Subscriptions and alerts in Tableau - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a business analyst at an online retail company.

📋 Request: Your manager wants you to create a sales dashboard that automatically sends email alerts when daily sales drop below a certain threshold. They also want users to subscribe to weekly sales summary reports.

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

🎯 Deliverable: A Tableau dashboard with sales visualizations, configured alerts for low daily sales, and subscription setup for weekly sales summary emails.

Sample Data

Date	Region	Product Category	Sales Amount
2024-06-01	North	Electronics	1200
2024-06-01	South	Clothing	800
2024-06-02	North	Electronics	950
2024-06-02	South	Clothing	700
2024-06-03	North	Electronics	1100
2024-06-03	South	Clothing	650
2024-06-04	North	Electronics	1300
2024-06-04	South	Clothing	900
2024-06-05	North	Electronics	800
2024-06-05	South	Clothing	600

1

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

Use Tableau's 'Connect' feature to import the data table.

Expected Result

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

2

Step 2: Create a line chart showing total daily sales over time.

Rows: SUM([Sales Amount]), Columns: Date (continuous).

Expected Result

A line chart displays daily total sales trends.

3

Step 3: Add a filter to allow users to select Region.

Drag Region to Filters shelf and show filter control on dashboard.

Expected Result

Users can filter the sales line chart by Region.

4

Step 4: Create a calculated field 'Daily Total Sales' as SUM([Sales Amount]) grouped by Date.

Calculated Field: SUM([Sales Amount])

Expected Result

Field available to use for alert conditions.

5

Step 5: Publish the dashboard to Tableau Server or Tableau Online.

Use 'Publish Workbook' option and select the server destination.

Expected Result

Dashboard is accessible online for subscriptions and alerts.

6

Step 6: Set up an alert on the daily sales line chart to notify when daily sales drop below 1500.

On Tableau Server, click on the line chart axis, select 'Create Alert', set condition 'Value < 1500', add email recipients.

Expected Result

Email alerts will be sent automatically when daily sales fall below 1500.

7

Step 7: Create a subscription for users to receive a weekly sales summary email.

On Tableau Server, select 'Subscribe', choose recipients, set schedule to weekly, and select the dashboard.

Expected Result

Users receive weekly emails with the sales dashboard snapshot.

Final Result

Daily Sales Trend Dashboard

Date -->
|
|    *       *       *       *       *
|   * *     * *     * *     * *     * *
|  *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
|----------------------------------------
  06-01  06-02  06-03  06-04  06-05

[Region Filter Dropdown]

Alert: Email sent if daily sales < 1500
Subscription: Weekly sales summary emails sent to users

✓Daily total sales fluctuate between 1400 and 2200 in the sample data.

✓In the sample data, sales drop below 1500 only on 2024-06-05 (1400), triggering the alert.

✓Subscription allows stakeholders to stay updated weekly without manual checks.

Bonus Challenge

Configure a Tableau alert that triggers only when sales drop below 1500 for two consecutive days.

Show Hint

Use Tableau Prep or calculated fields to create a flag for consecutive low sales days, then base the alert on that flag.