Shopify Reports: The Ones That Actually Matter

Shopify's analytics dashboard can be overwhelming. There are dozens of reports, and it's not obvious which ones tell you something actionable. Here are the six that most store owners should be checking regularly — and what each one is actually telling you.

1. Sales by Traffic Source

Found under Analytics > Reports > Acquisition. This shows you where your revenue is coming from by channel. Review this weekly. If a previously strong channel is declining, investigate. If a new source is over-performing, understand why and invest accordingly.

2. Returning Customer Rate

The simplest retention metric. A healthy Shopify store sees 25–40% of orders from returning customers. If yours is below 20%, your retention strategy needs work. Find it in Analytics > Reports > Customers.

3. Customers Over Time (Cohort Report)

Shows you how customers acquired in different periods continue to purchase over time. A declining cohort retention trend is an early warning signal that something is wrong with your product, post-purchase experience, or retention communications — often months before it appears in your revenue figures.

4. Product Performance

Identifies your top-revenue SKUs, best margin products, and worst performers. Use this monthly to make promotional and inventory decisions. If your top-traffic products are not your top-revenue products, your merchandising strategy needs attention.

• Sort by units sold to understand volume
• Sort by gross revenue to understand contribution
• Filter by date range to identify seasonal patterns
• Compare periods to spot declining products early

5. Average Order Value by Month

AOV is a proxy for cross-sell success, product mix, and pricing strategy health. A declining AOV with stable conversion rate suggests customers are trading down or your upsell mechanics aren't working. An increasing AOV with lower conversion rate may indicate a pricing problem.

6. Conversion Rate by Device

Compare mobile and desktop conversion rates. If your mobile rate is less than 60% of your desktop rate, you have a mobile UX problem. Given that mobile represents the majority of traffic, this is almost always the highest-ROI fix available.