Essay Sample on The Vlookup Function

Introduction

The VLookUp function in excel enabled me to create an excel referencing system. Notably, the VLookUp function helped me to locate the specific information in the spreadsheet. When I used the Vlookup function for finding accurate information in an MS Excel spreadsheet, each matching information was displayed in the same row but in the next column. As such, the VLookUp function enabled me to create the grading system, which automatically graded the products according to the days left. The VLookup helped me to automatically determine the approximate number of days left on each product by performing a vertical lookup by searching for a value in the first column of the table and returning the value in the same row in the index number position (Harvey, 2013).

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Managing the Business

The spreadsheet gives out the outcomes that easily categorize the products. As their types sort the products, it becomes easy to determine the shelf life of each one. As the outcomes shows, two products belong to Grade A. In this case; they have the longest shelf lives. As a manager, I would give little attention to these products since they can stay longer on the shelf and still the business does not incur losses. Besides, they still have more days left before they go bad. However, if I am to increase the rate of profit, I would look for ways to improve their speed of selling in the market.

Inventory movement and replenishment is an important aspect when dealing with the market. The rate of flow of inventory also depends on their lifespan. There are those products which go rancid quickly. In this case, the worksheet revels that those products that have the shortest times are the ones belonging to grade F. for instance, tomatoes have the shortest shelf time. These products require fast movement from the shelves before they become obsolete. As the manager of the city market, tomatoes will be given priority in replenishing them. Demand has to be established to ensure that these products are sold within one day. A similar case applies to the strawberries as they also belong to grade F. the outcomes using CountIF function, further shows that there are more fruits in the product portfolio than vegetables. In this case, the management decisions have to ensure that the fruits get to be sold faster than the vegetables. When devising marketing campaigns, more attention should be channeled towards the management of fruits since the majority of the products are fruits.

Adding a Data Range

If adding the data, I would categorize the products by shelf lives to determine the days left and the products that sell more than the others. Shelf lives are essential as it will help in deciding how many days a product takes on the shelf. If products are approaching their shelf days, then they need replenishment. If they are left in the shelves, they may go bad, leading to losses to the business.

The Most Important Criteria

The most important criteria to the owner of the city market would be the shelf life and the days left. The shelf life will help the owner determine the amount number of days the product is expected to be in the business, whereas the days left will assist in identifying the urgency of the products to leave the store before they become rotten.

References

Harvey, G. (2013). Excel 2013 for dummies. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.