How to Create a Tableau Funnel Chart? - In Easy Steps

There are a number of features and data analytics processes that make Tableau a better choice for data analysis and visualization. One such feature in data visualization is the tableau funnel chart.

Unlike other tools, tableau allows the user to merge different dimensions through calculated fields and make a simple-looking presentation more intuitive. Funnel charts provide a great way to represent complex data fields interacting with each other.

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What is a Tableau Funnel Chart?

A tableau funnel chart is a type of visualization that represents linear workflows in decreasing order. It visually represents the progression of a business process and helps the user get a systematic view of various data values.

Tableau funnels are a great way to identify various bottlenecks and track the progress of your business in multiple steps. There are mainly two types of Tableau pipeline visualizations or funnel charts:

• Stepped funnel chart: Stepped funnel represents the workflow in boxed format and is easy to create.

• Smooth funnel chart: Smooth or advanced funnel charts represent the information in a more interactive way. However, you’ll need a calculated field to create an advanced tableau funnel chart.

Now, let’s discuss how to make a funnel chart in tableau using a Sample_ Superstore dataset provided by tableau.

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How to create a Funnel Chart in Tableau?

Follow the steps to create a sales funnel tableau chart using the dataset mentioned above:

• Step 1. Open your Tableau desktop software and select Microsoft Excel as your dataset.
• Step 2. Load the sample_Superstore file, create relationships between the tables, and move on to the Worksheet.

• Step 3. Now, add the Sales dimension to the Row section and the Segment to the Color in the Marks section.

• Step 4. Now, drop the Sales dimension in the Size field of the Marks section. The Size field will convert the visualization into variable-sized blocks based on the Sales value.

• Step 5. In the toolbar, click on the highlighted dropdown menu and click on ‘Entire View’.

• Step 6. The funnel will appear on the entire worksheet of your Tableau Desktop.

• Step 7. Add both the Segment and Sales dimensions as labels in the Marks dimension. Now, each box in the funnel chart will display its segment along with the sales.

• Step 8. As shown in the above screenshot, the profit displayed by our funnel chart is in the form of numbers. But, what if you want to display it in a different format like the percentage, rank, moving average, or more? For that, you need to go to the Sales dropdown menu>> Quick Table Calculation and the format.

• Step 9. For demonstration, we’ve selected the Percent of Total format and the resulting funnel, and the Sales label was changed to percentage.

• Step 10. Here the label font size is very small, which makes it harder for the user to read profit and other numeric values. You can change the label font size and color from the format options in the dropdown menu.

• Step 11. You can also change the color of your labels from the same Format font menu and play around with other options.

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Now, let’s create a smooth tableau funnel chart with multiple measures and calculated fields.

How to create an Advanced Funnel Chart in Tableau?

Below is the step-by-step guide for creating an advanced funnel chart in Tableau:

• Step 1. Add a new worksheet and add the Sales and ship Mode dimensions to the respective rows & columns section.

• Step 2. Now, convert this horizontal chart into an Area chart from the dropdown menu under the Marks section.

• Step 3. Also, resize your Area chart by changing the View option from Standard to the Entire View.

• Step 4. The above visualization only shows the half or the positive part of the funnel chart. This is because the negative data values for the negative part are not present in the dataset. Therefore, we have to add those negative values based on the present data values.
• Step 5. For that, we’ll create a calculated Field from the Profit dropdown menu>> Create>> Calculated Field.

• Step 6. A dialog box will appear where you can name your calculated field and apply different formulas. Here, you have to write ‘-[Profit]’ as shown in the screenshot below, apply the changes and click on the OK button.

• Step 7. A dimension named negative sales will be added in the tables section. Now, drag the negative sales and drop it in the columns section. The entire funnel chart will be created on the interface.

• Step 8. Drag and drop the dimension Ship Mode as labels in the Marks section.

• Step 9. On the tableau, you can also add differences in each part of your smooth funnel chart. To do so, click on the Sales label and remove the Ship Mode label from it.

• Step 10. Now, you can add any other field like Sales Percentage to the positive part of the tableau funnel chart.
• Step 12. Simply, drop the Sales field in the SUM(Sales) label and select SUM(Sales)>> Quick Table calculation>> Percent of Total

• Step 13. The Sales value will change from numerics to a percentage. You can also change the color of each part of the funnel from the Colors field in the Marks section.

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Benefits of using a Tableau Funnel Chart

Following are the key benefits of using Tableau funnel charts in your tableau dashboards:

• Shows a natural progression of value over different stages of a project
• Used to see the upgrades and downgrades in different data variables, product performance, profitability, development, and more
• Used to find various bottlenecks in the business process
• Funnel charts are also used to rate potential customers and find the ones who will complete purchases.

Conclusion

Hope you got all the information regarding tableau funnel charts and understood the process of creating different types of funnel charts. These charts are widely used to represent processes like order fulfillment, priority-based workflow, sales performance, and more.