Recipe Tableau and SQL

Which few products make most of your revenue?

Total revenue per product, sort from largest to smallest, and divide the running total by the grand total. In this store, 12 of 40 products (30%) make 80% of revenue: not quite 80/20, which is normal.

Updated October 30, 2026

The data

Kettle & Burr coffee-gear store, orders in 2025

Synthetic dataorders.csv

A small online store selling 40 products: brewers, grinders, kettles, beans and accessories. 1,200 orders in 2025.

`order_id`	`order_date`	`product`	`category`	`quantity`	`revenue`
O-10946	2025-01-01	Paper Filters 100	Filters & Care	1	13.76
O-10304	2025-01-02	AeroPress Go	Brewers	1	61.55
O-10657	2025-01-02	Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	Beans	3	58.68
O-10912	2025-01-02	Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	Beans	1	19.56

Step 1

Total each product

Each bar is one product's total for the year. A few tall bars, then a long tail: that shape is what Pareto analysis measures.

Tableau

SUM([revenue])

The xmetric engine ran this formula and got the SQL’s Revenue column, row for row.

SQL

SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
FROM input
GROUP BY product

Rows

Product	Revenue
AeroPress Go	$11,264
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	$11,032
Burr Grinder Pro	$8,964
Gooseneck Kettle Electric	$7,921
Paper Filters 100	$2,119
Pour-Over Dripper	$1,734
House Espresso 1kg	$1,664
Travel Tumbler	$1,585
Grinder Brush Set	$1,555
Tamper 58mm	$1,510
Hand Grinder Mini	$1,453
Gooseneck Kettle Stovetop	$1,286
Coaster Set	$1,219
Clever Dripper	$966
Kenya AA 250g	$962
Burr Grinder Lite	$953
Milk Frother	$751
Decaf Swiss Water 250g	$739
Siphon Brewer	$685
Glass Server 600ml	$644
Coffee Scale	$536
French Press 1L	$514
Chemex 8-Cup	$464
Storage Canister	$459
Cold Brew Jar	$420
Moka Pot 6-Cup	$363
Filter Holder	$361
Cloth Filter 2-Pack	$322
Ceramic Mug	$284
Guatemala Antigua 250g	$260
Colombia Huila 250g	$255
Travel Kettle	$219
Gift Card 50	$163
Knock Box	$134
Barista Apron	$132
Latte Art Pitcher	$108
Cleaning Tablets	$101
Brazil Santos 1kg	$86
Seasonal Single Origin 250g	$71
Descaler	$70

Step 2

Add up from the top

The line is the share of the year's total covered so far. Compute it in descending order of the bars; in Tableau, set Compute Using to product and sort product by the measure, descending.

Tableau

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([revenue])) / TOTAL(SUM([revenue]))

SQL

WITH t AS (
  SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
  FROM input
  GROUP BY product
)
SELECT
  product,
  total,
  SUM(total) OVER (ORDER BY total DESC, product ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
    / SUM(total) OVER () AS cumulative_share
FROM t
ORDER BY total DESC, product

Rows

Product	Revenue	Cumulative share
AeroPress Go	$11,264	17.5%
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	$11,032	34.7%
Burr Grinder Pro	$8,964	48.6%
Gooseneck Kettle Electric	$7,921	60.9%
Paper Filters 100	$2,119	64.2%
Pour-Over Dripper	$1,734	66.9%
House Espresso 1kg	$1,664	69.5%
Travel Tumbler	$1,585	72%
Grinder Brush Set	$1,555	74.4%
Tamper 58mm	$1,510	76.7%
Hand Grinder Mini	$1,453	79%
Gooseneck Kettle Stovetop	$1,286	81%
Coaster Set	$1,219	82.9%
Clever Dripper	$966	84.4%
Kenya AA 250g	$962	85.9%
Burr Grinder Lite	$953	87.3%
Milk Frother	$751	88.5%
Decaf Swiss Water 250g	$739	89.7%
Siphon Brewer	$685	90.7%
Glass Server 600ml	$644	91.7%
Coffee Scale	$536	92.6%
French Press 1L	$514	93.4%
Chemex 8-Cup	$464	94.1%
Storage Canister	$459	94.8%
Cold Brew Jar	$420	95.4%
Moka Pot 6-Cup	$363	96%
Filter Holder	$361	96.6%
Cloth Filter 2-Pack	$322	97.1%
Ceramic Mug	$284	97.5%
Guatemala Antigua 250g	$260	97.9%
Colombia Huila 250g	$255	98.3%
Travel Kettle	$219	98.7%
Gift Card 50	$163	98.9%
Knock Box	$134	99.1%
Barista Apron	$132	99.3%
Latte Art Pitcher	$108	99.5%
Cleaning Tablets	$101	99.6%
Brazil Santos 1kg	$86	99.8%
Seasonal Single Origin 250g	$71	99.9%
Descaler	$70	100%

Step 3

Turn products into a share too

With both axes as shares, any dataset fits the same square. Where the curve crosses the cutoff line, read off the share of products that got you there.

Tableau

INDEX() / SIZE()

SQL

WITH t AS (
  SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
  FROM input
  GROUP BY product
), r AS (
  SELECT
    product,
    total,
    ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY total DESC, product) AS k,
    COUNT(*) OVER () AS n,
    SUM(total) OVER (ORDER BY total DESC, product ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
      / SUM(total) OVER () AS cumulative_share
  FROM t
)
SELECT product, k * 1.0 / n AS product_share, cumulative_share
FROM r
ORDER BY k

Rows

Product	Product share	Cumulative share
AeroPress Go	2.5%	17.5%
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	5%	34.7%
Burr Grinder Pro	7.5%	48.6%
Gooseneck Kettle Electric	10%	60.9%
Paper Filters 100	12.5%	64.2%
Pour-Over Dripper	15%	66.9%
House Espresso 1kg	17.5%	69.5%
Travel Tumbler	20%	72%
Grinder Brush Set	22.5%	74.4%
Tamper 58mm	25%	76.7%
Hand Grinder Mini	27.5%	79%
Gooseneck Kettle Stovetop	30%	81%
Coaster Set	32.5%	82.9%
Clever Dripper	35%	84.4%
Kenya AA 250g	37.5%	85.9%
Burr Grinder Lite	40%	87.3%
Milk Frother	42.5%	88.5%
Decaf Swiss Water 250g	45%	89.7%
Siphon Brewer	47.5%	90.7%
Glass Server 600ml	50%	91.7%
Coffee Scale	52.5%	92.6%
French Press 1L	55%	93.4%
Chemex 8-Cup	57.5%	94.1%
Storage Canister	60%	94.8%
Cold Brew Jar	62.5%	95.4%
Moka Pot 6-Cup	65%	96%
Filter Holder	67.5%	96.6%
Cloth Filter 2-Pack	70%	97.1%
Ceramic Mug	72.5%	97.5%
Guatemala Antigua 250g	75%	97.9%
Colombia Huila 250g	77.5%	98.3%
Travel Kettle	80%	98.7%
Gift Card 50	82.5%	98.9%
Knock Box	85%	99.1%
Barista Apron	87.5%	99.3%
Latte Art Pitcher	90%	99.5%
Cleaning Tablets	92.5%	99.6%
Brazil Santos 1kg	95%	99.8%
Seasonal Single Origin 250g	97.5%	99.9%
Descaler	100%	100%

Revenue share to explain80%50%95%

Step 4

Label the A, B and C products

A products carry the business, B products support it, C products are the tail. The product that crosses the cutoff is the first B product; some teams count it as A.

Tableau

IF RUNNING_SUM(SUM([revenue])) / TOTAL(SUM([revenue])) <= 0.8 THEN "A"
ELSEIF RUNNING_SUM(SUM([revenue])) / TOTAL(SUM([revenue])) <= 0.95 THEN "B"
ELSE "C"
END

SQL

WITH t AS (
  SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
  FROM input
  GROUP BY product
), r AS (
  SELECT
    product,
    total,
    SUM(total) OVER (ORDER BY total DESC, product ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
      / SUM(total) OVER () AS cumulative_share
  FROM t
)
SELECT
  product,
  total,
  CASE
    WHEN cumulative_share <= 0.8 THEN 'A'
    WHEN cumulative_share <= 0.95 THEN 'B'
    ELSE 'C'
    END AS segment
FROM r
ORDER BY total DESC, product

Rows

Product	Revenue	Segment
AeroPress Go	$11,264	A
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g	$11,032	A
Burr Grinder Pro	$8,964	A
Gooseneck Kettle Electric	$7,921	A
Paper Filters 100	$2,119	A
Pour-Over Dripper	$1,734	A
House Espresso 1kg	$1,664	A
Travel Tumbler	$1,585	A
Grinder Brush Set	$1,555	A
Tamper 58mm	$1,510	A
Hand Grinder Mini	$1,453	A
Gooseneck Kettle Stovetop	$1,286	B
Coaster Set	$1,219	B
Clever Dripper	$966	B
Kenya AA 250g	$962	B
Burr Grinder Lite	$953	B
Milk Frother	$751	B
Decaf Swiss Water 250g	$739	B
Siphon Brewer	$685	B
Glass Server 600ml	$644	B
Coffee Scale	$536	B
French Press 1L	$514	B
Chemex 8-Cup	$464	B
Storage Canister	$459	B
Cold Brew Jar	$420	C
Moka Pot 6-Cup	$363	C
Filter Holder	$361	C
Cloth Filter 2-Pack	$322	C
Ceramic Mug	$284	C
Guatemala Antigua 250g	$260	C
Colombia Huila 250g	$255	C
Travel Kettle	$219	C
Gift Card 50	$163	C
Knock Box	$134	C
Barista Apron	$132	C
Latte Art Pitcher	$108	C
Cleaning Tablets	$101	C
Brazil Santos 1kg	$86	C
Seasonal Single Origin 250g	$71	C
Descaler	$70	C

Is it always 80/20?

Almost never exactly. In this store 12 products, 30% of the range, make 80% of revenue. Move the slider: the share of products you need rises fast near the top, because the tail is long and each extra product adds little.

Common mistake

The running total follows the wrong order

If the running total adds products alphabetically, the curve no longer bends and the cutoff picks the wrong products. Sort by the measure, descending, before the running total.

WrongStarts with AeroPress Go, Barista Apron, Brazil Santos 1kg…

Point at the line to read it.

Tableau

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([revenue])) / TOTAL(SUM([revenue]))
// Compute Using: product, sorted A-Z

SQL

WITH t AS (
  SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
  FROM input
  GROUP BY product
)
SELECT
  product,
  SUM(total) OVER (ORDER BY product ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
    / SUM(total) OVER () AS cumulative_share
FROM t
ORDER BY product

RightStarts with AeroPress Go, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe 250g, Burr Grinder Pro…

Point at the line to read it.

Tableau

RUNNING_SUM(SUM([revenue])) / TOTAL(SUM([revenue]))
// Compute Using: product, sorted by SUM(revenue) descending

SQL

WITH t AS (
  SELECT product, SUM(revenue) AS total
  FROM input
  GROUP BY product
)
SELECT
  product,
  SUM(total) OVER (ORDER BY total DESC, product ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING)
    / SUM(total) OVER () AS cumulative_share
FROM t
ORDER BY total DESC, product

Revenue or units?

Rank by the measure behind the decision. Switch Rank by to quantity and the picture changes: bags of beans sell the most units, while the Burr Grinder Pro, third by revenue, falls down the list.

Rank by

Point at the line to read it.

ABC

Common mistake

Ranking by units when the decision is about revenue

Switch Rank by to quantity: the coffee beans top the chart on units, while the Burr Grinder Pro drops from third. Rank by the measure you are deciding on.

Run it on your own data

Any export with an entity (product, customer, SKU) and a measure works, up to 100,000 rows. The panel below runs the whole file: it will sum revenue per product or customer, keep the positive totals, rank them and add both cumulative shares, ready to download as a CSV. It runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

How can I run Pareto analysis on my export?

Choose your CSV, drop it here or paste rows with headers. Match its columns to the analysis, and xmetric calculates the complete export in this browser. This panel accepts up to 100,000 rows; nothing is uploaded.

Definition. Sum values per entity; retain only positive entity totals; sort total descending with entity ascending as a tie-breaker. Cumulative entity share = 100 * row number / entity count. Cumulative value share = 100 * running sum / positive total. Worked result record · definition updated 2026-10-28.

Use my CSV

Paste CSV rows with headers

No own data loaded. Choose your export or try the labeled sample.

Questions

Does a Pareto analysis have to come out 80/20?

No. 80/20 is a rule of thumb, not a law. Real data lands anywhere from 60/20 to 95/10. The useful number is your own split, and how it moves when you change the cutoff.

Should I rank by revenue or by units?

Rank by the measure you are deciding on. Units and revenue rank products differently: in this store the most-sold product by units is not the top earner, and an expensive grinder ranks third by revenue on a small number of sales.

Why do I get a wrong curve in Tableau?

The running total must run in descending order of revenue. If Compute Using follows the product name instead, the curve climbs in alphabetical order and the cutoff lands on the wrong products.

Sources

Tableau: Build a Pareto chart checked October 30, 2026