Label display in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a clear sales dashboard that shows total sales by product category with labels on each bar for easy reading.

📊 Data: You have monthly sales data including Product Category, Sales Amount, and Month.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a bar chart showing total sales by product category with data labels displayed on each bar.

Sample Data

Product Category	Month	Sales Amount
Electronics	January	12000
Furniture	January	8000
Clothing	January	6000
Electronics	February	15000
Furniture	February	7000
Clothing	February	9000
Electronics	March	13000
Furniture	March	8500
Clothing	March	7000

1

Step 1: Connect to the sales data source in Tableau and load the data.

No formula needed; just connect and load data.

Expected Result

Sales data with Product Category, Month, and Sales Amount is available in Tableau.

2

Step 2: Create a new worksheet and drag 'Product Category' to the Columns shelf.

Drag 'Product Category' field to Columns.

Expected Result

Columns shelf shows Product Category with distinct categories.

3

Step 3: Drag 'Sales Amount' to the Rows shelf and set aggregation to SUM.

SUM([Sales Amount]) on Rows shelf.

Expected Result

Bar chart with total sales amount for each product category.

4

Step 4: Add data labels to the bars by dragging 'SUM(Sales Amount)' to the Label mark.

Drag SUM([Sales Amount]) to Label on Marks card.

Expected Result

Each bar shows a label with the total sales amount.

5

Step 5: Format the labels for better readability: increase font size and set color to dark for contrast.

Format labels: Font size 12pt, Color black.

Expected Result

Labels are clear and easy to read on each bar.

6

Step 6: Add a chart title 'Total Sales by Product Category' and ensure the chart is accessible with proper color contrast.

Set worksheet title and check color contrast settings.

Expected Result

Chart has a clear title and meets accessibility standards.

Final Result

Total Sales by Product Category

| Electronics | ██████████████████ 40000 |
| Furniture   | ████████████ 23500 |
| Clothing    | █████████ 22000 |

Labels show exact sales amounts on each bar.

✓Electronics has the highest total sales across the three months.

✓Furniture and Clothing have similar but lower total sales.

✓Data labels make it easy to compare sales values directly on the chart.

Bonus Challenge

Add monthly sales trend lines for each product category with labels showing monthly sales values.

Show Hint

Use a line chart with 'Month' on Columns, 'SUM(Sales Amount)' on Rows, and 'Product Category' on Color. Add labels by dragging SUM(Sales Amount) to Label.