What Is Analytics? Reading Your Store's Data

Quick Definition

Analytics is collecting and reading data about how your online store is doing. On Shopify, that means numbers like sessions, orders, conversion rate and average order value, plus reports on where shoppers drop off. You'll also hear it called ecommerce or store analytics. It shows you what happened, which is the first step to asking why.

The Three Kinds of Numbers in Store Analytics

Most store numbers fit into three groups:

Traffic: how many visits (sessions) you got and where they came from, like Google or ads.
Behavior: what visitors did, such as viewing products, adding to cart and starting checkout.
Results: orders, sales, conversion rate and average order value.

Behavioral analytics is one branch of it. Instead of adding up totals, it follows each shopper's steps.

Splitting “Sales Are Down” Into Parts

Total sales is usually the first number owners check. It's built from three others:

Sales = sessions × conversion rate × AOV

Conversion rate is the share of visits that end in an order. AOV (average order value) is sales divided by orders. Analytics shows you which of the three moved.

Example: A pet supply store made $30,000 in March and $27,000 in April. Here's the split:

Month	Sessions	Conversion rate	Orders	AOV	Sales
March	25,000	2.4%	600	$50	$30,000
April	25,000	2.4%	600	$45	$27,000

Traffic and conversion rate stayed flat. Shoppers placed the same 600 orders. They just spent $5 less each time, and that's the whole $3,000 drop (600 × $5).

So a page redesign or more ads would go after the wrong number. What you want to know is why baskets got smaller. Maybe a popular bundle sold out. Maybe fewer people added a second item.

Where to Find Analytics on Shopify

Every Shopify store has an Analytics section in the admin. The overview shows sales, sessions, conversion rate and AOV for whatever dates you pick. Reports split those up, say by product or by where visitors came from. Live View shows what's happening on your store right now.

Our app, Growth Suite, adds its own reports: a five-stage Funnel Report, product segments like Stars and Gems, a Purchase Insight Report and a Cart Insights Report. For help setting up reports and turning them into decisions, see our guide to Shopify store analytics and reporting.

Why One Day's Numbers Can Fool You

Reacting to every daily jump is a common mistake. Small numbers swing a lot on their own.

Say your store gets 300 sessions a day. Six orders gives you a 2% conversion rate. Nine gives you 3%. Three extra buyers move the rate a full point, and that can happen on a normal day when nothing changed.

Compare full weeks or months instead. Before you call a change real, ask whether it's bigger than your usual ups and downs. That's the idea behind statistical significance.