When running an online store, it is essential to accurately understand sales, traffic, and customer behavior. If you rely only on intuition, you may misjudge the direction of improvement or incur unnecessary costs.
This is where Shopify's built-in "Analytics" and "Reports" features come in handy. By using these, you can understand numerically which products are selling and how customers are purchasing them, making it possible to make data-driven decisions.
In this article, we will provide an easy-to-understand overview of Shopify Analytics, the benefits of using it, and specific ways to use it. If you are looking for ways to improve your store using data, use this article as a reference.
※The images used in this article are test store data images.
What is Shopify Analytics?
Shopify Analytics is a feature that allows you to visualize store sales, traffic, customer behavior, and other data in numbers and graphs so you can understand how your store is performing. You can easily check from the Shopify admin and understand things like “which products are selling well” and “which channels bring in the most traffic.” This makes it possible to make improvements based on data rather than intuition, leading to more efficient operations and increased sales.
Shopify Analytics consists of three main features.
- Dashboard
- Reports
- Live View
Let’s briefly look at each one.
Dashboard
The dashboard is displayed when you select “Analytics” from the menu on the Shopify admin.
Image source: Shopify
The dashboard displays key metrics such as sales, order count, visitor count, and average order value in tables and graphs, allowing you to understand the overall status of your store at a glance. You can quickly grasp the overall state of your business and use it as a starting point for considering the next initiatives.
Reports
You can view reports from “Analytics” > “Reports” in the Shopify admin.
Reports include, for example, “gross profit by product” to understand how much each product contributes to profits, “customer cohort analysis” to find common characteristics among customers, and more detailed analysis such as “RFM analysis,” which categorizes customers on three axes: last purchase date, purchase frequency, and purchase amount. There are many reports available, and you can also create custom reports tailored to your company.
Live View
You can view Live View from “Analytics” > “Live View” in the Shopify admin.
Live View is a feature that displays the current visitors to your store and the status of their orders in real time. You can see where access is coming from on a world map and instantly understand sales trends. Since you can instantly check reactions during sales and campaigns, it is useful for measuring the effectiveness of sales promotions and improving response speed.
Benefits of leveraging Shopify Analytics
Here are four benefits of using Shopify Analytics.
Discover improvements that can increase sales
With Shopify Analytics, you can clearly understand sales trends, popular products, and performance by traffic channel. For example, if you find out that “there are many visitors via advertisements, but the purchase rate is low,” you can improve the content of advertisements and the landing page. Additionally, by identifying best-selling products, you can use this information to develop related products and strengthen promotions.
By being able to consider initiatives based on data, it is possible to move away from operations that rely on intuition.
Deepen customer understanding and increase repeat purchases
Analytics reports allow you to understand each customer's purchase history, repeat rate, average purchase interval, purchase channel, and more. This allows us to see characteristics such as “what products they often buy” and “when they buy them again.”
For example, offering a regular delivery service is effective for customers who regularly purchase the same product, while offering exclusive coupons is more effective for customers who only purchase during sales. By understanding customer characteristics and behavior patterns in this way, it becomes possible to implement personalized initiatives, and as a result an improvement in the repeat rate and in LTV (customer lifetime value) can be expected.
Improve operational efficiency and reduce unnecessary costs
By using inventory and financial reports, you can accurately understand product turnover rates and cash flow status. It is possible to manage inventory without waste, such as putting products with a low turnover rate on sale early and purchasing products that are likely to run out of stock with plenty of time to spare.
In addition, by analyzing product sales costs and shipping costs for each order, you will be able to find areas where the cost burden is high. As a result,This can help you review store operations and consider ways to improve profit margins while keeping cash flow in view.
Objectively evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives
Another great benefit is that you can verify the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and social media initiatives using data after implementing them. For example, if a certain initiative increases the number of visitors but does not increase the purchase rate, the next point to improve will be “conversion rate” rather than “attracting more customers.”
Furthermore, by comparing periods and tracking reactions by customer group, you can objectively determine which initiatives were most effective.By repeatedly making data-driven decisions, it becomes easier to run the PDCA cycle more efficiently.
How to use and customize the Shopify Analytics dashboard
This chapter explains, with images, how to use and customize the Analytics dashboard.
How to use the dashboard
When you select "Analytics" on the Shopify admin, the "dashboard" will appear.
Image source: Shopify
By default, the following metrics are displayed.
- Total sales
- Percentage of repeat customers
- Number of orders
- Breakdown of total sales
- Total sales by sales channel
- Total sales by product
- Number of sessions by device
and more.
You can change the display range of these data by specifying the period. It is also possible to compare data from different periods side by side. By using this function, you can, for example, compare the implementation period of Campaign A and Campaign B, or compare the numbers from last year and this year.
This section explains how to set the period. By clicking the period specification button at the top left of the dashboard, you can select various periods starting from today. You can also specify a specific time period.
If you specify a period, the metrics on the dashboard will be updated.
Next, specify the date range to compare. You can select "previous period," "previous year," or "last year (matches the day of the week)" for the same period as the specified period. You can also specify a specific period yourself.
This allows you to check the changes in values for each metric over the specified period.
Clicking on each metric displayed on the dashboard will take you to a report screen where you can obtain more specific information.
How to customize your dashboard
The Shopify Analytics dashboard displays a variety of data visually in tables and graphs. On the other hand, there may be cases where “information necessary for your company is not displayed” or “information that is unnecessary is displayed.”
Therefore, we will explain how to customize the visibility and arrangement of metrics on the dashboard.
Click "Customize" at the top right of the dashboard.
A menu of metrics will be displayed on the left. Clicking on a metric will add it to the top left of the dashboard.
By selecting and dragging a metric, you can place it anywhere on the dashboard.
The display size of metrics can be changed by dragging the triangle icon displayed at the bottom right of the item. However, please note that depending on the metric, it may be difficult to see if the size is small.
Metrics can be deleted by clicking the "✗" displayed in the upper right corner.
The dashboard display area can also be divided by analysis category. Click “Add section” in the top right.
Name the section. (Example: marketing, customer behavior analysis, and more) Setting metrics related to that analysis category within the section will make it easier to see. The red frame in the image below is the added section.
Analysis items cannot be placed twice in a dashboard.
Customize it to improve the visibility of the analytics data you need. You can also customize key metrics on the Shopify app (mobile) home screen, making it easy to check the numbers you need on the go.
How to use Shopify Analytics reports and create custom reports
This chapter provides detailed information on how to use reports and how to create custom reports.
How to use reports
Select "Analytics" on the Shopify admin and select “Reports” under that to display a list of store data reports.
Image source: Shopify
Select a report to view its details.
Similar to Analytics, you can specify a period and display it, and it is also possible to display comparisons with other periods.
By clicking the period selection button at the top left of the report, you can select various time periods starting from today. It is also possible to specify a specific period.
Specifying a period will update the report items.
If you want to compare with other time periods, click "No comparison" (default setting) and select the time period.
The options are "No comparison", "Comparison with past", and "Benchmark". Benchmarks display median, 25th percentile, and 75th percentile values for similar stores. For more information on benchmarks, refer to the Shopify Help Center page.
If you select "Compare with past", you can select from "Previous period", "Previous year", and "Last year (matches the day of the week)" for the same period as the specified period. You can also specify a specific period yourself.
Once you have made changes to a report, such as setting a period, you can save it by clicking the "Save As" button displayed at the top of the screen. Save reports that you want to refer to again and again.
Reports can be exported and printed by clicking "..." (three dots) on the top right. You can choose the export format from CSV, XML, JSON, or Apache Parquet.
How to create a custom report
You can also create a custom report if the report you want is not available in the list of ready-made reports.
Click "Start new exploration" at the top right of the report screen.
A custom menu will appear on the right side of the screen.
The contents of the custom menu are as follows.
| Item | Description | Details/Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Metric | Display quantitative measurements | ・Average order value ・Total sales ・Other numerical data |
| Dimension | Select the dimension for analysis | ・Time: Year, quarter, month, and more. ・Session: Session device OS, session time, referring domain, and more. ・Product: Product ID, product type, product name, and more. ・Sale: Coupon code, discount name, sales channel, and more. ・Order: Order ID, source channel market of first order, and more. ・Customer: Customer tag, customer email subscription status, customer payment amount, and more. ・Items bought together: Items purchased together, number of items purchased together, and more. ・Marketing: Referrer channel, referrer platform, and more. |
| Graph type | Data visualization format | ・Bar chart ・Line chart ・Pie chart ・Stacked column chart |
| Comparison | Period comparison settings | Specify the period to compare |
| Filter | Data filtering function | Filter data using various conditions |
Combine these to create the report you need for your company.
How to create reports with the AI assistant “Sidekick”
Recent updates have made it easier to use Sidekick (Shopify's AI assistant) to create Shopify reports.
When you enter instructions in natural language on the ShopifyQL query editing screen, such as “I want to see sales by product” or “I want to know the average order amount of first-time customers,” Sidekick generates a ShopifyQL query that allows you to create custom reports and graphs that match your criteria.
The feature is that it is easy to create and adjust the analytics reports you need without having to learn specialized query syntax from scratch.
How to use Shopify Analytics “Goals”
Analytics added a feature called "Goal Setting" in April 2026. This is a feature that allows you to set numerical goals for major metrics such as total sales and conversion rate, and track your progress on the Shopify admin.
Goals that were previously managed separately using spreadsheet software can now be viewed on the same screen as the actual Shopify data.
What is the “Goals” feature?
Goal setting is a function that allows you to register “by when and what numbers you want to achieve” for Analytics metrics. The achievement rate, comparison of current value and target value, period, and remaining days for the set goals are displayed on the dashboard, allowing you to understand your progress at a glance.
Image source: Shopify admin
Since the achievement rate is displayed as a gauge, it will be easier to manage while being conscious of where you are in relation to your goal, rather than just looking at the numbers.
How to set goals
The setup process is simple. First, select "Analytics" from the menu on the Shopify admin. Select "Create Goal" from "Manage Goals" in the top right corner.
The following items are displayed on the goal creation screen.
- Metric
- Target value
- Period
- Goal name
Metric
A number of metrics are provided by default, including total sales, average order value, conversion rate, and number of orders.
By using the filter next to the metric, you can narrow down your search to only specific markets or specific campaigns. Only one filter can be selected.
Target value
It varies depending on the metric you select, such as an amount, number, or percentage.
Period
The target period can be one week, one month, a quarter, or any period up to two years in advance. The feature is that you can set a wide range of goals, from short-term campaign goals to annual business goals.
Goal name
You can freely set the name of the goal. By default, the selected metric and time period are automatically entered into the goal name.
Save goals and add them to your dashboard
The created goal will be displayed on the dashboard by clicking "Save to dashboard". This allows you to see your progress every time you open your Analytics.
We recommend placing goals near related metrics. For information on how to move items within the dashboard, please refer to the section “How to customize the dashboard.”
Manage multiple goals in “Goals”
If you have set multiple goals, select “View goals” from “Manage Goals” to display a list of the goals you have set.
Rather than looking at each indicator separately, you can see the goals you are pursuing in one place, making it easier to prioritize your initiatives.
In addition, the goals you set can be edited later, and changes can be made even after the target period has ended. It is a good idea to review your goals as the situation changes.
Issues found through analysis can be verified before publication using "SimGym"
There is also a way to verify any issues found through Analytics (such as a low conversion rate on a particular page) before implementing any improvement ideas in production.
The Shopify app "SimGym" is an app that allows AI shoppers to roam your store and simulate the effects of theme changes and other changes before they go live. However, there are conditions for use, and simulation results may differ from actual customer behavior.
It is best to use this as a preliminary check before the live store.
For more information on SimGym's features, functions, and precautions, please see the following articles.
Accelerate growth with Shopify Analytics
This article provides a detailed explanation of Shopify Analytics features.
Shopify Analytics is a powerful feature that allows you to visualize sales and customer behavior as data and take the guesswork out of operations. By using dashboards, reports, and Live View, you can accurately understand the current situation and identify areas for improvement. Additionally, you can deepen your understanding of your customers, increase repeat rates, and manage inventory and costs more efficiently.
The important thing is to not just look at the data, but to incorporate it into concrete initiatives and use the PDCA cycle. Be sure to incorporate Analytics into your daily work and connect it to continuous growth.
