ORDER BY clause in Google Sheets - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a sorted list of products by their total sales to identify the best-selling items.

📊 Data: You have a table with product names, units sold, and unit price for each product.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a sorted list of products ordered by total sales (units sold multiplied by unit price) from highest to lowest.

Sample Data

Product	Units Sold	Unit Price
Notebook	120	2.50
Pen	300	1.20
Backpack	80	25.00
Calculator	50	15.00
Marker	200	1.50
Folder	150	3.00
Stapler	60	7.00
Highlighter	180	1.80

1

Step 1: Add a new column named 'Total Sales' next to 'Unit Price'. Calculate total sales by multiplying 'Units Sold' by 'Unit Price' for each product.

=B2*C2

Expected Result

For Notebook, total sales = 120 * 2.50 = 300

2

Step 2: Copy the formula down the 'Total Sales' column for all products.

Drag the fill handle from D2 down to D9

Expected Result

Pen total sales = 300 * 1.20 = 360; Backpack total sales = 80 * 25.00 = 2000, etc.

3

Step 3: Create a new table that sorts the products by 'Total Sales' in descending order using the SORT function.

=SORT(A2:D9, 4, FALSE)

Expected Result

Backpack appears first with 2000 total sales, followed by Calculator with 750, Folder with 450, etc.

Final Result

Product     Units Sold  Unit Price  Total Sales
---------------------------------------------
Backpack    80          25.00       2000
Calculator  50          15.00       750
Folder      150         3.00        450
Stapler     60          7.00        420
Pen         300         1.20        360
Highlighter 180         1.80        324
Notebook    120         2.50        300
Marker      200         1.50        300

✓Backpack is the best-selling product with total sales of 2000.

✓Pen and Calculator also have strong sales.

✓Sorting by total sales helps quickly identify top products.

Bonus Challenge

Modify the sorted list to show only products with total sales greater than 300.

Show Hint

Use the FILTER function combined with SORT, like SORT(FILTER(range, condition), column, FALSE).