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Data & Analytics

Tableau · 2014–2019 order data

Sales & Performance Dashboard

Key result · Discounts of 30%+ lost $204K — 41% of total profit

Case study by Blessing Osamudiamen, ACA · Chartered Accountant & Financial Analyst

Sales, 2014–2019
$3.76M
Profit
$492K
Profit ratio
13.1%
Q1 2020 sales forecast
$142.1K

1 · Problem statement

Across 15,892 order lines, 793 customers and 49 states: where are sales earned, where is profit lost, and what should Q1 2020 look like?

2 · Methodology

Star-schema data model, KPI calculations and two interactive Tableau dashboards with filters, a Top-N parameter and click-through actions, plus a backtested Holt-Winters forecast.

  1. Combined two order tables (2014–17, 2018–19) and joined customer, product, location and shipping tables.
  2. Built KPI calculations: profit ratio, average order value and days to ship.
  3. Designed two interactive dashboards with filters, a Top-N parameter and click-through actions.
  4. Projected Q1 2020 sales with seasonal smoothing, backtested on 2018–19 actuals (12.5% average error).
  • Tableau
  • Calculated Fields
  • Parameters
  • Data Modeling
  • Holt-Winters

3 · Key findings

  • Annual profit more than doubled, from $49.5K (2014) to $113.5K (2019), lifting margin from 10.2% to 14.1%.
  • Furniture is 32% of sales but earns a 2.3% margin; Technology earns 18.7%.
  • The top 10 states generate 69% of sales, but five are loss-making: TX, PA, FL, IL and OH.
  • Q1 2020 is expected at $124K–$160K, about +5.7% on Q1 2019.

4 · Strategic recommendations

  1. Cap discounts at 30% — lines discounted 30% or more lost $204K, 41% of total profit.
  2. Fix pricing in Tables (−8.5% margin) and in TX, PA, IL and OH.
  3. Prioritise high-margin growth: push Technology and Copiers (36.9% margin) over Furniture.

The “so what?”

Sales grew 11% a year, but profit depends more on discounting and mix than on volume. Fixing both is the clearest route to higher margin.

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