Now and then I’ll get a Repeat Customer Insights customer trying to reconcile their Shopify data to the app. Or a Shopify store trying to compare Google Analytics traffic to Shopify’s Acquisition reports. It never goes well for the person comparing. Every analytics systems has its own way of collecting and measuring the metrics. Any …
Tag: analytics
Monitoring how your Shopify store performs each year
Throughout the year you’ll want to monitor specific store metrics based on what you’re actively working on. For example, if you’re trying to reduce returns then metrics around your return rate and return rate by sales channel would make sense. There are other, more general metrics you’ll want to keep an eye on all the …
Perfect analytics data is a mirage
Yesterday I was talking with someone about their Google Analytics setup. Since they were using a 3rd party platform to sell their product, they weren’t able to get most of their funnel metrics. The platform sends some basic data to them (e.g. traffic amounts, urls) but no referal, campaign, or even traffic source data. It’s better …
Figuring out which marketing channels actually produce customers
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, …
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 …