Tableau Story #2 – Profit Margin Deep Dive on Accessories Subcategories

This Tableau Story focused on analyzing profit margin dynamics across accessory subcategories, with a special emphasis on Locks and Pumps—two products that underperformed across several business metrics. The story begins by showing that accessories as a whole had the highest profit margins among all product categories, highlighting the importance of understanding which subcategories drive or drag overall profitability.

From there, we broke down the accessories category and found that while most subcategories like fenders, bike stands, and tubes had strong profit margins, locks and pumps consistently ranked at the bottom. Further analysis revealed that these two subcategories didn’t have the lowest standard costs, which ruled out cost as the main issue. Additionally, they had the lowest gross revenue, indicating poor sales performance. Interestingly, their average list price fell near the middle of the range, suggesting pricing was not overly aggressive or discounted.

The takeaway from this dashboard was that locks and pumps may not be worth prioritizing due to their poor margins and weak sales, and it may be beneficial to either phase them out or revisit their design, placement, or promotional strategy. This Tableau Story taught me how to connect cost, pricing, and sales data to assess product-level performance, and how to use data storytelling to build a clear, evidence-backed business case.