Jean Paul Agon, Chairman of L’Oreal once said, “E-commerce isn’t the cherry on the cake, it’s the new cake”.
Digital Transformation has made every Business rethink the power of eCommerce in terms of Scalability and Customer Reach. The eCommerce Industry is booming and witnessing record Online Competition across all segments. In such environments, establishing an Online Store can prove to be an exigent task when you have so many Customers to reach out to and so many Competitors to outperform.
Shopify is one such high-quality, all-round eCommerce Hosting Solution that is rated as #1 by Influencer Marketing Hub among the best eCommerce Platforms for 2021. Shopify’s Ease of Use, Payment Processing capability with over 100 Payment Gateways and Powerful Reporting like Shopify Sales Reports present you with so many ingredients to your Business Growth that it’s really hard to ignore. Shopify gives you all these features “out of the box” without you even having to worry about hiring a Designer or Coder for your Website.
That said, getting started with Shopify and Shopify Reports for in-depth awareness of your Business Performance is super easy and this guide aims to help you achieve that. This exhaustive guide is structured to help you with different aspects, like which KPIs should you track, which reports should you monitor and how to customise your Shopify Online Store for a better look and feel to your Target Customers.
Read along to get started or click on the hyperlinks below to navigate through.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Shopify
Shopify is a Cloud-Based Software that is packaged as a Service Shopping Cart Solution. It allows Businesses to set up an Online Store with little to no hassle. For a lot of eCommerce Businesses requiring low startup costs and an easy-to-use Interface, Shopify has become a synonymous name for All-in-One eCommerce Solution, serving over one million Businesses across more than 100 countries.
Merchants seeking to sell their Products while managing multiple Sales Channels across the Web, Mobile, Social Media Channels, Marketplaces, Brick-and-Mortar Locations and Pop-up Shops find Shopify extremely beneficial. Shopify lets you seamlessly monitor all Sales Channels, right from creating and managing an Online Store, accepting Payments to managing your Inventory and tracking & responding to Orders, all available from Shopify Admin Dashboard.
Shopify is a flexible, adaptable Platform that can be utilised by companies of various sizes. Shopify allows you to offer Services, Memberships, Ticketed Events, Rentals, and even Classes and Lessons in addition to Physical and Digital Items. Shopify Reports like Shopify Sales Reports extend Shopify’s functionality to help you quickly discover Customers’ problems and opportunities to rectify them to improve your Business and Brand Value.
To make the most of Shopify you can also integrate Shopify with other popular Sales Channels like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and other third-party Integrations that will lead to an increase in your Business Sales and Revenue.
Shopify Features and Capabilities
Easy to Use and Beginner-Friendly
Using Shopify is simple and straightforward right from the start. All you have to do is Sign up, and you’ll be guided through the entire procedure.
Customers love Shopify because there is no need for a Developer to create and launch an Online eCommerce Store. Without even possessing the basic knowledge of coding or HTML like Magento, you can configure your Shopify Store easily, just like an Administrator.
To begin, you may select from over 100 optimal Online Shop Template Designs, which eliminate the need for you to have design abilities or employ a Designer. Shopify’s designs are of high-quality and well-optimized to achieve High Conversion Rates from your Visitors. These Shopify Themes are clean and modern, and Shopify provides a variety of editing tools that you can use to make your chosen Theme fit your Brand.
Powerful Reporting
Business Performance Evaluation requires Professional Teamwork, understanding Customer Interests, Framing Offers & Tactics and Powerful Reporting, for tracking essential Business KPIs. Shopify’s Professional Reporting functionality like Shopify Sales Reports present detailed information of your Customers like how they shop, what they think about your Products, your Business Revenue, Net Profit, Repeat Purchase Rate, Channels and Countries driving Search Traffic and which Products are your bestsellers, so you can know extra about them.
This data enables you to invest in future Marketing Campaigns more efficiently, make decisions for expanding into New Markets, manage Inventories and adjust your Customer Product Preferences to cater for their best interests.
Scalability & Security At Its Finest
When it comes to Business Scalability, Shopify is well equipped to handle large amounts of Traffic and Orders. Since Shopify handles all the technical aspects of your eCommerce Store, neither do you have to build the Architecture, nor do you have to worry about dealing with Hosting Solutions. Shopify comes with Dynamic-Scalable Infrastructure to handle all your Business needs as your Business grows. When your company expands, you can simply upgrade your Shopify Subscription Plans with ease without losing out on anything.
For large enterprises, Shopify has another great SaaS Solution called Shopify Plus, a Cloud-Based Infrastructure designed for resiliency and providing 99.99% uptime. For more information on Shopify Plus, you can check their website here.
Along with Scalability features, Shopify has its own Security Team and is PCI DDS Compliant. Shopify eCommerce Hosting is ultra-fast while being totally secure for handling Sensitive Data and Processing Payments. Shopify’s PCI Compliance maintains a Secure Network, protects the Cardholder’s Data and regularly monitors and tests its Networks for the best efficiency.
Shopify Integrations
Shopify offers several third-party Integration options that make it easy to add more functionality to your Online eCommerce Store. Shopify supports Integration with popular Social Media Channels and Advertising Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, Tumblr, Pinterest and even Analytics Tools like Google Analytics. They offer hundreds of Apps covering any function you’ll want to add to your Shop from their Shopify Marketplace.
If you would like to Integrate your Shopify Dashboard with Google Analytics, we’ve created a step by step guide to achieving it, which you can access here.
Shopify Pricing Plans
Before committing to any Shopify Plans, you can try Shopify’s 14-day free trial. You can put up an eCommerce Website for free in the trial Subscription, but you won’t be able to sell your Products or Services. To connect with your Customers and generate revenue from your Business you must be a Paid Shopify User. Shopify Subscription Plans come in three tiers:
- Basic Shopify is an entry-level Plan that is ideal for Individuals and Teams who are just starting out in the world of eCommerce. The Basic Shopify Plan costs $29/month and comes with features like two Staff Accounts, up to four Inventory Locations, access to Online Marketplaces and Social Media, and unlimited Products in your Online Store.
The Basic Shopify Plan houses a limited number of Reports like Acquisition Reports, Inventory Reports, Behaviour Reports and Marketing Reports.
- Shopify is a mid-tier Plan that is ideal for expanding Enterprises. You get a greater resource allocation, more functionality, and reduced transaction costs. Shopify Plan costs $79/month and comes with features like five Staff Accounts, up to five Inventory Locations, access to Online Marketplaces and Social Media, and unlimited Products in your Online Store.
In addition to the Basic Shopify Plan Reports, the Shopify Plan houses plenty of other essential Reports like Shopify Sales Reports, Order Reports, Profit Reports and Retail Sales Reports.
- Advanced Shopify is designed for people who want to considerably expand their company. It’s a big, feature-packed package with a hefty price tag of $299/month. Advanced Shopify comes with features like 15 Staff Accounts, up to eight Inventory Locations, access to Online Marketplaces and Social Media, and unlimited Product Offering Capabilities.
Besides the essential Reports covered in Shopify Plan, Advanced Shopify offers some additional Reports like Customer Reports and Custom Reports.
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Shopify Sales Reports: An All-Inclusive Guide
Shopify Sales Reports contain valuable information about your Customer’s Orders, Returns, your Business’ Gross Sales, Net Sales, Tax, Total Sales, and Units per Transaction.
Shopify Sales Reports include 11 Sub Reports to get a comprehensive view of your Goods and Sales Funnel. These are:
- Sales over time
- Sales by product
- Sales by product variant SKU
- Sales by the product vendor
- Sales by discount
- Sales by traffic referrer
- Sales by billing location
- Sales by checkout currency
- Sales by channel
- Sales by customer name
- Average order value over time
However, for our part, we’ll be only covering 5 essential Shopify Sales Reports which we believe are advantageous and worth spending time on, for your Business. To jump right into these Shopify Sales Reports click here.
Accessing Shopify Sales Reports
Note: Shopify Sales Reports aren’t available in Shopify Basic or Shopify Lite Subscription Plans. You need to be a Shopify or Advanced Shopify Subscriber to access and work with Shopify Sales Reports. In the Basic Shopify Plan, you can only view Channel-specific Summaries of your Shopify Sales Reports from your Shopify home.
To access and view your Shopify Sales Reports, do the following actions:
Step 1: Visit Analytics > Reports Section in the left corner of your Shopify Admin Dashboard.
Step 2: Under the Sales Tab, click Show all to list all the 11 Sub Reports.
Step 3: Choose which Sales Report you would like to visit from the available options.
Quick Tip: For accessing Historical Shopify Sales Reports, you can click on Sales over time under the Sales Tab, and specify the desired time frame with Start and End Dates for which you would like to view Sales Metrics and Trends.
Image Source: Coupler Blogs
If you like to export your Shopify Admin Data, have a look at our other comprehensive guide to Shopify Export.
Shopify Sales Report: Terminology and Definitions
Shopify Sales Reports make use of a variety of technical terms and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). To understand better, Shopify has provided a catalogue on their blog to assist explain their definitions and their significance. These are:
| Units per Transaction | Equates to Net Quantity / Total Orders. |
| Average Order Value | The average value of Customer Sales. |
| Orders | The number of Orders that were placed on a given date. |
| Gross Sales | Equates to Product Price x Quantity (before Taxes, Shipping, Discounts, and Returns) for a collection of Sales. Cancelled, Pending and Unpaid Orders are included. Test and Deleted orders are not included. |
| Discounts | • Equates to Line Item Discount + Order Level Discount Share for a collection of Sales.
• The Total Dollar Value Reduction is applied to a Sale in the form of Discounts on specific Products or Collections, or all Products.
• Discounts that are applied to all Products in an order are proportionally applied to the Sales for the Order.
• All Discounts are applied before Taxes.
• Discounts are created using Discount codes, not through Comparison at Price. |
| Returns | The value of Goods returned by a Customer. |
| Net Sales | Equates to Gross Sales – Discounts – Returns. |
| Shipping | Equates to Shipping Charges – Shipping Discounts – Refunded Shipping Amounts. |
| Tax | The total amount of Taxes based on the Orders. |
| Total Sales | • Equates to Gross Sales – Discounts – Returns + Taxes + Shipping Charges.
• Total Sales will be a positive number for a Sale on the date that an Order was placed, and a negative number for a Return on the date that an Order was returned. |
Shopify Sales Reports: Key Metrics
Tracking KPIs is important just like Strategy and Goal Setting. Without a clear indication of your Business Performance, you’ll be making judgments based on gut feeling, personal preference or belief, or other erroneous ideas, which can prove detrimental.
KPIs for Shopify Sales Reports give precise information on your Business Performance and Customers, helping you to make more informed and strategic decisions. KPIs not only are for Business Performance Evaluation but over time, as you track KPIs quarter by quarter you get to analyse trends which can be useful for forecasting Sales and making suitable arrangements for your Business.
Image Source: Zenstores
Although Shopify Sales Reports KPIs should be set and monitored individually based on your company’s goals and objectives, we’ve created a list of fundamental and universal KPIs that every company should monitor:
Average Order Value
The Average Order Value Metric is the average amount of money billed on a Customer Sale. It is determined by dividing your Total Sales (including Taxes and Discounts) by the number of Sales you make. Shopify excludes Returns from this calculation.
Average Order Value = Total Sales/Number of Orders
A higher Average Order Value highlights better profit margins and growth opportunities for your Business. However, do keep in mind that Average Order Value can become misleading in cases where your Customers are registering higher Sales but with a decrease in Customer Base Count.
Gross Sales
Gross Sales is the total amount of all your registered Sales within a certain time period, excluding any Outgoings, Discounts, and Shipping Expenses.
Gross Sales = Product Price * Quantity Sold
Gross Sales is a Metric providing quick statistics on Sales administered, which can be useful for comparison on a Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly basis. This gives you the ability to check bottlenecks and restrictions to your Sales Pipeline, compare your Sales with your Competitors and take required actions.
Net Sales
Net sales is the total amount of all your registered Sales (Gross Sales) with any Discounts or Returns taken off.
Net Sales= Gross Sales – Discounts – Returns
Net Sales alone doesn’t serve much as a significant Metric, but when used along with Gross Sales, highlights the difference between how much your Business is earning and how much you are ending up with.
Large differences in Net Sales and Gross Sales are not good indicators for your Business because in those cases you are losing quite a bit of potential Revenue into either Discounts or Refunds.
Returning Customer Rate or Repeat Customer Rate
The percentage of your Client Base that has made more than one Purchase is referred to as the Repeat Customer Rate.
Repeat Customer Rate (%)
= [No. of Customers who’ve purchased before / Total no. Customers] × 100
Although your Repeat Customer Rate will ultimately be determined by your Company’s Industry and level of Customer Satisfaction, most Online Firms have 25-30% Repeat Consumers. This is supported by Alex Schultz, Facebook’s VP of Growth, who says, “If you can have 20-30% of customers coming back every month and completing a purchase from your store, you should do quite well.”
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) identifies how much a Customer is worth to your company throughout the length of their engagement with your Brand.
Customer Lifetime Value = Lifetime Value * Profit Margin
Lifetime Value = Average Value of Sale * Number of Sales/Transactions * Retention Period
Many Businesses take a Short-Sighted Strategy by ignoring this useful measure in favour of optimising for a Single Sale in the near future. While finding new Customers is still vital for Business Development, maximising the Lifetime Value of existing Customers is equally necessary for a firm to maintain a successful Business Model. A higher Customer Lifetime Value indicates better Business Performance and Expansive Opportunities.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The expense to a firm of turning a likely Prospect into a Loyal Customer is referred to as Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). In other words, CAC is the Cost of Sales and Marketing efforts needed to convince a Customer to buy your Product or Service.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) = [Cost of Sales + Cost of Marketing] / New Customers Acquired
Customer Acquisition Costs are a clear indicator of your company’s future performance. By knowing CAC you can determine and optimize your Payback Period. Your business’ aim should be to reduce CAC, which converts to Businesses spending money more efficiently and getting higher returns in their total profit.
To get more insights into Average Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by Industry visit this wonderful article by FirstPageSage.
Inventory Levels
Inventory Levels KPI tells you how much Stock you have on hand, how long it has been sitting, and how quickly it is selling. These Inventory Management Metrics assist you in determining how to make your Business Operations more effective while keeping your Customers satisfied.
Shopify Sales Reports: 5 Essential Sub Reports
Sales By Product
Sales by Product identifies your Business’ best-selling Products over a timeframe. It presents a complete breakdown of your Business Products in terms of Product Vendor, Product Type, Net Quantity Sold, Discounts, Returns, Total Sales and Gross Sales,
This data is useful for making decisions about Promotions, Discounts, and Product Pushes. It can also assist you with Inventory Planning, ensuring you maintain a complete Stock for the Customer’s Preferred Products and keep a check on frequently Returned Products.
Image Source: Shopify
Sales By Channel or Traffic Referrer
Sales By Channel or Traffic Referrer presents information about Marketing Channels or Traffic Referrers that are bringing the most to your Business Revenue Stream. This lets you monitor Low Performing and High Performing Marketing Channels, segregate them and adjust your Marketing Budget for the best Customer Conversion and Lead Generation.
To add new Channels to your Shopify Sales Reports, visit Shopify’s Sales Channels Apps and add them so that everything gets visible and trackable from a single canvas.
Image Source: Shopify
Sales by Customer Name
Sales by Customer Name helps identification of your Loyal and Best Customers who are actively engaged with the Purchase of your Business’ Products or Services. Sales by Customer Name Report lists your Loyal Customer over a certain set interval, which can be modified from the Date Range Section (present in the top left corner).
With such information at hand, your Business can target and tailor Customer Loyalty Programs, Special Discount Offers, Memorable Experiences, Outreaches and Rewards to increase Customer Lifetime Value and your Business’ Word of Mouth.
Image Source: Shopify
Sales by Billing Country
Sales by Billing Country highlights the top countries encompassing your target Customer Base. This information allows you to frame your Marketing Campaigns suited for their needs, expand to nearby demographics having similar interests and create better Profit Margins for your Business.
You can also drill down into a country to see what province or state performs best for Targeting Ads in the future.
Image Source: Shopify
Returning Customer Report
The Rate of Repeat Customers is the foundation of Customer Retention. The Returning Customer Report calculates the proportion of Customers who are willing to make a second purchase from you.
Sometimes when acquiring new Prospects becomes extremely hard, a much better strategy is to use current Customers to maximize Sales.
Measuring your Repeat Purchase Rate is a great method to see how well your Retention Strategy is working. Customers are more likely to return to your shop if this measure is high. These statistics can help to frame Loyalty, improving Customer Service, and can also be converted into Customer Recommendations, hence bringing more people to your Brand.
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Shopify Themes and Customisation Options
A Shopify Theme is a layout that determines the way your Online Shopify Store looks and feels. Different Themes offer different styles & layouts and offer a different experience for your Customers. For example, if you are in the Business of selling Makeup Products, the look and feel of your Shopify Online Store should resonate with new ongoing trends, luxury and superior quality, with easy browsing options. Also check out Shopify vs Magento comparison.
The default Theme added to your Shopify Store is called Debut. Using Shopify’s Theme Editor you can modify and edit your Theme codes, switch to a new Theme, or experiment with different styles and layouts to change the visual appeal, without sacrificing the rest of your Shopify Store Content.
When it comes to choosing the right Shopify Theme for your Online eCommerce Store, you can browse Shopify Theme Store which contains a plethora of both Free and Paid Themes that are developed by Shopify and third-party Designers. You can filter Shopify Themes based on Collections or Industries Filters, available at the top of the page.
If you would like to explore more options, you can browse Envato Elements’ Catalogue which provides more than 280 different Shopify Themes to suit your Business needs.
Adding a New Shopify Theme
To add a Shopify Theme to your Online Store, perform the following actions:
Step 1: Visit Online Store > Themes from your Shopify Admin Dashboard.
Image Source: Shopify Help Center
Step 2:
(For Free Shopify Themes)
In the Free Themes section near the bottom of the page, click Explore Free Themes. A window will open previewing all Shopify Free Themes. For viewing more details on any preferred Free Theme, click on its Card to open features and to preview the Theme Style.
(For Paid Shopify Themes)
In the Paid Theme Library section, click Actions next to the theme that you want to purchase. Click on the Theme Cards to view more information, customise its style and preview on your Online Store.
Step 3: Click on the Add/Buy button to install it to your Shopify Admin Dashboard. The Free/Paid Shopify Theme will be added to the Themes page of your Admin.
Image Source: Shopify Help Center
Quick Tips on Shopify Themes
- If you would like to import Shopify Themes from your device, in case you decided your Shopify Store is better off being designed by a Professional Designer, Shopify also allows you to do so. Simply convert your Shopify Theme into a ZIP file and upload it to your Shopify Admin Dashboard. More details and guidelines can be found here.
Conclusion
Shopify is a fantastic and robust eCommerce Hosting platform for Small and Medium-sized Businesses. It’s no surprise that Shopify is the world’s Top Rated eCommerce Platform, with quick and easy ways to set up your Shopify Online Store, Secure and Scalable Infrastructure, Shopify Performance Reporting Systems like Shopify Sales Reports, and Easily Customisable Shopify Themes.
Shopify Tools and Functionalities are used by companies such as Budweiser, Sunday Somewhere, WaterAid, and Penguin Books to build and grow their eCommerce Businesses. Sellers looking for an All-in-One Management Tool heavily rely on the Shopify Platform to reach Customers, derive actionable insights from Shopify Sales Reports and funnel their eCommerce growth.
While Shopify integrates with multiple Advertising Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Google, it might get daunting to track and analyse Customer Information when your Customer Base becomes large. Creating Personalised Promotion Campaigns, or Product Pushs without any clue of where to being with can prove disadvantageous to your Business. This is where Hevo saves your efforts and simplifies the process.
Hevo Data with its strong integration with 100+ Sources & BI tools such as Shopify allows you to not only export data from Sources & load data in the Destinations, but also transform & enrich your data, & make it analysis-ready so that you can focus only on your key business needs and perform insightful analysis using BI tools.
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Share with us your thoughts on learning about Shopify Sales Reports, Key Metrics and Customisable Dashboards in the comment section below. We would love to hear out your views and opinions.