Shopify Analytics: The Numbers That Actually Matter
A plain-English guide to Shopify analytics: the handful of metrics that actually tell you how your store is doing, where to find them, and what to do about each one.
Shopify gives you a lot of numbers, and it is easy to either ignore them or drown in them. The truth is that a handful of metrics tell you almost everything about how your store is doing. Here are the ones that matter, where to find them, and what to actually do about each.
You will find all of these in your Shopify admin under Analytics (an overview dashboard plus detailed reports; reporting depth increases on higher plans).
1. Conversion rate
The percentage of visitors who buy. This is the single most revealing number, because it measures how well your store turns traffic into sales.
- Low conversion + decent traffic usually means a problem on the store: slow pages, unclear product pages, a clunky checkout, or weak trust.
- What to do: improve product pages, speed and checkout before spending more on traffic. Doubling conversion is often cheaper than doubling traffic. See product page optimisation.
2. Average order value (AOV)
The average amount spent per order. Lifting AOV increases revenue without needing a single extra visitor.
- What to do: bundles, cross-sells, free-shipping thresholds and "frequently bought together" all nudge AOV up.
3. Sessions and traffic sources
How many visits you get, and where they come from (search, social, direct, referral, paid).
- What to do: see which channels actually drive sales, not just clicks, and double down on those. If almost all traffic is one source, that is a risk worth diversifying.
4. Returning customer rate
The share of customers who come back and buy again. Repeat customers are far cheaper than new ones, so this is a health check on loyalty.
- What to do: if it is low, look at post-purchase email, product quality, and whether subscriptions or a loyalty offer make sense.
5. Cart and checkout abandonment
How many people add to cart or start checkout but do not finish.
- What to do: turn on abandoned-checkout recovery, show shipping costs early, offer accelerated checkout, and remove friction. Full detail in abandoned cart recovery.
6. Top products (and top pages)
What actually sells, and what people actually look at.
- What to do: feature your winners, fix or drop the dead weight, and make sure your best sellers have the strongest product pages and stock.
Connect Google Analytics too
Shopify's reports are solid, but adding Google Analytics 4 gives you deeper behaviour and traffic analysis, and pairs well with Search Console for the SEO side. Use Shopify for commerce numbers and GA4 for behaviour.
How to actually use this
Do not check everything daily. Pick a rhythm:
- Weekly: conversion rate, sessions, AOV. Are they trending the right way?
- Monthly: returning customer rate, traffic mix, top products. Any structural shifts?
- When something changes: dig into the specific report to find the cause.
Numbers are only useful if they change a decision. For each metric, know what "good" looks like for you and what you would do if it moved.
The takeaway
You do not need every Shopify report. Watch conversion rate and AOV to understand revenue health, sessions and sources to understand traffic, returning-customer rate for loyalty, and abandonment to plug leaks. Track your own trend rather than chasing benchmarks, and let each number drive a decision.
Want help turning your store's numbers into a plan to grow? Get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find analytics in Shopify?
In your Shopify admin under Analytics, which has an overview dashboard and detailed reports. The depth of reporting increases on higher plans, but every store gets the core numbers.
What is a good conversion rate for a Shopify store?
It varies by industry, traffic source and price point, but many stores sit somewhere around 1 to 3 percent. Rather than chase a benchmark, focus on improving your own rate over time.
Can I connect Shopify to Google Analytics?
Yes. You can add Google Analytics 4 to a Shopify store for deeper traffic and behaviour analysis alongside Shopify's built-in reports.
Which metric matters most?
There is no single one, but conversion rate and average order value together tell you the most about store health, because improving either lifts revenue without needing more traffic.