Chart editor panel in Google Sheets - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a sales analyst at a retail company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a clear visual report showing monthly sales trends by product category for the first half of the year.

📊 Data: You have a table with sales data including columns for Month, Product Category, and Sales Amount for January to June.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a line chart using the Chart editor panel in Google Sheets that shows sales trends for each product category from January to June.

Sample Data

Month	Product Category	Sales Amount
January	Electronics	12000
January	Clothing	8000
January	Home Goods	6000
February	Electronics	15000
February	Clothing	7000
February	Home Goods	6500
March	Electronics	13000
March	Clothing	9000
March	Home Goods	7000
April	Electronics	16000
April	Clothing	8500
April	Home Goods	7200
May	Electronics	17000
May	Clothing	9500
May	Home Goods	7500
June	Electronics	18000
June	Clothing	10000
June	Home Goods	8000

1

Step 1: Select the entire data table including headers (Month, Product Category, Sales Amount).

Select cells A1:C19.

Expected Result

All data rows and headers are highlighted.

2

Step 2: Open the Chart editor panel by clicking Insert > Chart from the menu.

No formula; use menu navigation.

Expected Result

Chart editor panel appears on the right side of the screen.

3

Step 3: In the Chart editor panel, under Setup, change Chart type to 'Line chart'.

Select 'Line chart' from the Chart type dropdown.

Expected Result

A line chart preview appears showing sales trends.

4

Step 4: Set the X-axis to 'Month' and Series to 'Sales Amount' grouped by 'Product Category'.

In Chart editor > Setup, ensure 'Month' is X-axis and 'Sales Amount' is Series with 'Product Category' as the grouping.

Expected Result

The chart shows separate lines for Electronics, Clothing, and Home Goods across months.

5

Step 5: Customize the chart title to 'Monthly Sales Trends by Product Category'.

In Chart editor > Customize > Chart & axis titles, enter the new title.

Expected Result

Chart title updates accordingly.

6

Step 6: Adjust the legend position to the right for better readability.

In Chart editor > Customize > Legend, set Position to 'Right'.

Expected Result

Legend moves to the right side of the chart.

7

Step 7: Verify the chart shows clear lines for each product category from January to June with correct sales values.

No formula; visually inspect the chart.

Expected Result

Chart clearly displays sales trends for Electronics, Clothing, and Home Goods from January to June.

Final Result

Monthly Sales Trends by Product Category

Month     | Electronics | Clothing | Home Goods
------------------------------------------------
January   | ************  | ********  | ******
February  | ***************| *******   | ******
March     | ************* | ********* | *******
April     | ****************| ******** | *******
May       | *****************| **********| ********
June      | ******************| ***********| *********

Legend: Each '*' represents approx. 1000 in sales

✓Electronics sales steadily increased from 12,000 in January to 18,000 in June.

✓Clothing sales fluctuated but showed an overall increase from 8,000 to 10,000.

✓Home Goods sales grew slowly from 6,000 to 8,000 over six months.

Bonus Challenge

Create a combo chart that shows sales amounts as bars and a line for the total sales across all categories each month.

Show Hint

Use the Chart editor panel to add a new series for total sales and change its chart type to line while keeping others as bars.