Google Analytics provides a way to tag traffic using things called UTM codes. (UTM means Urchin Tracking Module. Urchin was the analytics system Google acquired and turned into Google Analytics. But you don’t need to know that to use them). UTM codes are mostly used with advertising so ad systems can tell you which ad, …
Tag: analytics
Importing data into Google Analytics for a better analysis
Recently a customers asked about getting historic data into Google Analytics: I’d love to know how to get Shopify data (prior to embedding Google tracking code) on to Google Analytics to see previous years data. At first I didn’t think that was possible but after a bit of searching I found Google’s Data Import that …
Segmenting your traffic into different buying groups using Google Analytics
A subscriber emailed me a segmenting question: I am writing to you as I’m looking for your advice. We sell to Businesses of all sizes and schools K-12 plus higher ed, and recently have started to embrace consumer. Our challenge is identifying traffic (and behavior) on our site that is consumer vs business. Do you …

Mismeasure once, cut forever
During a recent review of article to curate for Shopify Dispatch, I ran across a slide deck from Kevin Hillstrom. Kevin’s a really smart consultant who works with retailers, catalog brands, and ecommerce stores so I’ll usually take the time to review his writing every week. One quote in his slides really caught my attention. …

The one step that decides if a Shopify customer will become a repeat customer
The other week I was creating Repeat Customer Metric Reviews for three clients. This reminded me of an important time in every customer’s life cycle. The step between a customer’s first and second order. This happens between a new customer’s first completed order and a second they haven’t made yet, and it’s a critical critical …

4 reasons why your ecommerce store’s AOV is an awful metric
Tracking metrics can become an obsession for e-commerce entrepreneurs. As you gather data and measure your performance, it’s easy to get hooked on a few numbers that seem to give you a clearer picture of what’s happening with your business. One of those key metrics is the AOV — your average order value. Calculating your …

Evaluating a store’s repeat customer metrics with fast but infrequent repeat orders
Seeing how other Shopify stores are doing is a great way to spot improvements in your own store. Today I have the metrics for a store from Repeat Customer Insights that I’d like to walk through an analysis of because it represents on common situation I see with stores. The Metrics Looking at the analysis …

Digging into RFM segmenting in Shopify
Last time I introduced you to the RFM analysis as a way to combine three simple segments into one powerful segment. Now you’re going to learn what happens when you’re able to perform an RFM analysis on your customers. You’ve already seen how to combine the Recency and Frequency segments but a full RFM analysis …

3 classic customer segments you should focus on
As you might have noticed already, there are hundreds of ways to segment your customers. It all depends on what data you have and what you want to do with them. That’s also a problem though. With so many ways to segment your customers, it becomes difficult to know which ones are actually useful. I …

Shopify customers you are at risk of losing
Let’s look at a high-value customer segment for your Shopify store. You’re aware that there’s a cost to get each customer. It may be direct costs from advertising or indirect ones like spending time on SEO or content marketing. Whatever the source, those costs can be pretty high. Every additional dollar spent acquiring a customer …