Shopify Product Performance: Stars, Gems, and Bottlenecks (2026)

Your store has a 2% conversion rate. But that number hides everything. Shopify product analytics reveal the real story - some products convert at 8% while others sit at 0.3%.

This guide shows you how to use shopify product performance data to classify every product. You will find your Stars, discover hidden Gems, and fix your Bottlenecks.

Most merchants look at overall store metrics. They see revenue, sessions, and average conversion rate. But these averages hide your best opportunities. An ecommerce product analysis at the individual product level changes everything. It shows you exactly where to invest your time, ads, and promotions.

Why Aggregate Metrics Hide Your Best Opportunities

Your overall conversion rate is an average. A 2% store-wide rate might include products converting at 8% and others dragging along at 0.3%. Shopify product analytics break this average into actionable segments.

You cannot optimize what you cannot see. When you only look at store-level data, you treat every product the same. That is a mistake. Proper shopify product performance tracking starts at the individual product level.

Revenue Rankings Are Misleading

Shopify shows your top products by revenue. But revenue alone does not tell the full story. Consider two products that each earn $5,000 per month.

Product A gets 10,000 page views to earn that $5,000. Product B gets 1,000 page views. Product B converts 10 times better. Yet they look identical on a revenue report.

Revenue rankings reward traffic, not conversion efficiency. A shopify product report that combines traffic volume with add-to-cart rate tells a different story. It shows you which products actually perform well and which just receive more visitors.

Without shopify product performance data at the individual level, you might pour ad budget into a product that converts poorly. Meanwhile, a high-converting product sits buried on page 3 of your collections.

The Product Segmentation Framework

Product segmentation ecommerce uses two dimensions to classify every item in your catalog. The first is traffic volume - how many people view the product. The second is add-to-cart (ATC) rate relative to your store average.

These two dimensions create three zones and eight categories. This shopify product analytics framework is far more useful than simply sorting by "best sellers" and "everything else."

The Three Zones

Powerhouse Zone (high traffic): These products get significant views. Stars have above-average ATC rates. Essentials have average ATC rates. Bottlenecks have below-average ATC rates.

Gaining Traction (lower traffic): These products get fewer views. Gems convert above average. Prospects convert at average. Underperformers convert below average.

Inactive Zone: Invisibles receive fewer than 100 views in 30 days. Stoppers get 100 or more views but zero add-to-carts. Both need attention.

Stars and Essentials - Protect Your Best Performers

Stars are your proven winners. They receive high traffic and convert above your store average. These products sell at full price. Feature them prominently in collections and ads.

Do not discount Stars. They already convert well. Discounting them only reduces your margin with no real upside. Your shopify product analytics confirm they do not need price help. Instead, focus on understanding which products to promote shopify stores should prioritize for ad spend.

Essentials: Reliable but Room to Grow

Essentials receive high traffic with average ATC rates. They are reliable performers. Small improvements to their product pages could push them into Star territory.

Essentials work well in bundles. Pair them with complementary products. Use free shipping thresholds to increase order value. These small nudges can move the needle.

A Common Mistake

Many merchants spend their entire ad budget promoting Stars. Stars already get traffic. The better return on your ad spend is often in Gems - products that convert well but nobody sees. Your shopify product report makes this clear.

Gems - Your Hidden Winners

Gems are the most exciting category in any ecommerce product analysis. They have low traffic but above-average ATC rates. These products convert well. The problem is simple - not enough people see them.

This is your best growth opportunity with existing products. No page changes needed. No price reductions. Just more eyeballs. Shopify product performance data makes Gems easy to spot once you know what to look for.

The Math Behind Gems

A Gem at 12% ATC rate with only 50 monthly views adds maybe 6 items to carts each month. Give that same product 500 views. Now you have 60 add-to-carts. Revenue multiplies without any changes to the product page.

One merchant found a product buried on page 3 of their collection. Their shopify product analytics showed a 12% ATC rate on just 80 views. They moved it to the homepage and ran a small ad campaign. Result: $4,000 in extra monthly revenue.

How to Promote Gems

Do not discount Gems first. They need visibility, not a lower price. Use which products to promote shopify data to identify them, then increase their exposure.

Bottlenecks and Stoppers - Fix or Remove

Bottlenecks get plenty of traffic but convert below your store average. People find these products. They just do not add them to cart. Your shopify product analytics make this gap obvious.

The instinct is to lower the price. Resist it. A discount on a bad page is wasted money.

Diagnose Before You Discount

Check these five areas first for every Bottleneck:

• Images: Do they show the product in use? Multiple angles? Lifestyle context?
• Pricing: Is it competitive with similar products elsewhere?
• Reviews: Are there enough social proof signals on the page?
• Description: Is the copy benefit-focused or just a list of specs?
• Mobile speed: Does the page load fast on phones?

Fix the page first. Then measure for 30 days. The shopify product report will show if your changes worked.

Stoppers: Zero Add-to-Carts

Stoppers are more severe. They receive 100 or more views in 30 days but zero add-to-carts. Something is actively wrong.

Common causes include price far above competitors, misleading images, wrong target audience, or poor product-market fit. Your shopify product performance data flags these products. Review each Stopper carefully.

Your strategy: fix the page and measure for 30 days. If still zero add-to-carts, redirect that traffic to products that actually convert. Your shopify product analytics will confirm whether changes worked. Do not keep sending visitors to a dead end.

Using Product Data to Inform Your Discount Strategy

Now you know your product segments. How does this shape your discount strategy? The answer is simple - different categories need different approaches. Shopify product performance data tells you exactly which products to promote shopify merchants should discount and which they should not.

Rules by Category

Effective product segmentation ecommerce strategy assigns a clear discount rule to each category. Here is how to approach each one.

Stars: Never discount. They sell at full price. Feature them in collections and ads instead.

Gems: Promote first, not discount. They need visibility. If you want to test demand at scale, a small targeted discount is OK - but only after increasing traffic.

Essentials: Use small incentives. Bundles, free shipping thresholds, and add-on offers can push Essentials toward Star performance.

Bottlenecks: Fix the page, not the price. A discount addresses the wrong problem when the page itself underperforms.

Stoppers: Do not discount. Fix or remove. Nothing works until the underlying issue is resolved.

Product Deals with Growth Suite

Growth Suite's Product Deals feature can auto-select Gems, Prospects, and Stoppers for targeted deals. It supports up to 50 products with dynamic pricing and smart rotation. This means your ecommerce product analysis directly feeds your promotion strategy.

How Growth Suite's Product Report Works

Growth Suite automatically classifies every product in your store into eight segments. You do not need spreadsheets or manual calculations. The shopify product report updates based on real traffic and ATC data. It is the fastest way to run a complete shopify product performance review.

Metrics Tracked

The shopify product analytics report tracks six key metrics for each product: page views, unique visitors, add-to-cart events, purchases, quantity sold, and revenue. You can export everything to CSV for deeper ecommerce product analysis in a spreadsheet.

Foundation for Product Deals

The Product Report feeds directly into Growth Suite's Product Deals feature. It answers which products to promote shopify merchants should focus on. It auto-selects up to 50 products from Gems, Prospects, and Stoppers. Each product gets a unique discount rate and duration based on its segment. Smart rotation keeps deals fresh.

Products shift categories over time. A Gem that gets featured on your homepage may become a Star. A Star with seasonal demand might drop to Essential in the off-season. Review your shopify product analytics monthly to catch these shifts. Consistent product segmentation ecommerce reviews keep your strategy current.