Dashboard Sankey chart

What it is

On the Dashboard, the Sankey chart is a visual explanation of profitability. It shows how sales and returns move through cost categories to produce Gross Profit and Net Profit, and it also breaks expenses into smaller sub-categories.

This chart is dynamic. It updates whenever you change filters such as:

• date range
• products
• marketplaces
• attribution window and related settings

It is meant to answer: “Where did the money come from, where did it go, and what is left?”

What it shows

1. Revenue inputs

The starting points are usually:

• Organic Sales (sales not attributed to ads)
• Ad Sales (sales attributed to advertising)
• Returned Cogs (cost recovery or adjustments tied to returns, when present)

These are combined into a revenue total node. Depending on the view, the diagram may label this as:

• Sales Revenue, or
• Total Revenue

2. Costs and profit

From revenue, the flow passes through:

• COGS (cost of goods sold)
• Gross Revenue (an intermediate step shown in some variants)
• Gross Profit
• Net Profit

Gross Profit is what remains after product costs and key selling costs. Net Profit is what remains after operating expenses.

3. Expense rollups and breakdowns

Expenses are grouped into major buckets, then expanded into detail.

Common top-level groups:

• Marketplace Expenses
• OPEX Expenses (operating expenses)
• External Ads
• Sometimes a combined node: Total Expenses

Marketplace Expenses often breaks down into:

• Internal Ads
• Marketplace Fees

Internal Ads can break down into:

• Sponsored Products
• Sponsored Brands
• Sponsored Brands Videos
• Sponsored Displays
• Promotional Discounts

Marketplace Fees can break down into:

• Refunds
• Order Fees
• Account Fees

Not every breakdown appears all the time. The diagram adapts to what exists in your current selection.

How to interpret the values

Thickness equals magnitude

• The thicker the flow, the bigger the amount.
• If one cost bucket is visually dominant, it is a major driver of profit changes.
• If Ad Sales is large but Internal Ads is even larger, ads may be inefficient in that period.

Behavior and interactions

Which nodes appear

To keep the chart readable, the Sankey hides categories that are very small.

What this means:

• If a category is zero or close to zero, it might not show up.
• The Sankey can change shape depending on your filters.

This is normal and expected.

How losses are shown

The Sankey explicitly shows loss situations using deficit-style flows and visual emphasis (red links).

If Gross Profit is positive

• Gross Profit flows into expenses and then into Net Profit.
• If operating expenses are larger than Gross Profit, the chart shows that shortfall clearly.

If Gross Profit is negative

• The chart shows a gap that must be “covered” (visually highlighted).
• The flows are arranged so you can see which cost groups are driving the negative result.

If Net Profit is negative

• Net Profit is shown as a loss, using a highlighted flow from total expenses into Net Profit.

The goal is to make “loss” visible as a real structural outcome, not just a negative number in a table.

Hover highlighting

When you hover a node:

• connected flows and nodes are emphasized
• unrelated parts fade

This makes it easier to trace one category end-to-end.

Tooltips

When you hover a connection or node, the tooltip typically shows:

• what the flow represents (for example, source to target)
• the value in currency
• its share of total revenue as a percentage

Tooltips help you quantify what you are seeing visually.

Click behavior

There is no confirmed click or drilldown behavior documented here. The chart should be treated as a visual explanation layer, not a navigation control.

Practical ways to use the Sankey

Use the Sankey when you want to quickly identify:

• what is driving profit up or down
• whether ads or fees are disproportionately large
• whether refunds and discounts are impacting margins
• whether operating expenses are the reason net profit is weak even when sales look strong

It is best used as a “cause map” before you go deeper into detailed reports.