There’s something that the most successful eCommerce operators tend to do and that is leveraging the data that their website and marketing efforts create. Providing a clear view of your store’s overall performance, the insights offered can be exceptionally useful in helping you to grow.
There’s a very real financial value attached to the analysis of eCommerce metrics, as they influence not just credibility, but also the profitability of your business. Making data-driven decisions is always the wisest way to proceed, as it takes the guesswork out of the process.
Here we look at the most important metrics that all Shopify store owners should be tracking to better understand what’s working for them and what isn’t. With data on your side, you have a constantly-updated resource to guide you - so use it!
But which metrics should you be focusing on? Which holds the most sway over your success? Read on to find out more. For additional information, check out this resource on Shopify conversion tracking to help measure SEO success.
1. Website Traffic
The first metric we look at is website traffic, which essentially describes the number of visitors your store gets during a set period. The duration of these ‘sessions’ is directly impacted - positively and negatively - by your marketing efforts. For example, you might notice an upturn in traffic after a product launch, which tells you that it had the desired effect.
78% of consumers said they’d be more likely to purchase from retailers providing offers targeted to their interests, wants, or needs.
- Infosys
There are a variety of ways traffic to your Shopify store can be increased, whether talking about SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC), or content marketing. Any SEO marketing agency will tell you that getting the right kind of volume is important, of course, but what’s also crucial is attracting the right kind of traffic and providing content that’s targeted to their interests, wants, or needs, so be sure to tailor yours to your ideal customer.
2. Bounce Rates
As the name of this particular metric suggests, your bounce rate relates to the number of people who arrive on your website and then immediately leave or do so after reading just a single page. There is a multitude of possible reasons for high bounce rates.
So, what factors can lead to high bounce rates?
Well, to begin with, it could be that your store has a poor user interface or that it takes far too long to load. Other reasons include poor quality content, misleading descriptions, or a convoluted buying process.
Across all industries, average bounce rates are 43% on desktop & 51% on mobile.
And what can be done about it?
If you’re experiencing high bounce rates, the good news is that there’s plenty that can be done to improve things. They include:
- Speeding up your website: this is something of a prerequisite for eCommerce success, as around 9 out of 10 people will immediately leave a site if it’s not loading fast enough. The truth is that every tenth of a second you shave from your load speed can have a significant impact on your bounce rate. For more Shopify developer tips, check out this resource on building a faster Shopify.
- Improving your UX: modern consumers want a personalized experience, so that’s what you should be aiming to provide. Product recommendation plugins, automation, and live chat software are all proven ways to improve the experience your site visitors get.
- Streamline the buyer's journey: the shopping experience provided by successful Shopify stores is invariably smooth and intuitive. So, if you look at yours and feel like it is disjointed or involves too many steps, it needs to be optimized, as poor experience will most often lead to that visitor never coming back again.
The use of automation is growing with each passing month, as the benefits are proven. Not only does it provide your customers with a smoother, more personalized experience, but it saves the store owner time, with workflow automation taking care of routine manual tasks.
3. Time Spent On-Site
Closely linked to bounce rates is the average amount of time your site visitors spend in your store. This again is influenced by how your Shopify site is set up, with a well-crafted design encouraging potential customers to hang around for longer.
Amazon has an average session duration of 10 mins & 16 seconds.
- Statista
The elements that contribute to increased time on your site include:
- Great, eye-catching, high-quality product images
- An attractive website design
- Product descriptions that grab the attention
- Content that’s relevant to your visitors
So, what does a good amount of time spent look like? Actually, it might be less time than you think, as the industry average is around 2-3 minutes. If you can achieve this, then you’re doing a good job, as it will be enough time for them to engage and interact with your site and what it offers. Here is a great resource discussing ways of enhancing your Shopify store design.
4. Conversion Rates
When talking about conversion rates, we’re discussing the percentage of people arriving on your Shopify eCommerce store that carry out the desired action. On average, eCommerce stores enjoy a conversion rate of a little under 3%, so it’s important to monitor to ensure your website is set up to encourage that action to be taken. A conversion rate increase of just 0.5 percent can represent a really big deal!
Most people will assume that conversion rates refer to sales, however, that’s not always the case. There are several reasons why Calls To Action (CTAs) are featured on eCommerce stores, as they might be used to encourage site visitors to:
- Opt-in to your mailing list
- Click on an advertisement
- Share one of your social media posts
Of course, the main aim of your eCommerce website is to drive revenue and interaction, which is why this is such an important metric to keep an eye on.
5. Overall Sales
So, this is the metric that most will understand, as we’re talking about the total amount of revenue or sales generated by your Shopify store within any given period. In addition to showing you how many units you’ve sold, it also provides several other insights like:
- How your customers are behaving while buying
- Your peak sales periods
- Your most successful products
Value can be gained by analyzing patterns around these factors that appear on your overall sales spreadsheet. You can be better prepared for those peak times and understand the effects of product-specific marketing. Refined each time you create one, you can focus on your real moneymakers.
6. Email Opt-In Rates
The number of site visitors signing up to your email subscriber list is another important metric to monitor, with the average being around 3%. Opt-in rates of 5% and above are possible with the right strategy. If your opt-in rate isn’t at this level, then there are several techniques that can be used to improve things, like:
- Advertise your email content across social media
- Create and then leverage ‘social proof’ by talking about customer success
- Build and implement lead magnets
- Feature email sign-up bars across your site, on your homepage, footers, and sidebars
- Use email pop-ups
It’s a matter of finessing customers to take the plunge and subscribe. To do that, you have to arrange your website’s UX in such a way that your required call to action appears to be a completely natural part of the customer journey.
7. Click-Through Rates
Once you’ve got customers to become email subscribers, the job of keeping them starts. That means creating emails that ultimately get opened and read, with the key metric here being the click-through rate. All email marketing experts know that it's all about building relationships that lead to revenue. How can this be achieved?
Proven ways to increase your email click-through rates include:
- Ensuring your emails offer value to the reader
- Creating visually stimulating, easy-to-read email designs
- Make your emails personal to the reader by using their names and talking to them directly
- Feature email sign-up bars across your site, on your homepage, footers, and sidebars
- Using segmentation to create highly-focused, highly-relevant messages
- Making your CTAs nice and visible
- Ensuring your preview & subject text is compelling
On average, 18% of emails get opened, with around 2.6% of recipients actually clicking through.
- Kinsta
If you’re not able to create emails that connect with your readers, offer them something they’re interested in and make the job of finding out more easy to understand, you’re going to find improving your click-through rates tough. In fact, they’re more likely to hit the unsubscribe button than anything else.
Manage These Vital Factors & See Your Shopify Store Flourish
These seven metrics are central to the success of your Shopify store. Profitability and growth don’t happen by accident, rather they are realized when you set up your store for success and insight like this gives you what you need to hone your site to perfection.
Try implementing yourself and you’ll soon see the power that they can generate.
