Big data visualization of the alcohol expenses in Taiwan

This study develops visual analytics of alcohol expenditure in multiple geographic areas using electronic-invoice (e-invoice) data. A data-cleansing technique is applied to extract alcohol-related transactions from more than 20 billion e-invoices in 2014 and 2015. Visual analytics are applied to summarize the intricate numeric and text information into various visual settings. The findings from this study suggest the CPI proportions with the country’s alcohol expenditure on monthly consideration. Alcohol expenditure in Taiwan sharply increases during summer and winter seasons. Although northern metropolitan cities/counties such as Taipei city have the highest alcohol expenditure per-capita among inland cities/counties; the average alcohol expenditure per e-invoice of northern cities/counties is among the lowest in the country. E-invoice data enables the memory-recall bias to be avoided, thereby enhancing the accuracy of research outcome. Visual analytics systemize transaction information from billions of data into mappings, thereby elucidating the alcohol expenditure pattern of Taiwanese consumers.