Custom visuals from marketplace in Power BI - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a sales report with engaging visuals that are not available by default in Power BI. They ask you to use custom visuals from the Power BI marketplace to make the report more insightful and visually appealing.

📊 Data: You have monthly sales data by product category and region, including sales amount and units sold.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a Power BI report using at least two different custom visuals from the marketplace to show monthly sales trends and category performance.

Sample Data

Month	Region	Category	Sales Amount	Units Sold
Jan	North	Electronics	12000	100
Jan	South	Clothing	8000	150
Feb	North	Electronics	15000	120
Feb	South	Clothing	7000	130
Mar	North	Electronics	13000	110
Mar	South	Clothing	9000	160
Jan	East	Home	5000	80
Feb	East	Home	6000	90
Mar	East	Home	5500	85

1

Step 1: Open Power BI Desktop and load the sales data table.

Import the sample data into Power BI using 'Get Data' and load it into the model.

Expected Result

Sales data table is loaded and visible in the Fields pane.

2

Step 2: Create a basic line chart to show monthly sales amount by category.

Insert a Line Chart visual. Set Axis to 'Month', Legend to 'Category', and Values to 'Sales Amount'.

Expected Result

Line chart shows sales trends for each category across months.

3

Step 3: Open the Power BI marketplace to find custom visuals.

Click on the ellipsis (...) in the Visualizations pane, select 'Get more visuals', and browse the marketplace.

Expected Result

Marketplace window opens showing available custom visuals.

4

Step 4: Search for and add the 'Bullet Chart' custom visual from the marketplace.

Search 'Bullet Chart', click 'Add' to import it into your report.

Expected Result

'Bullet Chart' visual appears in the Visualizations pane.

5

Step 5: Use the Bullet Chart to show sales amount against a target for each region.

Insert the Bullet Chart visual. Set 'Category' to 'Region', 'Value' to 'Sales Amount', and set a target value (e.g., 12000) in the visual's settings.

Expected Result

Bullet Chart displays sales performance per region compared to the target.

6

Step 6: Add another custom visual called 'KPI Indicator' from the marketplace.

Repeat marketplace search for 'KPI Indicator' and add it to the report.

Expected Result

'KPI Indicator' visual is added to the Visualizations pane.

7

Step 7: Configure the KPI Indicator to show total units sold with a trend arrow.

Insert KPI Indicator visual. Set 'Indicator' to sum of 'Units Sold', 'Trend axis' to 'Month'.

Expected Result

KPI Indicator shows total units sold and trend over months.

8

Step 8: Arrange the visuals on the report page with clear titles and labels.

Place the Line Chart, Bullet Chart, and KPI Indicator neatly. Add text boxes for titles.

Expected Result

Report page is visually balanced and easy to understand.

9

Step 9: Save and publish the report to Power BI Service for sharing.

Click 'Publish' and select the workspace.

Expected Result

Report is published and accessible online.

Final Result

Monthly Sales Report

+-----------------------------+
| Line Chart: Sales by Month  |
|  Electronics  Clothing  Home |
|  Jan  Feb  Mar             |
+-----------------------------+

+-----------------------------+
| Bullet Chart: Sales vs Target|
| Region: North, South, East   |
| Target: 12000               |
+-----------------------------+

+-----------------------------+
| KPI Indicator: Units Sold    |
| Total Units and Trend Arrow  |
+-----------------------------+

✓Electronics category shows steady sales growth from January to February.

✓South region sales are below the target of 12000, while North exceeds it.

✓Units sold trend is increasing overall, indicating growing demand.

Bonus Challenge

Add a custom visual that shows sales distribution by category and region on a map.

Show Hint

Search for 'Map' or 'Choropleth' visuals in the marketplace and use 'Region' as location and 'Sales Amount' as value.