Automated Data Cleaning & Reporting System
This Google Apps Script solution was developed for a rapidly growing e-commerce company to automate the tedious and time-consuming process of cleaning, standardizing, and reporting on raw customer and sales data. It transforms a manual workflow into an efficient, user-friendly system, saving valuable time and ensuring data accuracy for critical business decisions
My Role
I was the sole developer and UX/UI designer for this project, responsible for both the back-end scripting and the front-end user interface.
The Problem
As the e-commerce company scaled, they were overwhelmed with messy and inconsistent data from various sources, including new customer sign-ups, order forms, and feedback surveys. Manually managing this data in spreadsheets was inefficient, prone to human error, and delayed the ability to generate timely sales reports and marketing insights. The company needed a tool that would automate the data preparation process so their team could focus on analyzing the data to improve sales and customer experience
The Process
I began by identifying the core pain points for the e-commerce team: inconsistent data formats, the need for a simple classification system for customer feedback, and the difficulty of generating quick reports on sales trends. I designed a solution with several key components:
Data Cleaning Engine
I built a series of functions to automatically standardize common e-commerce data types, such as customer names, email addresses, and order timestamps, ensuring consistency across all records.
Dynamic Classification
Instead of hard-coding categories, I created a system where the e-commerce team could define their own thresholds to classify entries (e.g., classifying customer feedback as High, Medium, or Low priority based on keywords). This made the system flexible and adaptable to different types of data. Interactive Sidebar UI: To make the system accessible to everyone on the team, I created a custom sidebar using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This user interface provides a clear, step-by-step guide for configuring settings, running the system, and generating reports without needing to touch the script itself.
Automated Archiving & Reporting:
The system was designed to automatically archive cleaned data into new, date-stamped sheets. I then developed a reporting module that can pull data from these archives and instantly generate a summary sheet with a chart and total values, providing immediate insights into sales performance or customer feedback trends.
The Solution & Key Features
The final product is a complete system that turns a manual chore into a seamless process for the e-commerce company.
Automated Data Processing:
Cleans and standardizes messy e-commerce data with a single click.
Customizable Logic:
The team can set their own rules and thresholds for data classification.
User-friendly Interface:
The sidebar UI makes complex functionality easy to access for any team member, regardless of their technical skill.
Efficient Reporting:
Quickly generates reports with embedded charts and summary statistics for faster business insights.
Outcome & Learnings
This project successfully created a robust tool that drastically reduces the time the e-commerce team spends on data preparation and reporting. The solution's ease of use and automation allowed the team to shift their focus from tedious data entry to strategic analysis, helping them make quicker, data-driven decisions. I significantly deepened my skills in Google Apps Script, specifically in building a full-stack solution with an interactive front-end and complex data manipulation on the back-end. This project reinforced the importance of building with the end-user's specific business needs in mind.