14. Visuals and Their Formatting
14.9 Funnel Chart
In short: A funnel chart shows stages that get smaller.
Start with a problem
Ruhi Bagale wants to show where orders drop out: placed, then delivered, then delivered within 10 minutes.
Explain simply
A funnel chart shows stages that get smaller. Each bar is a stage; the label shows its value and % of the first stage.
Show the data
| Stage | Orders |
|---|---|
| Placed | 8 |
| Delivered | 7 |
| Under 10 min | 3 |
About this data: This table uses columns: Stage, Orders. This table uses columns: Stage, Value, % of first. This table uses columns: Wrong result, Reason, Correction. Values shown are the lesson examples already on this page (not a new dataset).
Fictional sample data. Practice file: visuals_orders_apr_may_2026.csv (source: src/practice/).
Demonstrate
- Create three measures:
Placed = COUNTROWS(Orders),Delivered = CALCULATE(COUNTROWS(Orders), Orders[Status] = "Delivered"),Under 10 = CALCULATE([Delivered], Orders[Delivery Mins] <= 10). - Use Home › Enter data to create a small
Stagetable (Placed, Delivered, Under 10 min) with a sort order 1–3. - Create
Stage Value = SWITCH(SELECTEDVALUE(Stage[Stage]), "Placed", [Placed], "Delivered", [Delivered], "Under 10 min", [Under 10]). - Insert Funnel: Category
Stage[Stage], ValuesStage Value. Sort by the sort-order column.
Show the result
Your result should look like this (fictional sample):
| Stage | Value | % of first |
|---|---|---|
| Placed | 8 | 100% |
| Delivered | 7 | 87.5% |
| Under 10 min | 3 | 37.5% |
Explain what happened
Each funnel bar evaluates Stage Value with one stage selected, so SWITCH returns the matching measure. Power BI then divides each value by the first stage.
Explore further
- If your data already has a Stage column (for example a CRM pipeline), drop it straight into Category.
Detailed reference for this lesson:
Shows sequential stages that narrow down.
- Field wells: Category, Values, Tooltips.
- Example: Category = Order Stage (Placed, Packed, Out for delivery, Delivered), Values = Total Orders. It reveals where orders are lost (cancellations).
- Avoid when stages are not sequential, or for comparing unrelated categories.
- Formatting: Colors, Data labels (value and % of first/previous), Conversion rate label.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Friends, many students build a funnel from stages that are not really sequential, which makes the drop-off percentages meaningless. Use a funnel only for true step-by-step processes (App visit, then Cart, then Checkout, then Delivered) and check that each stage is a subset of the previous one. Keep this in mind!
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
मित्रांनो, बरेच students खरंतर एकामागोमाग नसलेल्या stages चा funnel बनवतात, त्यामुळे drop-off percentages ला अर्थ राहत नाही. Funnel फक्त खऱ्या step-by-step processes साठी वापरा (App visit, then Cart, then Checkout, then Delivered) आणि प्रत्येक stage आधीच्या stage चा भाग आहे हे चेक करा. लक्षात ठेवा!
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
दोस्तों, बहुत से students ऐसे stages से funnel बनाते हैं जो असल में एक के बाद एक नहीं होते, जिससे drop-off percentages का कोई मतलब नहीं रहता. Funnel सिर्फ़ असली step-by-step processes के लिए इस्तेमाल करो (App visit, then Cart, then Checkout, then Delivered) और check करो कि हर stage पिछले stage का हिस्सा हो. ध्यान रखना!
Fix common mistakes
| Wrong result | Reason | Correction |
|---|---|---|
| Stages in alphabetical order | Default sort | Sort by a stage-number column |
| Under 10 is larger than Delivered | Cancelled order counted in Under 10 | Build Under 10 on top of Delivered |
| Funnel shows a single bar | Stage field from an unrelated table without SWITCH | Use the SWITCH measure |
Practise independently
Practice task
Make the same funnel for Pune only.
Hints
- Pune orders: 301, 302, 306.
Solution
Placed 3, Delivered 3, Under 10 min 1 (301). 100%, then 100%, then 33.3%.
Think like a professional
Funnels make drop-off visible. In operations, the biggest drop (here delivered, then under 10) is where the improvement project goes.
Revision card