How to Forecast using Tableau?

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FORECASTING

Forecasting is about foreseeing the future value in each model. Many mathematical models are used for forecasting. At the same time, Tableau is one of the commanding, and precise data visualization tools mainly focused on generating data for the Business Intelligence Industry. 

When you are forecasting with a date, there can be only one base date in the view. Part dates are supported, but all parts must refer to the same underlying field. Dates can be on Rows, Columns, or Marks.

STEPS TO CREATE FORECASTING CHART WITH DATE

Here let’s see how we could forecast the Sales for next few years using date, with Superstore dataset from kaggle.

STEP 1:

Add Order Date to Columns, Category and Sales to Rows. You will be getting a yearly Category wise sales value chart.

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STEP 2:

Add Region into color, so that we could see region wise categories sales.

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STEP 3:

From Analysis tab, select Forecast and then Show Forecast

Analysis --> Forecast --> Show Forecast

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STEP 4:

You will be getting actual and estimated forecasts by default for next year as shown below.

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STEP 5:

By default forecasts for the next 5 quarters will be displayed. To get the next few years of forecasts, we have to select  Analysis  –->  Forecast  –-> Forecast Options

We could Select exactly how many years of forecast we want to appear and I selected Exactly 2 years.

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STEP 6:

Category wise forecasting for next 2 years of sales is ready to view. Add it to Dashboard and publish it in the tableau public  Forecast Chart.

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Limitations

Forecasting is not supported for Multidimensional data sources. In Tableau Desktop, multidimensional data sources are supported only in Windows.

You can publish a view that contains a forecast, and see the forecast when you view or edit the view on the web, but you cannot modify or add a forecast when you are editing a view on the web.

In addition, you cannot add a forecast to a view if it contains any of the following:

• Table calculations

• Disaggregated measures

• Percent calculations

• Grand Totals or Subtotals

• Date values with aggregation set to Exact Date

Conclusion

In conclusion, forecasting is a crucial tool for businesses to make informed decisions and plan for their future. Using the right volume of data is essential for better prediction and estimations required for future business adaptabilities. Forecasting in Tableau automatically tries to analyze historical data and predict the market trend.

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