital. In mid-2017, RTR was averaging more than 30 turns (rentals) per dress.

With every dress it rents, RTR’s analytics algorithms learn more about effective strategies to track the location of each item, forecast demand, select shipping methods, set prices, and control inventory.

RTR’s algorithms also examine customer reviews to learn which dresses women are renting for certain occasions. They then forecast demand to determine whether the prepaid shipping label that goes with a dress should require the customer to return the dress overnight or whether a three-day return, which costs less, is sufficient.

a. Describe a descriptive analytics application using these data.

b. Describe a predictive analytics application using these data.

c. Describe a prescriptive analytics application using these data.