Compare and rank
Grouped / clustered column chart
Places separate series side by side within each category or period.
- Chart
- Comparison
- Trend over time
What it answers
How do several series compare in each period?
- Shape
- Groups of vertical columns
- What it shows
- Series leaders and changing gaps.
Example
The question
In which quarters did online sales beat store sales?
Sales by channel and quarter, 2025 (EUR million)
Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.
When to use it
Use it when
Comparing a few measures with common units over a few periods.
Avoid it when
Too many periods or series make columns too narrow.
How to read it
Read each cluster as a period and compare column heights within it.
The data you need
- Layout
- Long table
- Fields
- Category or ordered position: text/date; Series: text; Value: number
- One row is
- One series value within one category or position. What is the grain?
- Rules
- Use one value per category-series pair after aggregation. Define category and series order.
- Optional
- Wide alternative: Category,North,South with one row per category.
- Preparation
- Validate the input grain and missing values. Use one value per category-series pair after aggregation. Define category and series order.
- Units
- Use the measured variable's stated unit consistently. No denominator is implied unless the value is a rate or proportion.
Worked example
Data Jan: North=30, South=45; Feb: North=34, South=40. South remains higher but its lead shrinks from 15 to 6.
| Category | Series | Value |
|---|---|---|
| A | North | 30 |
| A | South | 45 |
| B | North | 34 |
| B | South | 40 |