Custom geocoding in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a map showing sales by store location, including some new stores not in Tableau's default map.

📊 Data: You have a sales dataset with store names, sales amounts, and custom latitude and longitude coordinates for all stores.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a Tableau map visualization that uses custom geocoding to plot all stores with their sales amounts.

Sample Data

Store Name	Sales	Latitude	Longitude
Central Store	150000	40.7128	-74.0060
Northside Outlet	90000	41.8781	-87.6298
East End Shop	120000	34.0522	-118.2437
New Horizon	60000	39.9526	-75.1652
Sunset Point	80000	37.7749	-122.4194
Lakeview Store	70000	47.6062	-122.3321
Greenfield	50000	36.1627	-86.7816
Harbor Shop	110000	25.7617	-80.1918

1

Step 1: Open Tableau and connect to the sales dataset containing Store Name, Sales, Latitude, and Longitude.

Connect to the data source with columns: Store Name, Sales, Latitude, Longitude.

Expected Result

Data is loaded and visible in Tableau's Data pane.

2

Step 2: Create a custom geocoding file to map Store Name to Latitude and Longitude.

Create a CSV file with columns: Store Name, Latitude, Longitude matching the sample data.

Expected Result

Custom geocoding CSV file is ready for import.

3

Step 3: Import the custom geocoding file into Tableau.

In Tableau, go to Map > Geocoding > Import Custom Geocoding, then select the CSV file.

Expected Result

Tableau recognizes the custom store locations with their coordinates.

4

Step 4: Assign the Store Name field as a geographic role 'Custom Geocode'.

Right-click Store Name > Geographic Role > Custom Geocode.

Expected Result

Store Name is linked to custom geocoding coordinates.

5

Step 5: Create a map visualization using Store Name and Sales.

Drag Store Name to Detail on Marks card and Sales to Size. Tableau will automatically generate Latitude (generated) and Longitude (generated) on Rows and Columns.

Expected Result

Map shows all stores plotted with circle sizes representing sales amounts.

6

Step 6: Format the map for clarity and accessibility.

Add tooltips showing Store Name and Sales, ensure color contrast is good, and enable keyboard navigation.

Expected Result

Map is clear, accessible, and interactive.

Final Result

Map Visualization

  * (Central Store)  ●●●●●  $150,000
  * (Northside Outlet)  ●●●  $90,000
  * (East End Shop)  ●●●●  $120,000
  * (New Horizon)  ●●  $60,000
  * (Sunset Point)  ●●●  $80,000
  * (Lakeview Store)  ●●  $70,000
  * (Greenfield)  ●  $50,000
  * (Harbor Shop)  ●●●●  $110,000

Circles sized by sales amount, placed by custom latitude and longitude.

✓Central Store has the highest sales at $150,000.

✓New Horizon and Greenfield are new stores added via custom geocoding.

✓Sales vary by location, with larger sales in Central and Harbor Shop areas.

Bonus Challenge

Add a filter to the map to show sales only above a selected threshold.

Show Hint

Create a parameter for sales threshold and use it to filter the data on the map.