# Sales by trend

> **You need:** *Sales reports*.

Sales by trend lays the period out as a Monday-to-Sunday matrix, broken down by category.

## What it's for

Totals hide the shape of a week. This report shows it: which days carry the business, which are quiet, and whether that differs by category.

It is the report to use for decisions that are **about the week** rather than about the total — staffing, opening hours, when to run a promotion.

## Reading the matrix

Rows are categories, columns are days of the week. The useful reading is across a row: a category that is flat all week behaves differently from one that spikes at the weekend.

Over a multi-week range each weekday aggregates all its occurrences, so a four-week range gives you four Mondays combined. That is what makes the pattern readable rather than noisy.

## Watch the range length

An uneven range distorts the matrix. Thirty days contains five of some weekdays and four of others, so those columns are not comparable.

> Use whole weeks when you want to compare days. Use any range you like when you only want each day's total.

## What to do with it

| Pattern | Worth considering |
|---|---|
| One weekday consistently quiet | A promotion aimed at that day, or reduced staffing |
| Weekend-heavy in one category only | Menu or pricing specific to those days |
| A day that changed shape recently | Compare against an earlier range before assuming a trend |

## Related pages

- [Sales report](/books/console-yF7/page/sales-report) — the total behind the pattern
- [Product sales report](/books/console-yF7/page/product-sales-report) — which articles drive each category
- [Operations report](/books/console-yF7/page/operations-report) — the shape of a single day, hour by hour