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
Bar chart madhe sagalyat motha item varti yayla hava, pan khup students descending sort kartat aani to khali jaato. Bar chart sathi data ascending sort kara, kiwa vertical axis var Categories in reverse order tick kara. Column chart chi value axis nehmi 0 pasun suru theva.
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.