Statistical summary card in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

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

📋 Request: Your manager wants a quick overview of key sales statistics for the last quarter to share in the executive meeting.

📊 Data: You have sales transaction data including Date, Region, Product Category, Sales Amount, and Quantity Sold.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a statistical summary card dashboard showing total sales, average sales per transaction, maximum single sale, and total quantity sold for the last quarter.

Sample Data

Date	Region	Product Category	Sales Amount	Quantity Sold
2024-01-05	North	Electronics	1200	3
2024-01-15	South	Furniture	850	2
2024-02-10	East	Electronics	600	1
2024-02-20	West	Clothing	400	5
2024-03-05	North	Furniture	1500	4
2024-03-15	South	Clothing	300	3
2024-03-25	East	Electronics	700	2
2024-03-30	West	Furniture	950	1

1

Step 1: Connect Tableau to the sales transaction data source containing Date, Region, Product Category, Sales Amount, and Quantity Sold columns.

Use Tableau's data connection wizard to import the data.

Expected Result

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

2

Step 2: Create a filter to include only sales from the last quarter (January to March 2024).

Drag the Date field to Filters, select Range of Dates, and set from 2024-01-01 to 2024-03-31.

Expected Result

Only sales data from the first quarter of 2024 is included.

3

Step 3: Create a calculated field for Total Sales by summing Sales Amount.

Create calculated field named 'Total Sales' with formula: SUM([Sales Amount])

Expected Result

Total Sales calculated as 6000.

4

Step 4: Create a calculated field for Average Sales per Transaction.

Create calculated field named 'Average Sales' with formula: AVG([Sales Amount])

Expected Result

Average Sales calculated as 750.

5

Step 5: Create a calculated field for Maximum Single Sale.

Create calculated field named 'Max Sale' with formula: MAX([Sales Amount])

Expected Result

Maximum Single Sale calculated as 1500.

6

Step 6: Create a calculated field for Total Quantity Sold by summing Quantity Sold.

Create calculated field named 'Total Quantity' with formula: SUM([Quantity Sold])

Expected Result

Total Quantity Sold calculated as 21.

7

Step 7: Build a dashboard with four summary cards showing Total Sales, Average Sales, Max Sale, and Total Quantity.

Use Text objects or KPI cards in Tableau dashboard, each showing one calculated field with clear labels.

Expected Result

Dashboard displays four cards with values: Total Sales = 6000, Average Sales = 750, Max Sale = 1500, Total Quantity = 21.

8

Step 8: Format the dashboard for clarity: use large fonts, contrasting colors, and arrange cards horizontally for easy reading.

Adjust font size to at least 18pt, use dark text on light background, and align cards side by side.

Expected Result

Dashboard is visually clear and easy to read at a glance.

Final Result

---------------------------------------------
| Total Sales   | Average Sales | Max Sale  | Total Quantity |
|   $6,000      |    $750.00    |  $1,500   |      21       |
---------------------------------------------

✓Total sales for the last quarter were $6,000.

✓On average, each sale was $750.

✓The highest single sale was $1,500.

✓A total of 21 items were sold in the quarter.

Bonus Challenge

Add a trend line chart below the summary cards showing total sales by month for the last quarter.

Show Hint

Use the Date field to create a month-level aggregation and plot SUM(Sales Amount) over time.