8.2 Column and Bar Charts
Column (vertical) – compare categories or show a few time periods. Bar (horizontal) – long category names or rankings.
| Variant | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Clustered | Compare series side by side | City sales per month |
| Stacked | Parts of a total | Blinkit + Amazon Now per city |
| 100% Stacked | Share within each category | Platform mix per city |
| Bar (sorted) | Ranking | Top 10 products |
Steps in Excel – ranked bar chart
- Sort the product summary ascending by sales (Excel draws the first row at the bottom of a bar chart).
- Insert › Charts › Insert Column or Bar Chart › Clustered Bar.
- Ctrl + 1 on the bars › Series Options › Gap Width 60%.
- + › Data Labels › Outside End; delete the horizontal axis and gridlines.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
In a bar chart, the biggest item should be at the top, but many students sort descending and it goes to the bottom. For a bar chart, sort the data ascending, or tick Categories in reverse order on the vertical axis. Always start a column chart's value axis at 0.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
Bar chart मध्ये सगळ्यात मोठा item वरती यायला हवा, पण बरेच students descending sort करतात आणि तो खाली जातो. Bar chart साठी data ascending sort करा, किंवा vertical axis वर Categories in reverse order tick करा. Column chart ची value axis नेहमी 0 पासून सुरू ठेवा.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
Bar chart में सबसे बड़ा item ऊपर आना चाहिए, पर बहुत से students descending sort करते हैं और वह नीचे चला जाता है. Bar chart के लिए data ascending sort करो, या vertical axis पर Categories in reverse order tick करो. Column chart की value axis हमेशा 0 से शुरू रखो.
Practice task
Make a ranked bar chart of the top 8 products with data labels, and a 100% stacked column chart of platform mix for the six cities.