Analytics: The Key metrics you need to grow

Knowing and understanding your store performance is essential to achieving growth, and the more you grow, the more important it becomes. And while hearing the word "analytics" might cause you to want to put your head into the sand, it doesn't have to be complicated orboring!

The Analytics dashboard provides all the essential metrics you need and presents them in a visually pleasing, easy-to-understand way.

This is a summary, but you can read the entire description to find out more about the way data is calculated as well as how to customize reports.

Getting around: the key aspects of Analytics

The dashboard for Analytics is comprised by three parts: Performance, Charts, and the Leaderboard.

The Performance section provides a snapshot of your business during the specific time frame when compared with a prior period. The default is to show monthly performance, so you are able to immediately see if you are making more sales than in the same month last year. You can however choose to show data from last week, quarter, or year.

The Charts section displays more details about the period you've selected that can assist you to get a deeper understanding of your store's performance.

You may choose to show:

• Total Sales
• Net Sales
• Orders
• Average Order Value
• Things Sold
• Returns
• Discounted Orders
• Gross Discounted Amount
• Total Tax
• Taxes on Order
• Shipping Tax
• Shipping
• Downloads
• Gross Sales

To show the most pertinent data for your store go to the right of "Charts." There, you can choose between bar graphs and line graphs. You can also click the three dots to turn particular reports off or on.

Clicking any of the charts will provide more details. If, for instance, you select the orders charts, then you'll see an expanded view of sales at various points throughout the period you select. There's also a listing of all sales and you'll be able to download it as an CSV data file.

The last part of the dashboard will be the Leaderboard, which displays your top-performing product categories and categories.

Utilizing chart and performance information to improve the performance of your store

The most significant reports differ according to your company however let's take an overview of a few typical ones, and then consider what you could do with the information to uncover valuable insight.

Total sales

Sales drive your shop and, although they may not be correlated to profitability, they are an effective way of assessing the performance of your business. First, check your total sales in a given month against the same month in the previous year. In the Performance section below every metric you'll find either a green or red box that has the percentage. Make sure to make this box green.

For a glimpse of longer-term trends, you can simply alter the date range. If you've not looked into data analytics before, you may be misled by a colored box that is red this month. You may believe that you're doing a poor job. But if you select an interval that starts at the start of the year, you could find that you've grown and it's just a slow month.

The longer the time period longer, the more relevant the information is. For instance, suppose you've had your business in operation for at least five years and, on January 1st, hired a new marketing manager. Selecting a date that goes back five years, you will be able to determine whether the new marketing manager is having an effect on sales.

Why is the date range so important? If you only look at one month that is slow and you'll be able to determine that the marketing manager hasn't been helping. However, if you look at an overview of the last five years, it is possible to find that sales have been declining year after year. The person who is hired has actually reversed the cycle.

Average order value

You know that it's easier to retain existing customers rather instead of finding new ones. If you're trying to boost revenue with no new customers, you'll need to boost the average size of your orders or purchase frequency.

Again, examine a longer date range to see if your average order value is increasing or decreasing over the years. What changes could account for the differences?

Returns

Returns are a quick indicator of customer satisfaction. If customers are not satisfied, they return their products do not purchase again, and don't leave reviews (or even worse, leave negative reviews).

Maybe you've just switched suppliers. Your product margins have improved as a result and everything seems great. However, returns have increased by a third since your new partnership So you'll need to reconsider and determine the margins that have improved are worth the cost in terms of return and loss of loyal, repeat customers.

Similar to changing the return policy. Giving no-hassle return options can boost customer confidence and boost sales. If the price of handling returns increases to a significant extent, it may hurt your bottom line.

But it can aid in forecasting the future results. Are you planning a huge cyber week sale on the coming days? An unexpected rash of returns could negatively impact cash flow. By looking back to last year's sales you may know that it was possible that the expected returns will be 15% above typical.

Orders discounted and discounted net amount

Two reports that tell you the story of customer behaviour as well as the effect coupons have on your store.

Discounts and coupons can be effective ways to motivate customers to buy, but they also pose a liability if shoppers are conditioned to use them or misuse these offers. This guide will aid you to spot the two.

Are people redeeming substantially more coupons than they did last year? It could be cause for concern or completely acceptable. Check the chart to see if there are certain days with a significant peak. If a few days are responsible for the bulk of sales, what might be the reason? A promotional email code or a flash sale may be legitimate reasons.

Look at a longer time period to determine if you're increasingly issuing discounts. Think about whether this could cause coupon fatigue. This happens when customers are no longer attracted by discounts because they've been through so many.

Have discounted orders increased each month by 10% in the last two years? Perhaps you're worried However, you must compare that to the orders report. If the number of orders increase at approximately equal amounts, it's really been no change.

 This isn't the complete list of available reports. Check out the entire list above to find the most pertinent reports for your shop!

Leaderboard

The final section of the Analytics dashboard is equally as captivating. Four leaderboards are available:

1. Top Customer Top Customers, Total Spend

The ability to identify who your top clients are can transform your eCommerce business entirely. There are three ways you can make the most out of this knowledge:

The first is to be sure to reward them! Loyal customers can be hard to get and marketing gets expensive If you can find someone who's truly passionate about your business, you'll want to keep them forever. Gift them with a unique gift, give them access to special products or treat them to special discounts.

Additionally, you could benefit from the feedback of your loyal customers. Contact them via an email survey and ask why they love the store, and what you can make improvements.

This metric could provide another indication of your store's health. The majority of times your most loyal customer's spending won't exceed than someone in the middle of the pack. Why? If just a handful of customers up the majority of your revenues and you lose one, it can have an impact. A greater number of customers who pay the same amount will result in greater financial security.

One caveat to consider: If you expand the date range to more than a year and almost all of your customers spend the same amount, it may mean that you have no regular customers. Explore ways to get shoppers to return again and repeatedly.

2. Top Coupons, Number of Orders

Which campaigns were the most successful this quarter? Are there coupon codes floating around on the internet or being misused? It is easy to answer these questions using the leaderboard.

If you're struggling to determine what kind of promotion you should run, broaden the date range in order to pinpoint your top performers. What do the best coupons all have in their common?

Use this information to be a master promoter.

3. The Top Categories, the Items Sold

Get a quick view of the types of things that have the highest performance. Alter the dates to analyze patterns and determine if specific kinds of items perform better at various seasons. Perhaps last year, your top category was earrings. But this year they're at the low end of the scale. What's causing this downward trend? And what else can you do to bring back your earring sales?

4. Top Products, Items Sold

As with categories, you can quickly determine your biggest winners and identify trends to continue your growth. If you're selling seasonal products and you are able to use the data from last year to determine the products that will be successful this year. It is possible to spot an overperforming item in a market that in general is near the bottom. What lessons can you take from the successes of this product that can boost its entire category?

Powerful data, simplified for the growth

Analytics dashboard Analytics dashboard was created by eCommerce experts, with feedback from proprietors of shops that offer everything from consumer goods as well as professional and expert services. The dashboard was created to provide the user a brief review of data that can aid in the growth of your business.

Consider identifying the most critical metrics to your business . Continually spend reviewing that information in order to maximize your accomplishments. There is no need to be a data scientist -- simply start!