Products Analysis reports

For managers and buyers · ~4 min read

Five reports over the same product sales data. They differ only in how the results are grouped — choose the one that matches the question.

Report	Groups by	Answers
Products Analysis	Nothing (with Dealer)	“What did we sell?”
Products Analysis by Branch	Branch	“Which branch sells what?”
Products Analysis by Customer	Customer	“What does this customer buy?”
Products Analysis by Report Category	Report category	“How are our categories performing?”
Products Analysis by Sales Rep	Sales rep	“What does each rep sell?”

Figure 1 — Products Ordered: one row per product line sold in the period, with its material and colour, the dealer it went to, the order it was on, quantity and amount.

Parameters

All five take Date From and Date To. Beyond that:

Report	Also takes
Products Analysis	Order Status
by Branch	Order Status
by Customer	—
by Report Category	Sales Reps
by Sales Rep	Order Status, Sales Reps

Order Status changes what you're measuring

Include quotes and you’re measuring what was offered. Restrict to accepted or invoiced statuses and you’re measuring what was sold. Two very different numbers — decide which you want before you run it.

Columns

The common set: Order · Date · Product · Material · Colour · Qty · Amount, plus the grouping column.

• by Customer adds Accepted Date and Product Group, and reports at product-group level.
• by Branch adds Customer.
• by Report Category and by Sales Rep add Sales Rep.
• Products Analysis adds Dealer.

How to read them

What each one is actually good for

• by Report Category — the range review. Which categories earn their shelf space.
• by Branch — differences in local demand, and whether one branch is missing a product the others sell well.
• by Customer — before a customer meeting, or to spot a trade account that’s stopped buying a line.
• by Sales Rep — who sells what. A rep selling only the cheap end is a coaching conversation.
• Products Analysis — the base list to export and pivot yourself.

Material and Colour are the buying columns — combined with Qty, they tell you what stock actually moves.

Common questions

Question	Answer
Totals differ between two of these	Check the Order Status filter — not all five have it.
A product is missing	Nothing sold in that window, or its status is excluded.
Numbers don’t match a sales report	Product reports count line items; sales reports count orders.

See also

• Top Materials Ordered
• Sales Orders By Date