Building effective e-commerce is a process consisting of many stages, from the selection of a sales platform to creating descriptions and filling in the stock, to ongoing customer service. Owners of online shops cannot complain about lack of duties. They should not forget about web analytics which plays an important role in developing an online business. Why and what data is worth analysing? And most importantly, with the help of which tools should effective web analytics be carried out?
Why is e-commerce analytics so important?
Web analytics plays a crucial role in a better understanding of e-business and effective planning of its development. The information collected and analysed is used to make informed decisions and identify problems, based on real data and not on subjective feelings. Complete data enables the identification of specific areas and activities that require optimisation.
Thanks to the analysis, e-shop owners can identify groups of recipients and adapt communication methods to their needs and expectations. This, in turn, is the best way to increase income ‒ properly selected and implemented communication channels are not only an effective way to convince customers to buy in the shop, but also to encourage them to place another order.
What data to analyse in an online shop?
Data collection gives a detailed view of the condition of an online shop. To benefit from the analysis, it is necessary to indicate the areas which are worthy of being reviewed. These are, above all, those related to the users, regarding:
- from which pages they are reaching the site,
- which products or subpages they are particularly interested in,
- how website traffic translates into sales,
- what is the average value of their orders in the shop,
- where they most often opt out of the purchase in the shop,
- what their shopping path looks like,
- how many sessions they need to complete the transaction.
5 most popular tools for e-commerce analysis
For a long time, an in-depth analysis was reserved exclusively for leading purchasing platforms. However, the development of modern technologies has made these tools widely available also to small and medium-sized online shops.
Among the available solutions, we point out five popular tools for e-commerce analysis, which we think are worthy of interest.
1. Google Analytics
In recent years, many tools have appeared on the market ‒ both free and paid, useful in e-commerce analysis. The unquestionable leader among them is the well-known Google Analytics ‒ perfectly and continuously developed. It offers access to a vast amount of data, which can be used in an online shop in many ways.
The primary functions of Google Analytics allow you to analyse traffic on the website ‒ track increases and decreases in users, sources of traffic on the website and campaigns generating the most visits and translating into sales. The conversion report presents the results of direct and supported sales from a given source of traffic. The tool is also used to collect demographic data of potential customers ‒ their age, gender and interests, based on the pages visited or online purchases made.
2. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is free and easy to configure the tool for monitoring the status of your website. It automatically indexes the website and communicates any bugs, such as error 404. The e-shop owner receives a notification of irregularities, which allows them to react quickly and fix the error. Besides, the GSC serves to analyse organic search results ‒ it reports the keywords referring to the website, entered by users in the Google search engine. This, in turn, makes it easier to optimise the page for keywords. The tool also provides valuable insight into the integration of the user with the site. The report allows for a better understanding of the consumers’ behaviour and indicating their main interests within the shop’s assortment.
3. Google Trends
Another tool is Google Trends which, by analysing search engine data, indicates how often users search a given phrase. The option of keyword analysis and current trends is extremely helpful in planning the marketing strategy of an online shop. Tracking the searched words helps to plan promotional activities, especially in the so-called hot periods ‒ in the season for a given product or before holidays.
4. Semstorm
Tools offered by the Silicon Valley giant are not everything. E-commerce commonly uses several other solutions. One of them is Semstorm, a tool that allows you to track the visibility of an online shop in natural search results. It is perfect for analysing the actions of competitors, and the words used in-text ads. An additional advantage is an option of generating reports useful for writing articles or product descriptions. The full package of options is available after paying for the subscription.
5. HotJar
The last tool in our list is used for e-commerce analysis by creating the so-called heat maps. The program collects data on where users click, how they move the mouse, where they stop for longer ‒ what is more and what is less interesting for them. The tool also analyses the moments when users leave the website. This allows you to take action to make them stay on the site longer. HotJar is available in a free basic and paid advanced version.
When choosing tools for monitoring our online shop, it is worth noting the scope of functionality. In this way, we can be sure that even when selecting paid solutions, the funds allocated for the subscription are used rationally. For example, the Ecometrixo tool aggregates data from practically all systems available on the market ‒ CRM, analytics, social media or e-mail programs, so that in one dashboard we get a constant insight into the condition of our e-shop and we can efficiently manage our activities.