What is a funnel chart?

A funnel chart visualizes how a population shrinks step by step through a sequence, drawn in the shape of a funnel. It's powerful when you want to see "of 100 who entered, how many remained" — marketing customer journeys, sales pipelines, web flows, hiring processes, and similar.

Read the rates, not the shape

The real value of a funnel is the conversion rate between stages. Use it less for the visual flourish and more as a tool to find where the biggest drop-off is happening.

When to use it

Marketing funnel

Awareness → interest → consideration → purchase → repeat. Useful for measuring campaign effectiveness.

Sales pipeline

Lead → meeting → proposal → won. See yield at each phase.

Hiring process

Application → resume pass → first interview → final → offer → joined. Re-examine drop-offs.

E-commerce purchase flow

View product → cart → checkout → completed. Identify the leakage point.

Tips for making one well

1. Order steps chronologically, top to bottom

A funnel encodes the flow of time. The top is "first," the bottom is "last." Reorder and the meaning collapses, so choose step names and order with care.

2. Be clear about what the CVR's "denominator" is

There are two kinds of conversion rate:
① Stage-to-stage (conversion rate): previous stage → this stage. Use this for measuring tactic effectiveness.
② vs. start (retention): first stage → this stage. Use this for overall yield.
This tool can display both.

3. Treat big drops as bottlenecks

A stage with an unusually low stage-to-stage rate is the critical point for improvement. For example, if "cart → purchase" only retains 30%, the bottleneck is likely the form, shipping options, or payment methods — and that's what to investigate.

4. Aim for five to seven stages

Too many stages and the bottom is barely a sliver, with rates hard to read. Consolidate to five to seven stages, or split into sub-funnels.

FAQ

A funnel chart assumes monotonic decrease. When counts may grow mid-flow (e.g., re-subscriptions after cancellation), a bar chart or line chart will convey the picture more accurately.

This tool prominently displays the "previous → current" rate at the right of each stage, and shows the overall (vs.-start) rate only at the final stage. To avoid confusion, always state the denominator explicitly in the legend when the chart appears in a report.

Horizontal bar mode is an alternative to the funnel form, often making the same data easier to compare quantitatively. Use the trapezoid shape for visual impact; use horizontal bars for quantitative comparison.

Yes — use "Add funnel" to display multiple channel funnels side by side. Step names are shared, and you enter values per channel (e.g., Search / Social / Email) so differences in conversion rate become obvious at a glance.

Make a Funnel Chart