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The Add Column feature allows you to create custom fields directly in Retailgrid. You can add manual columns for notes or inputs, single-select columns with auto-colored value pills, calculated columns that automatically compute values using formulas, or analytical-metric columns that draw from a curated library of pre-built retail metrics. This makes Retailgrid flexible for pricing analysis, margin calculations, data enrichment, status tracking, and operational workflows.
Add Column toolbar button

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1. How to add a column

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Step 1: Open the Add Column menu

  • Click Add Column in the top toolbar.

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2. Select column type

You will see four options:
Column type picker (four options)

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Standard column

  • Create a column with a fixed data type
  • Used for:
    • Notes
    • Flags
    • Manual inputs
    • Tags

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Single Select / Status

  • Create a column whose values come from a fixed set of choices, each rendered as a colored pill
  • Colors are mapped automatically and consistently per value
  • Used for:
    • Product roles (KVI, Core, Niche, Seasonal)
    • Workflow states (Draft, In Review, Approved)
    • Risk tiers (Low, Medium, High)

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Formula column

  • Create a column calculated from other columns
  • Used for:
    • Margin
    • Revenue
    • Price differences
    • KPIs

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Analytical metric

  • Pick a single pre-built retail metric (margin, revenue, price index, elasticity, etc.) and choose its timeframe.
  • Best for dropping in one extra metric without leaving the Add Column flow.
  • For adding several metrics at once - each with its own timeframe - use the dedicated Metrics picker in the top toolbar instead.
Choose Standard for manual input, Single Select for status / categorical pills, Formula for custom calculations, or Analytical metric for ready-made retail KPIs.

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3. Standard column

Standard column configuration form

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3.1 Column name

  • Enter a clear name (e.g. Margin, Discount %, Notes)
  • Limit: 100 characters

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3.2 Column type / display format

Choose how values should be interpreted:
TypeUse Case
TextNotes, labels
NumberQuantities, counts
CurrencyPrices, revenue
PercentageMargin, discount
DateEvents, timestamps
ToggleYes/No flags

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3.3 Column color (optional)

  • Assign a color for quick visual grouping
  • Useful for:
    • Custom fields
    • KPI highlighting
    • Workflow states

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4. Single Select / Status column

The Single Select column type renders each value as a colored pill, with colors mapped automatically and consistently to values.
Status column with auto-colored pills

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4.1 How it works

  • Type or pick a value in the cell. Existing values are offered in a dropdown; new values are accepted on the fly.
  • Each unique value is assigned a color from a fixed palette. The same value always gets the same color across the grid - so KVI is always blue, Core is always orange, and so on.
  • The mapping persists across reloads. You don’t configure the colors manually.

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4.2 When to use it over Standard - Text

Use Single Select when the value space is bounded and you want at-a-glance grouping. Use Standard - Text for free-form notes where every cell is unique. Good Single Select use cases:
  • Product role (KVI, Core, Niche, Seasonal, Promo)
  • Workflow status (Draft, In Review, Approved, Rejected)
  • Risk / priority tiers (Low, Medium, High)
  • Source channel (Online, Store, Both)

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4.3 New values

When you type a value that hasn’t appeared in the column before, Retailgrid adds it to the dropdown and assigns the next available color. There’s no separate “manage values” screen - just typing creates the value.

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5. Conditional color highlighting

Conditional color highlighting drives a cell’s color from a formula result or a value condition - similar to conditional formatting in Excel. Use it to make at-a-glance grids: green for high-margin SKUs, red for products below the margin floor, blue for KVIs.
Conditional color highlighting configuration UI

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5.1 When to use it

Conditional highlighting is most useful when the value that drives the color is derived rather than set by a person. If a column already stores a bounded set of values you maintain by hand (KVI / Core / Niche), prefer a Single Select / Status column - the colors come for free and the pill UI is clearer than a tinted cell. Pick conditional highlighting when:
  • The color should follow a formula result that updates as inputs change (e.g. margin tiers).
  • The same condition needs to apply across many cells or rows.
  • The classification logic lives in a formula that you might iterate on later.

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5.2 How to configure

  1. Open the column header’s three-dot menu on the column whose colors you want to drive.
  2. Choose Conditional color highlighting.
  3. Map each value or formula result to a color. Retailgrid offers the same palette used by Single Select columns.
  4. Preview the result on the visible rows, then save.
You can drive the color from either a value column (e.g. a string column with "High Margin" and "Low Margin") or directly from a formula column. The most common pattern is the formula route - use an IF() to classify a row, then map the classification to a color.

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5.3 Worked example - margin tiers

Add a formula column called Margin Tier: 
IF({Margin} > 0.20, "High Margin", IF({Margin} > 0.10, "Mid", "Low Margin"))
Then open Conditional color highlighting on Margin Tier and map:
  • High Margin → green
  • Mid → grey
  • Low Margin → red
Every row now shows its margin tier at a glance, and the colors update automatically whenever {Margin} changes.

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5.4 Interaction with Single Select

Conditional color highlighting works on any column type. If you apply it to a Single Select column, the conditional rules override the automatic Single Select palette for the values you map. Values you don’t map keep their automatic Single Select color.