Sets for dynamic grouping in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants to see sales performance grouped dynamically by top customers and others, so they can focus on key clients easily.

📊 Data: You have sales data with Customer Name, Sales Amount, and Order Date.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a Tableau dashboard that uses a dynamic set to group customers into 'Top Customers' and 'Others' based on sales amount, and show total sales by these groups.

Sample Data

Customer Name	Sales Amount	Order Date
Alpha Corp	12000	2024-01-15
Beta LLC	8000	2024-01-20
Gamma Inc	15000	2024-02-05
Delta Co	4000	2024-02-10
Epsilon Ltd	7000	2024-02-15
Zeta Group	3000	2024-03-01
Eta Enterprises	11000	2024-03-05
Theta Partners	6000	2024-03-10

1

Step 1: Connect your sales data to Tableau and open a new worksheet.

No formula needed.

Expected Result

Data is loaded and ready for analysis.

2

Step 2: Create a set for 'Top Customers' based on sales amount.

Right-click 'Customer Name' in Dimensions > Create > Set > Name it 'Top Customers' > In the 'Condition' tab, select 'By formula' > Enter SUM([Sales Amount]) >= 10000.

Expected Result

'Top Customers' set includes customers with total sales of 10,000 or more.

3

Step 3: Create a calculated field to group customers dynamically using the set.

Create calculated field named 'Customer Group' with formula: IF [Top Customers] THEN 'Top Customers' ELSE 'Others' END

Expected Result

Customers are grouped into 'Top Customers' or 'Others' dynamically.

4

Step 4: Build a bar chart showing total sales by 'Customer Group'.

Rows: 'Customer Group', Columns: SUM([Sales Amount])

Expected Result

Bar chart displays total sales for 'Top Customers' and 'Others'.

5

Step 5: Add 'Customer Group' to Color to differentiate groups visually.

Drag 'Customer Group' to Color on Marks card.

Expected Result

Bars are colored differently for 'Top Customers' and 'Others'.

6

Step 6: Create a dashboard and add the worksheet with the bar chart.

No formula needed.

Expected Result

Dashboard shows the dynamic grouping sales chart ready for manager review.

Final Result

Sales by Customer Group

Top Customers  | ██████████████ 38,000
Others         | ██████ 28,000

Legend:
█ Top Customers (Sum Sales >= 10,000)
█ Others (Sum Sales < 10,000)

✓Top Customers contribute significantly more sales than Others.

✓Alpha Corp, Gamma Inc, and Eta Enterprises are in the Top Customers group.

✓This dynamic grouping helps focus on key clients easily.

Bonus Challenge

Modify the set to allow the manager to change the sales threshold dynamically using a parameter.

Show Hint

Create a parameter for sales threshold and update the set condition to use this parameter instead of a fixed value.