Analytics Overview
Shopify Analytics provides built-in reporting for every store. The depth of data available depends on your plan, with higher plans offering more detailed reports and longer data retention.
Access your analytics by clicking "Analytics" in the left sidebar of your Shopify admin. The overview dashboard shows your most important metrics at a glance, with detailed reports available in the "Reports" section.
Analytics by Plan
- •Basic Shopify: Overview dashboard, finance reports, product analytics
- •Shopify: All Basic reports plus professional reports (customers, orders, sales)
- •Advanced: All reports plus custom report builder and advanced filters
- •Plus: All Advanced features plus unlimited data history and API access
Key Metrics Explained
Understanding what each metric means is essential for making informed decisions. Here are the most important metrics you'll encounter.
Total Sales
The total value of orders placed, including taxes and shipping but before refunds. This is your top-line revenue figure.
Net Sales
Total sales minus discounts, returns, and refunds. This better represents your actual revenue.
Online Store Sessions
The number of visits to your store. A session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or at midnight.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of sessions that resulted in an order. Calculated as (Orders / Sessions) x 100. Industry average is 1-3%.
Average Order Value (AOV)
The average amount spent per order. Calculated as Total Sales / Number of Orders. Higher AOV means more revenue per customer.
Returning Customer Rate
The percentage of orders from repeat customers. Higher rates indicate customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Dashboard Reports
The analytics dashboard provides a quick snapshot of your store's performance. Here's how to read each section.
Date Comparison
Always compare your metrics to a previous period. The percentage change shows whether you're improving or declining. Compare to:
- •Previous period: Last 7 days vs the 7 days before that
- •Previous year: Same period last year (accounts for seasonality)
Live View
The live view shows real-time activity on your store: current visitors, their locations, and recent orders. Useful during promotions or high-traffic events.
Export Your Data
Click "Export" on any report to download a CSV file. This allows you to analyse data in spreadsheets, create custom visualisations, or share with your team.
Traffic Analysis
Understanding where your visitors come from helps you focus marketing efforts on the most effective channels.
Traffic Sources
- •Direct: Visitors who typed your URL directly or used a bookmark
- •Search: Organic traffic from search engines (Google, Bing)
- •Social: Traffic from social media platforms
- •Email: Visitors from email marketing campaigns
- •Referral: Traffic from other websites linking to you
Acquisition Reports
Go to Analytics → Reports → Acquisition to see detailed breakdowns. Look at not just sessions, but conversion rate per channel. A channel with fewer visitors but higher conversion may be more valuable.
UTM Tracking
Use UTM parameters on your marketing links to see exactly which campaigns drive traffic. Shopify automatically picks up UTM tags and shows them in acquisition reports.
Sales Reports
Sales reports help you understand what's selling, when, and to whom.
Sales by Product
See which products generate the most revenue and units sold. Look for:
- •Top sellers to ensure stock availability
- •Slow movers that might need promotion or discontinuation
- •Products with high views but low sales (potential conversion issues)
Sales by Time
Identify patterns in when customers buy. This informs when to send emails, run ads, or schedule promotions.
Sales by Location
See where your customers are located. This helps with:
- •Ad targeting by geography
- •Shipping carrier selection
- •International expansion opportunities
Customer Insights
Customer reports reveal who your buyers are and how they behave over time.
Customer Cohorts
Cohort analysis groups customers by when they first purchased and tracks their behaviour over time. This shows customer retention and lifetime value trends.
First-Time vs Returning
Track the balance between new customer acquisition and repeat purchases. A healthy business typically sees 20-40% of orders from returning customers.
Too few returning customers
May indicate product quality issues, poor post-purchase experience, or lack of retention marketing.
Too few new customers
Suggests acquisition efforts need improvement or market saturation in current channels.
Taking Action on Data
Data is only valuable if it leads to action. Here's how to turn insights into improvements.
Weekly Review Routine
- 1Check top-level metrics
Compare sales, sessions, and conversion rate to the previous week and same week last year.
- 2Identify anomalies
Any significant increases or decreases? Investigate the cause.
- 3Review traffic sources
Which channels performed best? Where should you increase investment?
- 4Check inventory levels
Are top sellers in stock? Any products close to selling out?
