Python pandas groupby aggregate on multiple columns, then pivot

Edited for Pandas 0.22+ considering the deprecation of the use of dictionaries in a group by aggregation.

We set up a very similar dictionary where we use the keys of the dictionary to specify our functions and the dictionary itself to rename the columns.

rnm_cols = dict(size='Size', sum='Sum', mean='Mean', std='Std')
df.set_index(['Category', 'Item']).stack().groupby('Category') \
  .agg(rnm_cols.keys()).rename(columns=rnm_cols)

            Size   Sum        Mean        Std
Category                                     
Books          3    58   19.333333   2.081666
Clothes        3   148   49.333333   4.041452
Technology     6  1800  300.000000  70.710678

---

option 1
use agg ← link to docs

agg_funcs = dict(Size='size', Sum='sum', Mean='mean', Std='std')
df.set_index(['Category', 'Item']).stack().groupby(level=0).agg(agg_funcs)

                  Std   Sum        Mean  Size
Category                                     
Books        2.081666    58   19.333333     3
Clothes      4.041452   148   49.333333     3
Technology  70.710678  1800  300.000000     6

option 2
more for less
use describe ← link to docs

df.set_index(['Category', 'Item']).stack().groupby(level=0).describe().unstack()

            count        mean        std    min    25%    50%    75%    max
Category                                                                   
Books         3.0   19.333333   2.081666   17.0   18.5   20.0   20.5   21.0
Clothes       3.0   49.333333   4.041452   45.0   47.5   50.0   51.5   53.0
Technology    6.0  300.000000  70.710678  200.0  262.5  300.0  337.5  400.0