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 conditional formatting across columns to uncover products and categories that look like top performers in sales but reveal a different story once returns are factored in.

The Big Picture

High sales don’t always mean healthy business. A category may dominate revenue, but if product return rates are unusually high, your profits and customer trust take a hit. Looking only at sales hides this risk. 

Conditional formatting based on return rates bridges that gap. It helps you go beyond surface numbers and focus on product quality and customer experience.

In this demo, we’ll start with a pivot table arranged as follows:

Columns: Month

Rows: Product Category

Data: Sales (USD), Return Rate (%)

Get ready to see how sales dominance changes month to month and how return rates reveal a deeper layer of truth.

We’ll highlight three eye-catching zones using conditional formatting:

1. Healthy Zone - Low returns
2. Warning Zone - Rising returns
3. Critical Risk - Unacceptable return rates

By the end of this demo, sales won’t just be tall bars on your pivot; they’ll instantly tell you which categories are fueling sustainable growth, and which ones are silently eroding your margins.

Check out the video here:

Steps to Apply

1. Open your Pivot Table.
   
2. Creating Return Rate Formula:
   
1. Click Add Aggregate Formula.
   
2. Enter Formula name as Return Rate.
   
3. Define the metric as below:
   
sum("Sales return Data"."Returns Qty")/(sum("Sales return Data"."Sales Qty"))*100
This formula calculates the percentage of sold items that were returned, giving you the Return Rate % for each product category and month in your pivot.
4. Click Save.
   
   
3. Set up your pivot table as shown below.
1. Columns: Month
2. Rows: Product Category
3. Data: Sales (USD), Return Rate (%)
   
   
4. Hide the Return Rate % column from the pivot as shown below.
   
   
5. Click Visuals and select Only Data Bars.
6. Right-click on any Sales cell and select Conditional Formatting.
   
   
7. In the Conditional Formatting dialog, under Based On, choose Return Rate (%).
   
8. Define three conditions based on the following zones:
1. Critical Risk - Set the condition as Greater than or Equal to 10 and choose Red fill in Additional Formatting options.
   
2. Warning Zone - Set the condition as Between 5 to 10 and choose Amber fill.
   
3. Healthy Zone - Set the condition as Less Than or Equal To 5 to 10 and choose Amber fill.
   
   
9. Click OK to save the conditions.
   

What you should see

1. Green Sales Bars where return rates are low → sustainable business.
   
2. Amber Bars where returns are rising → early warning.
   
3. Red Bars where sales are hit by high returns → high-priority fix.
   

With one glance, your pivot now tells a double story: who’s leading in sales and who’s at risk due to high returns.

Best Practices

1. Highlight what matters most: Focus on key risk signals like high return rates or unexpected spikes. This keeps the pivot sharp and attention where it belongs.
2. Use KPI-driven thresholds: Base your rules on meaningful KPIs (like Profit Margin % or Return Rate %), not arbitrary numbers. This ensures the colors always map to business impact.
3. Keep colors intuitive: Stick to natural associations: Green = Healthy, Red = Risk, Orange = Caution. This makes insights instantly recognizable for everyone.
4. Pair visuals for impact: Don’t stop at colors. Combine conditional formatting with Data Bars to highlight magnitude, or Sparklines to reveal trends over time. Layering visuals makes patterns clearer without adding extra clutter.
5. Test across different data ranges: For broader cues, try Color Bands to show intensity (like a heatmap of return rates) or Icon Bands to flag quick signals
6. Avoid overlapping rules: Overlaps can confuse users. Keep each condition distinct to avoid conflicting colors on the same cell.
7. Explore Color Bands and Icon Bands: If you want a broader visual cue beyond rule-based formatting, try Color Band (gradient shades that show intensity, like heatmaps) or Icon Band (symbols that signal performance trends). These are especially effective where quick scanning matters more than raw numbers.
8. Think ahead for storytelling: Design your formatting with the end reader in mind. The goal isn’t to decorate numbers; it’s to tell a story at first glance.
   

When done right, conditional formatting turns pivots into a decision board. Your wins glow green, your risks flash red, and your opportunities pop out without a single extra click.

Keep Exploring

1. Help Documentation
1. Pivot Tables in Zoho Analytics 
2. Conditional Formatting in Pivot 
3. Visuals in Pivot
2. Help Videos
1. Creating Pivot tables
2. Adding Visuals in Pivot table

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