Generating a statistic using electronic transaction data

1. A method comprising:

receiving transaction data regarding transactions performed by a set of merchants, the transaction data indicating a number of transactions performed by each merchant in the set of merchants;

identifying a set of active merchants from the set of merchants based on the transaction data, the set of active merchants being a subset of the set of merchants, wherein identifying the set of active merchants comprises:

for each respective merchant from the set of merchants, determining, based on the transaction data, a number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during a first period of time;

comparing the number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during the first period of time to a threshold number of transactions, yielding a comparison;

determining whether the respective merchant is an active merchant based on the comparison;

generating a set of weights for the set of active merchants based on census data indicating a respective percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from each industry in a set of industries, wherein generating a weight for a first active merchant from the set of active merchants comprises:

determining an industry associated with the first active merchant;

determining, based on the census data, a first percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant, wherein the first percentage of the transactions is determined based on at least one transaction that originated from the first active merchant and at least one transaction that originated from a second merchant that is different than the first active merchant;

and determining the weight for the first active merchant based on the first percentage of transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant; and

generating a statistic based on the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time and the set of weights for the set of active merchants, wherein generating the statistic comprises:

normalizing the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time based on the set of weights, yielding normalized transaction data; and

generating the statistic based on the normalized transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during a subset of the first period of time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the set of weights for the set of active merchants is further based on data that indicates seasonality.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the set of active merchants includes refraining from selecting merchants that perform an anomalous number of transactions during the first period of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating an interface that depicts the statistic; and

causing display of the interface on a client device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the set of active merchants are active for a moment prior to the first period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the set of active merchants remain active upon completion of the first period of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first period of time coincides with an occurrence of an event at a particular geographical location.

8. A system comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

one or more computer-readable mediums storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:

receiving transaction data regarding transactions performed by a set of merchants, the transaction data indicating a number of transactions performed by each merchant in the set of merchants;

identifying a set of active merchants from the set of merchants based on the transaction data, the set of active merchants being a subset of the set of merchants, wherein identifying the set of active merchants comprises:

for each respective merchant from the set of merchants, determining, based on the transaction data, a number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during a first period of time;

comparing the number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during the first period of time to a threshold number of transactions, yielding a comparison;

determining whether the respective merchant is an active merchant based on the comparison;

generating a set of weights for the set of active merchants based on census data indicating a respective percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from each industry in a set of industries, wherein generating a weight for a first active merchant from the set of active merchants comprises:

determining an industry associated with the first active merchant;

determining, based on the census data, a first percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant, wherein the first percentage of the transactions is determined based on at least one transaction that originated from the first active merchant and at least one transaction that originated from a second merchant that is different than the first active merchant;

and determining the weight for the first active merchant based on the first percentage of transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant; and

generating a statistic based on the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time and the set of weights for the set of active merchants, wherein generating the statistic comprises:

normalizing the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time based on the set of weights, yielding normalized transaction data; and

generating the statistic based on the normalized transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during a subset of the first period of time.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein generating the set of weights for the set of active merchants is further based on data that indicates seasonality.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein identifying the set of active merchants includes refraining from selecting merchants that perform an anomalous number of transactions during the first period of time.

11. The system of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:

generating an interface that depicts the statistic; and

causing display of the interface on a client device.

12. The system of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:

determining that the set of active merchants are active for a moment prior to the first period of time.

13. The system of claim 8 , the operations further comprising:

determining that the set of active merchants remain active upon completion of the first period of time.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first period of time coincides with an occurrence of an event at a particular geographical location.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors of one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

receiving transaction data regarding transactions performed by a set of merchants, the transaction data indicating a number of transactions performed by each merchant in the set of merchants;

identifying a set of active merchants from the set of merchants based on the transaction data, the set of active merchants being a subset of the set of merchants, wherein identifying the set of active merchants comprises:

for each respective merchant from the set of merchants, determining, based on the transaction data, a number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during a first period of time;

comparing the number of transactions performed by the respective merchant during the first period of time to a threshold number of transactions, yielding a comparison;

determining whether the respective merchant is an active merchant based on the comparison;

generating a set of weights for the set of active merchants based on census data indicating a respective percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from each industry in a set of industries, wherein generating a weight for a first active merchant from the set of active merchants comprises:

determining an industry associated with the first active merchant;

determining, based on the census data, a first percentage of the transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant, wherein the first percentage of the transactions is determined based on at least one transaction that originated from the first active merchant and at least one transaction that originated from a second merchant that is different than the first active merchant;

and determining the weight for the first active merchant based on the first percentage of transactions performed by the set of merchants that originated from merchants in the industry associated with the first active merchant; and

generating a statistic based on the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time and the set of weights for the set of active merchants, wherein generating the statistic comprises:

normalizing the transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during the first period of time based on the set of weights, yielding normalized transaction data; and

generating the statistic based on the normalized transaction data regarding transactions performed by the set of active merchants during a subset of the first period of time.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein generating the set of weights for the set of active merchants is further based on data that indicates seasonality.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein identifying the set of active merchants includes refraining from selecting merchants that perform an anomalous number of transactions during the first period of time.