Scatter plots in Google Sheets - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants to understand if there is a relationship between advertising spend and sales revenue across different stores.

📊 Data: You have monthly data for 10 stores showing the amount spent on advertising and the sales revenue generated.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a scatter plot in Google Sheets to visualize the relationship between advertising spend and sales revenue.

Sample Data

Store	Advertising Spend ($)	Sales Revenue ($)
Store A	5000	20000
Store B	7000	25000
Store C	3000	15000
Store D	8000	27000
Store E	2000	12000
Store F	6000	22000
Store G	4000	18000
Store H	9000	30000
Store I	1000	10000
Store J	7500	26000

1

Step 1: Enter the sample data into Google Sheets with columns: Store, Advertising Spend ($), Sales Revenue ($).

No formula needed. Just type the data as shown in the sample_data table.

Expected Result

Data is organized in three columns with 10 rows of store data.

2

Step 2: Select the range covering Advertising Spend and Sales Revenue columns (B1:C11).

Select cells B1 to C11.

Expected Result

The two columns with headers and data are highlighted.

3

Step 3: Insert a scatter chart to visualize the relationship.

Go to Insert > Chart. In Chart editor, under Chart type, select 'Scatter chart'.

Expected Result

A scatter plot appears showing points for each store with Advertising Spend on the X-axis and Sales Revenue on the Y-axis.

4

Step 4: Add chart title and axis labels for clarity.

In Chart editor, under Customize > Chart & axis titles, set Chart title to 'Advertising Spend vs Sales Revenue'. Set Horizontal axis title to 'Advertising Spend ($)'. Set Vertical axis title to 'Sales Revenue ($)'.

Expected Result

The chart has a clear title and labeled axes.

5

Step 5: Interpret the scatter plot to see if higher advertising spend relates to higher sales revenue.

No formula needed. Observe the chart points.

Expected Result

You see that points trend upward, indicating a positive relationship between advertising spend and sales revenue.

Final Result

Scatter Plot: Advertising Spend vs Sales Revenue

Y-axis (Sales Revenue $)
|
|       *
|      *  *
|     *    *
|    *      *
|   *        *
|  *          *
| *            *
|________________________
          X-axis (Advertising Spend $)

✓Stores that spend more on advertising tend to have higher sales revenue.

✓There is a positive relationship between advertising spend and sales revenue.

✓This suggests investing in advertising can help increase sales.

Bonus Challenge

Add a trendline to the scatter plot to quantify the relationship between advertising spend and sales revenue.

Show Hint

In the Chart editor, under Customize > Series, check the box for 'Trendline' to add a line showing the general trend.