Report of the Week - What-If Analysis (Influence of Discount over Sales)

Report of the Week - What-If Analysis (Influence of Discount over Sales)

When an archer is aiming to hit the bullseye (or a sniper, her target), she has to consider external factors like gravity, wind direction and wind speed. Similarly, when running your business, you will have to ask various questions. Have you aligned yourself against all external factors, when it comes to meeting your target? Should you raise the price, or increase the production to make more money in the current market trend? By how much percentage? Is it the right time to run a marketing campaign?


Would it not be easier if you knew what the outcome can be when you undertake such a change? What-if Analysis helps you evaluate such options. It shows you how external changes might affect the outcome of a decision you are about to take.


What can be done?

What-if Analysis shows what might happen if one or more factors change. It lets you know the impact of various factors on your business and gives you an idea of what needs to be done.


Here are a few scenarios where What-if Analysis can help you.


  • You are planning for a sales day. Based on your previous sales, you can measure the impact of discount percent on your revenue and learn what percent of discount makes people buy more. And you can set your discount percentage to an optimal value so that it leads to maximum profit for you.

  • You have spent various amount on marketing over the months, which affects the leads gained in each month. With What-If analysis, you can learn what will happen if you increase or decrease the expenses.

  • You have multiple teams working on different projects. There will be different billing prices and hours per week, each team member might be working for.  You can check the time and money needed for each member - project combination and choose the best combination out of it to assign projects.

  • You have projected sales for the next six months. There is a possibility of your revenue increasing or decreasing and you can know with What-if analysis how much your revenue would be, based on percentage increase/decrease.

  • And much more...


Now, let's see how to implement the first example of measuring the impact of discount percentages on your revenue.



How to do What-if Analysis

You can easily set up a What-if report by following the steps here.


Step 1: Creating Variables


As we said earlier, What-if Analysis is to show the outcome when one or more parameter value changes. To parameterize dynamic inputs, you need to store all the possible values in a placeholder named Variable.

Here, we have created two variables to apply the change in discount percentage and sales volume. 


Discount Percentage

Create a variable with a range of discount percentages you are planning to provide. We have set the Range between 5 to 50 with an Increment Size of 5. And the Default Value is set as 10




If you plan to have different discounts for each product category, you need to create different variable for each category.



Sales Volume
Create a variable with a range of possible sales volume change. We have set the Range between -50 to +50 with an Increment Size of 5. And the Default Value is set as 0.



Step 2: Creating Aggregate Formulas


Construct an Aggregate Formula to compute your metrics. Insert the variables appropriately in the formula to visualize the impact as the dynamic value changes. You can specify different calculations for each value or a range of values.  

The following is the formula to calculate the sales after discount.

 

sum( "Sales"."Sales" )-(sum( "Sales"."Sales" )/ 100 )* ${Discount %} *(1+${Sales Volume}/100


If you have different product categories, then use the following formula to calculate the Sales after discount for all products with different discounts. 


Sum( "Sales"."Sales" )

-(sumif( "Sales"."Product Category" = 'Furniture' , "Sales"."Sales",   0 )/ 100 * ${Furniture Discount %} )

-(sumif( "Sales"."Product Category " = 'Stationery',   "Sales"."Sales",   0 )/ 100 * ${Stationery discount %} )

-(sumif( "Sales"."Product Category" = ' Grocery', "Sales"."Sales",   0 )/ 100 * ${Grocery Discount %}))*(1+${Sales Volume}/100 )


Step 3: Creating Report


Create the What-if report using the Aggregate Formula in Step 2.
  • X-Axis - Date with Month & Year
  • Y-Axis - Sales with Sum and Sales After Discount (Aggregate Formula with variable) with Actual



Report will be created as shown below. Sales after Discount will be calculated with a 10% discount based on the Variable's default value.



Apply Forecast for next one month to see the prediction for the upcoming month. 



Now, how do you dynamically change the input for the reports? We will see how it's to be done in the following step.

Step 4: Adding Variable as User Filter


Add the discount variables we had defined in Step 1 as User Filters in the report. Each User Filter will be in the form of a slider and will list the discount values in steps of 5. As you change the input (discount percentage) by moving each slider, the report will get re-generated dynamically based on the appropriate calculations defined in Step 2.



The final report will be as shown here. As you drag the What-If Variable sliders (the User Filters at the top), the total sales after discount will be calculated based on the values.


Now you have the privilege to know what might be the outcome of your sale month. And you are one step closer to a discount campaign run successfully!



    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community




                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts



                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • Tip of the Week - Spot Risky Sales with Conditional Formatting

                                                              In Zoho Analytics, small tweaks can lead to big insights. One such feature is Conditional formatting based on other columns, your key to instantly spotting where sales success is overshadowed by product returns. Our tip this week shows you how to apply


                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                              Zoho Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                              • Recent Topics

                                                                                                              • Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

                                                                                                                Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles
                                                                                                              • AI Interview Insights: Turn Recorded Interviews into Quick Transcripts & Summaries

                                                                                                                Evaluating interviews shouldn’t require replaying long recordings or taking manual notes. With AI Interview Insights, you can now review complete transcripts and AI-generated summaries of your One-way (Recorded) interviews right inside Zoho Recruit. This
                                                                                                              • Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

                                                                                                                Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook
                                                                                                              • Introducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers

                                                                                                                We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,
                                                                                                              • Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

                                                                                                                Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the
                                                                                                              • Request for Auto PO - Min–Max based Automated Purchase Feature

                                                                                                                Dear Zoho POS Team, I’m writing to request a feature enhancement that would significantly streamline inventory management for businesses using Zoho POS — particularly supermarkets, FMCG retail, and multi-store operations like ours. Feature Requested:
                                                                                                              • Canva Integration

                                                                                                                Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,
                                                                                                              • Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of
                                                                                                              • HubSpot CRM to Zoho Creator Integration

                                                                                                                I'm trying to create an integration between HubSpot CRM and Zoho Creator with HubSpot being the push source (if a contact is created or updated in HubSpot, it pushes the information to Zoho Creator). I have two questions: 1- Is it best to use Zoho Flow
                                                                                                              • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

                                                                                                                Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due
                                                                                                              • Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users
                                                                                                              • Gain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure

                                                                                                                Dear Customers, We hope you're well! Portals is a self-service avenue through which your clients can access and manage their direct and related data in Zoho CRM. This empowers them to be more independent and enables them to experience a sense of transparency
                                                                                                              • Ticket Status email

                                                                                                                Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for the
                                                                                                              • Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

                                                                                                                La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant
                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk Limitations

                                                                                                                Good day, all, I would like to know whether others share my frustration with some of Zoho's limitations. Don't get me wrong, I like Desk (and I also have a subscription for Analytics), I have been with them for close to 10 years, and unfortunately, I
                                                                                                              • Item/service subtotal

                                                                                                                Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature
                                                                                                              • Converting Sales Order to Purchase Order

                                                                                                                Hi All, Firstly, this code works to convert a sales order(SO) to a purchase order (PO) via a button, however I am running into an issue when I convert the SO where the values from the line items are not pulled across from the SO to the PO. The ones in
                                                                                                              • how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

                                                                                                                Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try
                                                                                                              • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

                                                                                                                The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update
                                                                                                              • Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

                                                                                                                when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 
                                                                                                              • Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

                                                                                                                "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine
                                                                                                              • Publish to LinkedIn via API

                                                                                                                Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian
                                                                                                              • Future Orders - Due Date

                                                                                                                Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoning
                                                                                                              • FSM - Associating and selecting Contacts based on Service Addresses

                                                                                                                Hi FSM team, I've come across an FSM limitation I wanted to share for improvement. I'm currently configuring FSM for a client who provides heating system install and maintenance services. The are often sub contracted by building management companies to
                                                                                                              • 日本語フォントの選択肢拡充についての要望

                                                                                                                日本語フォントの選択肢がとても少ないと感じたことはありませんか? 多くのアプリ(たとえば Invoice)ではフォントが1種類しかなく、正直あまり使いやすい・見た目が良いとも言えません。 そろそろ、もっと多くの日本語フォントを追加してほしい、そしてすべてのアプリで同じフォント選択肢を使えるようにしてほしいと、私たちユーザーが声を上げる時期だと思います。 ご存じのとおり、現状ではアプリごとにフォント周りの仕様にほとんど一貫性がありません。 みなさん、一緒に要望を出していきましょう!
                                                                                                              • Do Unpublished Products in Shopify Sync to Zoho POS?

                                                                                                                Will an unpublished product in Shopify sync to Zoho POS? I would like to know how Zoho POS handles products that are in draft/unpublished status in Shopify.
                                                                                                              • Problem in Zoho POS frontend ERP.

                                                                                                                We are facing some difficulties in our billing and inventory processes and require your support to resolve them at the earliest. Customer Advance Payments We receive advance payments from customers for upcoming sales. Please guide us on how to record
                                                                                                              • How to create estimates/Invoices with sub-totals

                                                                                                                Every other accounting package can create estimates and invoices with Sub-totals. How can I do that in ZohoBooks?
                                                                                                              • Categorize Items with Item Headers

                                                                                                                Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title.  Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates.  To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, Invoices
                                                                                                              • Emails sent through Bigin are not posting in IMAP Sent folder

                                                                                                                I have set up my email to work from within Bigin using IMAP.  I am using IMAP so I can sync my email across multiple devices - phone / laptop / desktop / iPad / etc.  I want all my emails to populate my email client (outlook & iphone email) whether or
                                                                                                              • Ask the Experts 26: Brighten every customer interaction with Zoho Desk all year long

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, Greetings and welcome to Ask the Experts 26. As we wrap up 2025, we are excited to invite you to the 26th episode of our Ask the Expert series. 🎄The Merry Metrics Edition = Best of Zoho Desk [Best Practices + Holiday Automation + Year-End
                                                                                                              • Painfully Slow Zoho mail

                                                                                                                Since yesterday Zoho Mail seems to have starting functioning very slowly and having a few bugs. It's slow to open mails, slow to send, slow to change between email accounts. Sometimes clicking on a particular folder (eg Sent folder) stops working and
                                                                                                              • Study in Netherlands for International Students – Admission, Costs, Visa & Experience

                                                                                                                Dutch university fees are an important factor for anyone planning to study in Netherlands, especially international students comparing costs across Europe. Tuition varies depending on nationality, program type, and whether you choose a research university
                                                                                                              • GPS tracking only or Check out facility

                                                                                                                Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin
                                                                                                              • Can I use a Standalone CRM Function as the Callback URL For Async Export Data API?

                                                                                                                I am creating an export job using this API https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/v2/bulk-api/export-data-async/create-export/view-id.html There is a "callbackUrl" key in the CONFIG object. I tried copying the URL for a standalone function in CRM which can
                                                                                                              • Discount on the transaction level in POS

                                                                                                                "Is it possible to apply a discount on the total bill before tax in Zoho POS?" I want to apply a discount on the total transaction amount in Zoho POS, but the discount should be calculated before the taxes are applied. Is there an option to do this in
                                                                                                              • Zoho DataPrep switching Date Format

                                                                                                                When using a pipeline that is importing Zoho Analytics data into Zoho DataPrep, the month and day of date fields are switched for some columns. For example, a Zoho Analytics record of "Nov. 8, 2025" will appear in Zoho DataPrep as "2025/08/11" in "yyyy/MM/dd"
                                                                                                              • Create Tasklist with Tasklist Template using API v3

                                                                                                                In the old API, we could mention the parameter 'task_template_id' when creating a tasklist via API to apply a tasklist template: https://www.zoho.com/projects/help/rest-api/tasklists-api.html#create-tasklist In API v3 there does not seem to be a way to
                                                                                                              • Introducing Dedicated Modules for Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing

                                                                                                                We’ve enhanced the way you manage Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing. Previously, all three grouped together under Subscription Items. Now, each one has its own dedicated module, giving you a cleaner and more intuitive experience. This update
                                                                                                              • Send Automated WhatsApp Messages and Leverage the Improved WhatsApp Templates

                                                                                                                Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce a major upgrade to Bigin's WhatsApp integration that brings more flexibility, interactivity, and automation to your customer messaging. WhatsApp message automation You can now use
                                                                                                              • Next Page