Dataford
Interview QuestionsInterview GuidesExperiencesMock InterviewsPricing
Get started
Dataford
Popular roles
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Browse
Browse All RolesEvery role hub, from analyst to MLBrowse All CompaniesCompany-specific interview loopsAll Interview GuidesThe full guide library
Top questions by role
Software EngineerData AnalystData ScientistData EngineerBusiness AnalystAI EngineerMachine Learning EngineerProduct Manager
Top questions by skill
SQLPythonStatisticsMachine LearningA/B TestingSystem DesignGenerative AIProduct SenseMetricsBehavioral
Browse all questions →Try a mock interview
Experiences
Practice
Mock InterviewsTimed interview simulations with feedbackSuccess PathYour 6-week structured planModulesCurated lessons by topicWebinarsTalks from ex-Big Tech data leadsPlaygroundA free-form scratch editor
Learn
BlogInterview strategy and career adviceTech Job Market ReportHiring trends across data and AI rolesFor UniversitiesDataford for career centersAbout DatafordWho we are and how we build
Pricing
Build my plan
Monthly Sales Trends by Category
00:00
5 left

Monthly Sales Trends by Category

MediumSQL · PostgreSQL

Problem

NovaCart wants a monthly sales report by product category. Write a SQL query to calculate total sales per category for each month and show the month-over-month change within each category.

Requirements

  1. Join sales to products using product_id.
  2. Ignore rows where amount is NULL.
  3. Group results by category and month formatted as YYYY-MM.
  4. Return category, month, total_sales, and sales_trend.
  5. sales_trend should be the current month's total minus the previous month's total in the same category. For the first month in a category, return NULL.
  6. Order the final result by category, then month.

Schema

sales
ColumnTypeDescription
idPKINTPrimary key for sales records
product_idINTForeign key referencing products
sale_dateDATEDate of the sale
amountDECIMAL(10,2)Sale amount
products
ColumnTypeDescription
idPKINTPrimary key for product records
categoryVARCHAR(255)Category of the product
nameVARCHAR(255)Name of the product
Tablessalesproducts
Interviewer

Your question is Monthly Sales Trends by Category. Start with the requirements and the two tables in the Question tab.

Run and submit as often as you like. When you're ready, talk me through your approach or go straight to the code.

You need to log in / sign up to run or submit.
CodePostgreSQL
Sign up free to run your codeLog inLn 1
Run your query to see results here.