In the world that is rapidly shifting to e-commerce it is vital to comprehend and maximize Shopify metrics for the survival of your store. In this all-encompassing guide, you will learn the key metrics every e-merchant should monitor, how to measure them correctly, and how to apply this knowledge to your Shopify store’s benefit.
A quick guide to how you can determine the Shopify store metrics that deserve your attention
There is a wide range of data provided by Shopify which can be used to make the right choice about the further development of the business. These are traffic rate, conversion rate, average value per sale, cart abandonment rate, profit margin, and customer lifetime value. If these metrics are closely tracked, one can be able to tell the performance of the store and the areas that require enhancement.
Importance of Choosing the Right Data Tracking Method
Before going to the absolute numbers, make sure your Shopify store utilizes a proper method of measuring it, for instance Google Analytics. This enables you to get better data and get more understanding of your website traffic and of the customers.
Types of Shopify Metrics to Monitor
1. Traffic Metrics: Measuring and Analyzing Website Visitors
- Pageviews: This measures the total number of times the pages on the site were accessed. The exposure refers to the total number of pageviews a website garners and when used in isolation, high pageviews might mean that the website is popular among visitors or tourists or that it gets heavy traffic from tourists or visitors. For instance, if a Shopify store has a high page view rate but low conversion rates, this may be an indication of issues with the user flow, or content on the site.
- Unique Visitors: The number of unique visits represent the unique users who visited the store. It is important to understand the number of unique visitors because it provides the measure of its audience in the case of the specified store. For instance, one research demonstrated that overall unique visitors (UVVs) increased by 3% for the online stores, for each 1% increase.
- Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is used to determine the proportion of visitors that leave the website having only viewed the initial page. The average bounce rate is generally between 40-60%; therefore, if the bounce rate is high, then the problem could be the landing page, its relevance to the content provided or slow to load. Lowering bounce rates even by 10% can boost the main site interactions and increase the conversion rates.
2. Optimization Metrics: Improve Store Profit & Increase Sales
- Conversion Rate: Conversion rate is the overall percentage of the visitors going through a predefined call to action usually it is the conversion of the visitors into customers. It can be said that the average conversion for the e-Commerce stores stands at a paltry 2-3%. Evaluating this rate, moreover increasing it by least a fraction, can greatly affect the revenues. For example a small improvement in the conversion rate of a store from 2% to 3% could increase revenues by as much as 50% for the store.
- Average Order Value (AOV): AOV comes to the average amount that restaurants customers spend on their takeout orders. The AOV for the e-commerce store, more or less, stands at $75. Thus, focusing on such factors as the average check, including such points as upselling, which increases the AOV without the necessity of increasing the volume of customers’ traffic, stores can improve their revenues significantly.
- Cart Abandonment Rate: The obvious differentiation of this metric is that it represents the percentage of users who place products in the cart but do not buy. Currently, the surviving cart abandonment rate, or Put Call ratio is estimated at 70%. Cutting this rate through the usage of any available means, for instance retargeting ads or review of the check out process can be very effective in increasing the number of actual conversions.
3. Profit Metrics: Monitoring of the Financial Results
- Gross Profit Margin: Gross profit margin is arrived at from the total sales made and the cost of sales which is referred to as the cost of goods sold (COGS). E-commerce normally has a gross profit margin that ranges between 20% and 40%. The monitoring of this kind of metric is important for the viability of the business.
- Net Profit Margin: Net profit margin incorporates all the costs and gives one the real profit. Net profit margins of well over 10 % are not rare which indicates that the e-commerce stores operate on decent profit margins. This metric is a very vital one and provides a comprehensive report on the health of the business venture.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): CCLV defines the total profit a customer makes in his or her lifetime with the store. Knowledge of CLV makes store owners allocate more correctly the resources in customer acquisition and retention management. Another research shows that a 5% improvement of the CLV can result in profit improvement of 25-95%.
Utilizing Shopify Metrics to Inform Business Strategies
Once these packets of key metrics are well understood, they can work as a fundamental compass to any business strategies that are in place.
Moreover, constant monitoring of the metrics provided by Shopify will help the store owners avoid overheating of the business and determine the successes and failures in the operation of the store to make the necessary adjustments to improve the overall efficiency and profitability level.
For instance, based on the sources of traffic, store owners are in a position to target only the marketing channels that have the potential of yielding a higher return on investment.
Analytics for Shopify: Wrapping Up
Shopify provides in-built analytics but an even better option would be Google Analytics 4 for a more robust reporting system. The Conversion app for GA4 offers a detailed insight into the user flow so that one gets to know about specific points of weakness, right from the initial stage of the buying cycle.
Key Takeaways
If you’re focusing on the correct Shopify metrics, you’ll be able to monitor, analyze, and tweak your store to get better results and satisfy your customers in the process.
Just remind yourself that the best key performance indicators are always those that address your unique business objectives.