Different methods of storing data in a data warehouse

All data warehouses store their data grouped together by subject areas that reflect the general usage of the data (Customer, Product, Finance etc.) The general principle used in the majority of data warehouses is that data is stored at its most elemental level for use in reporting and information analysis. Within this generic intent, there are two primary approaches to organising the data in a data warehouse.
The first is using a "dimensional" approach. In this style, information is stored as "facts" which are numeric or text data that capture specific data about a single transaction or event, and "dimensions" which contain reference information that allows each transaction or event to be classified in various ways. As an example, a sales transaction would be broken up into facts such as the number of products ordered, and the price paid, and dimensions such as date, customer, product, geographical location and sales person.