What is a pivot table?

A pivot table is a powerful and flexible tool used in spreadsheets to summarize, analyze, and present large amounts of data in a more organized and easy-to-understand format. Think of it as a magic wand that helps you quickly rearrange and explore your data to find meaningful insights and patterns. 

Let’s say you own a chain of coffee shops, and you have a long list of sales data with details like date, product, location, and revenue.  

With a pivot table, you can effortlessly group this data by different categories – like location or product – and calculate key metrics like total revenue, average sales, or top-selling items. 

Imagine wanting to know which coffee shop location has the highest total revenue. Instead of scrolling through thousands of rows and using complex formulas, you can create a pivot table that neatly organizes the data by location and calculates the sum of revenues for each one. You can also quickly change the way the data is displayed, for example, by swapping out location for product type to see the best-selling products across all your shops. 

In summary, pivot tables help you make sense of large data sets by allowing you to quickly summarize, analyze, and reorganize information in an intuitive way. This invaluable tool can save you time and effort, making data-driven decision-making easier and more efficient.