Funnel Chart
A funnel chart shows how many people or items reach each stage of a process. It often narrows as people leave the process, such as visitors moving through signup, trial, and payment.
Calculate conversion with a clear denominator
The example starts with 1,000 visitors and ends with 40 paid accounts. Overall conversion is 40 divided by 1,000, or 4%.
Stage conversion asks a different question. Of the 120 people who start a trial, 40 pay. Trial-to-paid conversion is about 33.3%. Name the starting stage whenever you report a rate.
Make the stages comparable
Use a defined group and observation window. Decide whether stages must happen in order and whether a person can count more than once. A funnel built from unrelated monthly event totals may not represent anyone's actual journey.
Keep stages in process order. Sorting them by size can conceal a tracking problem or change the meaning of the process.
Read the values as well as the shape
Funnel shapes can exaggerate apparent losses. Check the labels and the scale used for width. Do not infer conversion from the area of a trapezoid.
Use a bar chart if exact count comparisons matter most. Use a Sankey diagram when the process branches into different paths.
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