5 Ecommerce Reports You Need to Track to Grow Your Business

Do you ever feel like you're running your ecommerce business blindfolded? You don't know where you're going, how fast you're going, or if you're even on the right track.

This is why tracking ecommerce reports is so important. Ecommerce reports are like a roadmap for your business. They tell you what's working, what's not, and where you need to make adjustments.

In this blog post, I'll share the 5 ecommerce reports you need to track to grow your business.

What are ecommerce reports?

Ecommerce reports are data-driven summaries and analyses that provide insights into various aspects of an online store's performance. These reports can cover a wide range of metrics and analytics, including sales data, customer behavior, website traffic, conversion rates, marketing campaign effectiveness, inventory management, and more.

Why are ecommerce reports important?

They provide insights into business performance. Ecommerce reports can help businesses to identify trends and patterns in their data, such as which products are selling well, which marketing campaigns are generating the most traffic, and which areas of the website need improvement. By understanding their performance, businesses can make more informed decisions about their strategy, such as which products to promote, how to optimize their website, and how to allocate marketing resources.
They help businesses to identify and solve problems. Ecommerce reports can help businesses to identify areas where they are losing money or customers. For example, if a business sees that a particular product is not selling well, they can investigate why this is the case and take steps to improve the product or its marketing.
They help businesses to track their progress over time. By tracking their performance over time, businesses can identify areas where they are improving and areas where they need to focus their efforts. For example, if a business sees that their sales are increasing over time, they can be confident that their strategy is working.
They help businesses to make informed decisions about future growth. Ecommerce reports can help businesses to identify new opportunities for growth. For example, if a business sees that a particular product is selling well in one market, they may want to consider expanding into other markets.

5 ecommerce reports you need to track to grow your business

Here are the 5 most important ecommerce report examples to be understood to grow your business:

Report 1: Sales Report

A sales report is a free ecommerce report document that provides a comprehensive overview of a business's sales performance over a specific period. It offers valuable insights into how well products or services are selling and can help identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.

What metrics to track in a sales report?
In a ecommerce sales report, it's crucial to track various metrics, including:

Total Sales: The overall revenue generated from sales.
Revenue by Product/Category: Breakdown of sales revenue by product or product category.
Sales Volume: The number of units or items sold.
Average Order Value (AOV): The average amount spent per customer order.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of website visitors who make a purchase.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The cost of acquiring new customers.
Return on Investment (ROI): The profitability of your sales efforts.
Top-Selling Products: Identify your best-performing products.

How to use a sales report to grow your business?
A sales report is a valuable ecommerce reporting software for business growth:

Identify Trends: Analyze sales data to spot trends, such as seasonality or product popularity, and adjust your strategies accordingly.
Optimize Inventory: Use sales data to manage inventory levels effectively, reducing excess stock and avoiding shortages.
Segment Customers: Identify customer segments based on purchase behavior and tailor marketing efforts for better targeting.
Improve Marketing: Understand which marketing channels drive the most sales and allocate resources accordingly.
Enhance Product Line: Use data to develop or promote products that resonate with your audience.
Set Sales Goals: Sales reports help set realistic sales targets and measure progress.
Cost Efficiency: Analyze CAC and ROI to ensure your sales and marketing efforts are cost-effective.
Customer Retention: Identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell to existing customers.

Report 2: Traffic Report

A traffic report in e-commerce provides insights into the sources and behavior of visitors on your website. It helps you understand where your website traffic is coming from and how visitors engage with your site.

What Metrics to Track in a Traffic Report?
In a ecommerce traffic report, it's crucial to track various metrics, including:

Traffic Sources: Identify the channels bringing visitors to your site, such as organic search, paid advertising, social media, or referrals from other websites.
Visitor Count: Measure the total number of visitors to your site within a specific timeframe.
Bounce Rate: Track the percentage of visitors who navigate away from your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate issues with your website's content or user experience.
Pages per Session: Monitor the average number of pages viewed during a single session, indicating visitor engagement and site navigation.
Average Session Duration: Measure the average amount of time visitors spend on your site. Longer session durations may suggest more engaged visitors.

How to Use a Traffic Report to Grow Your Business?

Identify High-Performing Channels: Determine which traffic sources are driving the most valuable traffic and allocate resources accordingly. Invest more in channels that bring in quality visitors.
Optimize Content: Analyze pages with high bounce rates and low session durations. Improve the content, user experience, and calls to action on these pages to keep visitors engaged.
Refine Marketing Strategies: Use traffic source data to refine your marketing strategies. Adjust your advertising spend, SEO efforts, and social media campaigns based on the channels that yield the best results.
Enhance User Experience: Focus on improving the overall user experience of your website to encourage visitors to explore more pages and spend more time on your site.
Segmentation: Segment your audience based on traffic source, behavior, or demographics. Tailor your marketing efforts and content to specific segments for better engagement.

Report 3: Product Performance Report

A product performance report is a valuable ecommerce reporting tool for e-commerce businesses. It provides insights into how individual products are performing in your online store. This report helps you understand which products are driving sales, which ones might need improvement, and where to focus your marketing efforts.

What metrics to track in a product performance report?
In an ecommerce product performance report, you should track key metrics such as:

Sales Revenue: Measure the total revenue generated by each product.
Quantity Sold: Determine how many units of each product have been sold.
Conversion Rate: Calculate the percentage of visitors to your product page who make a purchase.
Average Order Value (AOV): Understand the average amount customers spend when purchasing a specific product.
Customer Reviews and Ratings: Monitor customer feedback and ratings to gauge product satisfaction.

How to use a product performance report to grow your business?

Identify Top Performers: Identify your best-selling products and focus on promoting them further to maximize revenue.
Inventory Management: Ensure that popular products are adequately stocked to avoid stockouts.
Product Improvement: Use customer reviews and feedback to make improvements to products that may be underperforming.
Cross-Selling and Upselling: Recommend related or complementary products to customers based on their purchases to increase AOV.
Marketing Strategies: Tailor your marketing campaigns to highlight top-performing products and offer incentives to boost sales.

Report 4: Customer Behavior Report

A customer behavior report is a data-driven analysis of how visitors and customers interact with your e-commerce website. It provides insights into their actions, preferences, and habits while navigating your online store.

What metrics to track in a customer behavior report?
In an ecommerce customer behavior report, you should track key metrics such as:

Page Views: The number of times each page on your website is viewed.
Session Duration: How long visitors spend on your site.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase.
Cart Abandonment Rate: The percentage of visitors who add items to their cart but do not complete the checkout process.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of visitors who click on links or products.

How to use a customer behavior report to grow your business?

Optimize User Experience: Identify pages with high bounce rates or low session durations. Improve page load times, content quality, and navigation to keep visitors engaged.
Enhance Product Recommendations: Analyze which products are frequently viewed or added to carts. Use this data to refine product recommendations and upselling strategies.
Reduce Cart Abandonment: Investigate the reasons behind cart abandonment and implement strategies to address common issues, such as unexpected shipping costs.
Personalization: Leverage customer behavior data to personalize marketing messages and product suggestions, increasing the chances of conversion.
A/B Testing: Experiment with different website elements and track how they impact customer behavior metrics. Use A/B testing to refine your site for better results.
Segmentation: Group customers based on their behavior patterns, allowing you to tailor marketing campaigns and offers to specific segments for improved targeting.

Report 5: Marketing Report

A marketing report in e-commerce is a comprehensive ecommerce analysis report of your marketing efforts and campaigns. It consolidates data on various marketing channels and strategies to provide insights into their performance.

What metrics to track in a marketing report?
In an ecommerce marketing report, you should track essential metrics such as:

Traffic Sources: Identify which channels (e.g., organic search, paid advertising, social media) drive the most traffic to your website.
Conversion Rate: Measure how well your marketing efforts turn visitors into customers.
Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the effectiveness of your marketing spend by comparing it to the revenue generated.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Determine how much it costs to acquire each new customer through marketing.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Evaluate the success of email campaigns or ad click-throughs.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Assess the long-term value of customers acquired through marketing efforts.
Engagement Metrics: Analyze social media engagement, email open rates, and click rates to gauge audience interaction.

How to use a marketing report to grow your business?

Identify High-Performing Channels: The report helps you pinpoint which marketing channels deliver the best results. Allocate more resources to those channels.
Optimize Campaigns: Analyze the data to identify underperforming campaigns. Make necessary adjustments or reallocate budget to better-performing campaigns.
Refine Targeting: Review customer segments and demographics to refine your target audience for more effective marketing.
Budget Allocation: Based on ROI and CAC data, allocate your marketing budget where it will have the most impact.
Personalization: Leverage CLV data to personalize marketing messages and offers for long-term customer loyalty.
Continuous Improvement: Regularly analyze your marketing report to stay agile and adapt to changing market conditions and customer behavior.

Generate all the above reports with Manifest AI

Manifest AI is an GPT powered AI chatbot that helps businesses track and analyze their performance across a variety of metrics, including sales, traffic, product performance, customer behavior, and marketing.

Manifest AI can generate all of the reports that you mentioned in your previous question:

Sales report: Manifest AI can generate a sales report that shows you your total sales, sales by product category, sales by channel, sales by customer segment, and sales growth over time.
Traffic report: Manifest AI can generate a traffic report that shows you how much traffic is coming to your website, where it's coming from, and what questions visitors are looking at.
Product performance report: Manifest AI can generate a product performance report that shows you how well each of your products is selling, including metrics like conversion rate, average order value, and customer reviews.
Customer behavior report: Manifest AI can generate a customer behavior report that shows you how customers are interacting with your website, including metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and abandoned cart rate.
Marketing report: Manifest AI can generate a marketing report that shows you how effective your marketing campaigns are, including metrics like click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per acquisition.

Install Manifest AI for Free on your Shopify Store

Conclusion

Ecommerce reports are the secret sauce to growing your online business. They're like a crystal ball, giving you a glimpse into the future of your business and helping you make informed decisions about your strategy.

But with so many different reports available, it can be tough to know which ones are most important. That's why I've shared the 5 ecommerce report templates you need to track to grow your business.

Track the above ecommerce reporting regularly, you'll be able to identify your best-selling products, see where your traffic is coming from, understand what your customers are looking for, and determine which marketing campaigns are most effective.