Category

Analytics & Data

Our coverage of analytics recognizes that data drives ecommerce but collecting that data and interpreting it can be confusing. Our huge library of Google Analytics articles ranges from basic setup to the sophisticated interpretation of on-site activity of visitors and customers. We also analyze data security, blockchain topics, and ancillary tools such as Google Tag Manager and Google Data Studio.

Analytics & Data
How to Audit Integration of Google Analytics, Ads

September 4, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Google Ads is an important platform for online merchants. Google Analytics is another. Combining the two provides rich, actionable data to grow traffic and sales — assuming that tracking is set up correctly. In this post, I'll provide an audit process to confirm proper integration.
Analytics & Data
10 Ways Bad Data Hurts an Ecommerce Business

August 13, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Data is essential for ecommerce businesses. Order quantities, shipping addresses, sales history, marketing performance — all rely on accurate data. Thus missing or inaccurate data can harm a business. Here are 10 ways that poor data can reduce ecommerce performance.
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics’ Learning Resources

August 12, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics is sophisticated and comprehensive. Getting started — logging in, using the menu, viewing the reports — is straightforward. But interpreting the data can be difficult. Fortunately, Google Analytics offers many learning resources to help.
Analytics & Data
Need Data for a Key Decision? Try These 8 Sources

July 16, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Data drives most businesses. But what happens when you lack data to make a critical decision? How do you collect the data, and at what cost?
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Common Mistakes from Ecommerce Merchants

July 5, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics provides impactful data that can help ecommerce merchants. But installed incorrectly, Google Analytics can produce inaccurate reporting. In this post, I'll address common mistakes from merchants in installing Google Analytics and analyzing its data.
Analytics & Data
7 Gaps in Google Analytics That Require Additional Tools

June 23, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics is a powerful, free web analytics platform. However, it has gaps that are better served by other tools. I'll address those gaps and tools in this post.
Analytics & Data
Using Attribution Modeling in Google Analytics

May 24, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Marketing attribution is the process of identifying sources or channels that led to a desired outcome, such as a sale or a subscription. Google Analytics offers attribution modeling at Conversions > Attribution > Model Comparison Tool. There are a handful of models to select from.
Analytics & Data
Use Market Basket Analysis to Boost Cross-sales, Average Order Values

May 9, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Market basket analysis is based on the idea that a customer who buys product A is likely to buy product B, too. The model seeks to find relationships among purchases — a customer who buys pasta likely needs pasta sauce. The model applies at an item level or to a group of items or categories.
Analytics & Data
Analyze Click Paths in Google Analytics to Improve Conversions

May 8, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Monitoring the navigation of visitors can help ecommerce merchants identify bottlenecks to the checkout page. There are two ways to analyze paths in Google Analytics: Behavior Flow and Navigation analysis.
Analytics & Data
How to Merge Data from Multiple Sources into a Single Platform

May 1, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Migrating to a new customer management platform may require merging multiple data sources or adding a new source. In this post, I’ll review how to merge multiple sources into a ...
Analytics & Data
8 Ways to Improve Marketing Automation for Ecommerce

April 8, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Marketing automation can do more with email than send mass deployments and track opens and clicks. Marketing automation can integrate email with your customer management platform to create relevant campaigns. In this post, I'll review eight ways to accelerate an ecommerce marketing automation program.
Analytics & Data
Using Alerts in Google Analytics for Slow Site Speeds

April 4, 2019 • Morgan Jones

I’ve addressed site speed reports in Google Analytics. Site speed is critical for conversions and, increasingly, for search engine rankings. In this post, I’ll explain how to set up Custom Alerts in ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Data Studio to Report Gross Profit by SKU

March 18, 2019 • Morgan Jones

In "Using Google Analytics to Track Profitability by Product," I explained how to import product cost into Google Analytics to calculate gross profit for each item sold. It was a tricky exercise. I received feedback and questions. In this post. I'll break the process down by using Google Data Studio and data blending.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Tracking Sales When Multiple Sites Use a Single Checkout

February 26, 2019 • Morgan Jones

Larger ecommerce companies sometimes create multiple branded websites that feed into a single checkout. For those companies, tracking which site generated the business — revenue — can be tricky. In this post, I will provide a method for reporting the “source of business” metrics in Google Analytics.
Analytics & Data
Using Excel to Forecast Sales, Expenses, More

February 10, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

Forecasting sales is useful for many reasons, such as inventory management, investor relations, and setting expense and marketing budgets. But producing accurate forecasts can be confusing. In this post, I'll explain how to generate forecasts using Microsoft Excel.
Analytics & Data
SEO: Monitoring Traffic from Domain Mergers, with Google Data Studio

January 27, 2019 • Hamlet Batista

A common practice among retailers is creating microsites to target different audiences. The strategy can produce strong conversions because the user experience is simpler and more relevant. Unfortunately, it is not usually helpful for organic search rankings.
Analytics & Data
18 Basic Metrics to Review at Year-end

January 15, 2019 • Anna Kayfitz

This is the time to conduct your year-end analysis to help plan for 2019. Here are some basic metrics to analyze, to see what worked and what didn't.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: How to Track PayPal Transactions

January 11, 2019 • Morgan Jones

“PayPal Payments Standard” is popular, but it can be challenging for Google Analytics to report the sale. Using PayPal Payments Standard, customers leave the merchant's website for their account at PayPal. After they complete payment, PayPal redirects them back to the return URL provided by the merchant.
Analytics & Data
Fine-tune Google Analytics for a More Profitable 2019

December 24, 2018 • Pamela Hazelton

If there is one new year's resolution for boosting ecommerce conversions in 2019, it's to get your store's analytics in order. Otherwise, you will never understand the impact of changes to your site. You’ll also miss out on potential target audiences — long-term, loyal customers.
Analytics & Data
To Analyze Data, First Form an Objective

December 11, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

The most important part of analyzing data is to define an objective. This is often overlooked. Analysts tend to drill down for insights without really knowing what they are looking ...
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Use Up-to-date Tags for Optimal Reporting

November 20, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Google Analytics periodically rolls out new tracking code. The updates present a challenge to ensure the latest tags are installed. They also present an opportunity: getting robust data and reports that help drive your business.
Analytics & Data
Using Regression Analysis to Drive Ecommerce Sales

November 13, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Have you ever wondered what drives your sales? Ecommerce businesses typically know the source of their revenue and whether campaigns are working. Using regression analysis, a business can determine subtle causes.
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics to Compete with Amazon

November 9, 2018 • Hamlet Batista

It is almost impossible to sell something online and not compete with Amazon. But how can you attract more direct buyers to your site? Through superior service and expertise. Observe the behavior of actual users in Google Analytics. Try to find areas of friction where the path-to-purchase can be improved.
Analytics & Data
20 KPIs to Drive Customer Journey Campaigns

November 6, 2018 • Craig Smith

If you are developing a digital marketing campaign for your ecommerce business, then data should play a central role in your decision-making process. In this post, I'll look at key performance indicators to track in the entire campaign, to drive performance.
Analytics & Data
How to Audit Google Analytics Data, for Ecommerce

November 6, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Data from Google Analytics helps ecommerce merchants make key decisions. But that assumes the data is accurate. In this post, I'll provide instructions for conducting a Google Analytics audit to confirm the accuracy of the data or identify potential errors.
Analytics & Data
Guidelines for Data Cleaning, to Drive Performance

October 23, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

Ecommerce businesses collect lots of data. Examples are newsletter signups, loyalty programs, sales transactions, and even supplier information. Regardless of the type, however, at some point you will need to ...
Analytics & Data
Using Google Analytics to Track On-site Promotions

October 11, 2018 • Morgan Jones

Measuring the impact of banners and promotional links on the home page and other key pages can be challenging. In this post, I will provide instructions for identifying on-site banners and other key links that drive clicks and conversions.
Analytics & Data
Use Google Analytics to Fine-tune Your Value Proposition

September 3, 2018 • Morgan Jones

A value proposition should address a sustainable competitive advantage that a company will have over competitors. Once the company defines it, the value proposition should be measured. Data from Google Analytics can be enlightening.
Analytics & Data
Case Study: Data Analysis Increases Profit for Manufacturer

August 9, 2018 • Anna Kayfitz

My firm is frequently engaged by companies to analyze data. In one example, a manufacturer asked us to analyze sales data for customers, products, and regions to determine where to focus its marketing efforts. In this post, I'll describe that engagement its end result.
Analytics & Data
Google Analytics: Dissecting Bounce Rates for Ecommerce

July 30, 2018 • Morgan Jones

There are many metrics in Google Analytics. The bounce rate is among the most prominent, but it’s also among the most misunderstood. In this post, I will address the bounce ...

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