Why maps visualize location data in Tableau - Business Case Study

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants to understand where most sales are coming from across different cities to plan marketing efforts.

📊 Data: You have sales data with columns: City, State, Sales Amount, and Number of Transactions.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a map visualization in Tableau showing total sales by city to identify top sales locations.

Sample Data

City	State	Sales Amount	Number of Transactions
Seattle	WA	12000	150
Portland	OR	8000	100
San Francisco	CA	15000	200
Los Angeles	CA	18000	250
Denver	CO	7000	90
Chicago	IL	16000	220
New York	NY	25000	300
Miami	FL	9000	110

1

Step 1: Open Tableau and connect to the sales data source.

Connect to the data file or database containing City, State, Sales Amount, and Number of Transactions.

Expected Result

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

2

Step 2: Create a new worksheet for the map visualization.

Click on 'New Worksheet' button.

Expected Result

A blank worksheet is ready for building the map.

3

Step 3: Drag 'City' field to the Rows shelf or directly to the view to create geographic points.

Drag 'City' to the view; Tableau recognizes it as a geographic role and plots points.

Expected Result

Map with points representing each city appears.

4

Step 4: Drag 'Sales Amount' to the Size mark to show sales volume by point size.

Drag 'Sales Amount' to the Size card in Marks pane.

Expected Result

City points vary in size according to total sales amount.

5

Step 5: Drag 'Sales Amount' to the Color mark to add color intensity based on sales.

Drag 'Sales Amount' to Color card in Marks pane.

Expected Result

Points are colored with a gradient showing higher sales in darker or brighter colors.

6

Step 6: Add tooltips to show City, State, Sales Amount, and Number of Transactions on hover.

Ensure City, State, Sales Amount, and Number of Transactions are in Tooltip card.

Expected Result

Hovering over a city point shows detailed sales info.

7

Step 7: Adjust map style and zoom to focus on the US region.

Use map controls to zoom and pan to show all cities clearly.

Expected Result

Map clearly shows all cities with appropriate zoom and style.

8

Step 8: Add a title: 'Sales by City - Map View'.

Double-click the title area and type the title.

Expected Result

Map has a clear, descriptive title.

Final Result

New York

↓

Chicago

↓

Los Angeles

↓

San Francisco

↓

Seattle

↓

Miami

↓

Portland

↓

Denver

✓New York has the highest sales among all cities.

✓West Coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco also show strong sales.

✓Smaller cities like Denver and Portland have lower sales volumes.

✓Using a map helps quickly see where sales are concentrated geographically.

Bonus Challenge

Create a dashboard combining this map with a bar chart showing sales by state.

Show Hint

Use Tableau's dashboard feature to add the map worksheet and a new worksheet with State on Rows and SUM(Sales Amount) on Columns.