Answers About Marketing and Data Analytics for e-Commerce Merchants - Blyp
Our e-commerce experts answer Shopify store owners' questions about inventory management, marketing, Google Analytics, and conversion rate optimization.
Recent Answers
UA vs. GA4: 5 Main Differences
While Shopify analytics vs Google Analytics currently don't always correspond, Google's change to replace Universal Analytics (UA) with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as its default web analytics tool on July 1, 2023, will include various upgrades and adjustments that could benefit Shopify sellers. Consolidated Interface GA4's goal is to consolidate your web and app analytics into a single platform to manage and analyze all relevant data more easily. Therefore, you can monitor and evaluate your customers' journey across all of their devices by aggregating data from their interactions with your website as well as Android and iOS applications under one roof. Data Streams One technique to consolidate various data sources is by using "data streams". Each piece of property might have several data streams added to it via the internet and other apps. In GA4, "Views" will no longer be accessible. Instead, filters can be activated or deactivated as well as be tested before being applied to a property or sub-properties. Hits Become Events To provide a holistic perspective of the consumer experience across all channels, GA4 adapted the UA method of several types of hits plus custom dimensions and metrics, such as landing page metrics, to the event-based, parameter-driven model more known to users of Firebase's app analytics tools. Passing a pageview from UA as an event in GA4 is still possible. Parameters replace custom metrics and dimensions to allow for event personalization. By conforming to app-specific workflows, businesses may gain a more holistic understanding of their customers' experiences across several devices and platforms. More Report Customization "Explorations" will make it easier to generate custom ad hoc reports in GA4. Its user interface resembles Data Studio and contains various templates to utilize as guides, from "free form" to complex templates for path and funnel research, acquisition and conversion, and e-commerce report creation. The templates are organized by techniques, use cases, and industries. Goals Become Conversions In UA, conversions are either e-commerce transactions or goals. However, in GA4, any event that contributes to your business goals is labeled as a conversion. UA vs. GA4: Which Is Better for Shopify Sellers? As a result of GA4, a holistic view of the user journey is created, and more reporting options will be available to Shopify sellers. Once GA4 has been set up on Shopify, its new features are not only helpful for merchants who want to improve their marketing efforts but also for those who want to understand their customers better.
Asked 7 months ago
Shopify Analytics vs. Google Analytics: Which Should You Use?
You’ve opened a Shopify store selling various collections of sneaker brands, and your sales are starting to get traction. You’ve heard that tracking your metrics through analytics is the best way to get into your customer's mind. But which analytics should you use? Shopify and Google Analytics are similar but not the same, so you need to understand the differences to find the best match for your business. What’s the Difference between Shopify Analytics and Google Analytics? While both analytics offer valuable tools for any business, Shopify analytics are missing several key features. This can give you a skewed and incomplete analysis of the customer journey. For example, Shopify analytics won’t give you important metrics like your customer lifetime value (LTV). You'll also only be able to follow checkout behavior in Google Analytics. So, what’s the solution? Use both. All you need to do is add Google Analytics to Shopify. It isn’t even that difficult to do. Simply follow this step-by-step guide: Step 1: Open up a Google account (if you don’t already have one). You’ll also need a Gmail account. You should already have an account for your Shopify store.Step 2: Go to your Shopify analytics and enter your account name and your store’s name. Then, copy and paste your URL into the online form.Step 3: Choose your industry from the dropdown menu and click on "Get Tracking ID." You’ll need to accept Google’s terms and conditions to get your code. Copy it to paste in a minute.Step 4: Open Shopify and choose "Online Store," followed by "Preferences." Now you can paste the code into the Google Analytics box. And save. Remember that it can take up to 24 hours to activate. Should You Use Shopify Analytics or Google Analytics? Which one should you use to track the main KPIs for your Shopify store? Here is a quick rule of thumb - For anything related to customers, products, inventory, sales analytics etc - Use Shopify's analyticsFor anything that relates to content, behavior of visitors in your store, customer journey, marketing analytics etc - Google Analytics will give you a more complete view. How do I use analytics to improve my Shopify store's performance? Many Shopify entrepreneurs are strapped for time and resources. Sometimes all you need is a shortcut. Someone or something to look your the data for you and just tell you what you need to know and direct you how to fix it. If that's the case with your Shopify store as well try Blyp for 14-days free and get immediate recommendations on how to increase your revenue and avoid wasting money.
Asked a year ago
Prevent Negative Inventory on Shopify With These Simple Fixes
Effective inventory management and optimization strategies are crucial components of selling products on a Shopify store. Mismanaging your inventory can affect your bottom line because you may order too much or too little stock resulting in missed sales opportunities or losing customers. In this article, we'll discuss some causes and ways of preventing negative Shopify inventory. Causes of Negative Inventory on Shopify Negative inventory on Shopify is a common issue that occurs when inventory levels fall below zero. If it goes unmonitored, it can cause problems for your company's operations. Negative inventory can occur due to: Manufacturing Time Negative inventory can occur when a customer orders a product that isn't in stock, but you mark the order as shipped because you know production will be done soon. This problem is arguably the simplest to address since you can alter inventories after manufacturing is complete. Manufacturing Volume A number of factors need to be considered during manufacturing such as byproducts, scrap amounts, production statistics, and batch tracking. Making too few or too many products due to an incorrect understanding of your manufacturing orders can be detrimental to your business. Inventory at Multiple Locations This may happen if goods are sent to the incorrect warehouse or if a sale is logged from the wrong shop. Therefore, inventory tracking is vital because if the stock transfer is not properly saved, it can seem that Shop A is short 100 goods while Shop B has 100 more than it requires. Item-Level Negative Stock In order to reflect the most up-to-date stock levels, businesses sometimes resort to a technique known as "backflushing", which is creating and fulfilling a manufacturing order after a batch production has concluded. Alternatively, a negative stock level might show up for an item if it's meant to be manufactured on demand. Simple Fixes for Negative Inventory on Shopify In your inventory management system reports, find products or supplies with zero stock and examine recent transactions to help give you context on what caused negative inventory and what can be implemented to prevent it from happening again. Time When making inventory adjustments, be careful not to overestimate the total, especially if products were listed as shipped before manufacture was complete. Location Stock might be at the correct location even if you entered the wrong values when recording a stock transfer. Therefore, the inventory amount must be adjusted correctly. Item-Level Negative Stock The problem could sit with your manufacturing process, which would suggest a significant issue. As you are producing your products or materials, you need to conduct an e-commerce inventory analysis to understand why negative stock is coming in. Conclusion There are various e-commerce inventory management methods to implement for a Shopify store and you can employ the method that will be best for your store and products to prevent inventory mismanagement.
Asked a year ago
The Easiest Way to Review Profit in Your Shopify Store
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that provides its users with in-depth analytics about revenue. However, if you want insights into profit, you'll have to enable the Shopify "cost per item" feature. This allows you to track the costs associated with the products you sell. Add the Cost per Item to Product Listings Adding a cost per item to your products will help you get the most value from your profit report. However, be aware that profits are only reported for products and variants that had costs recorded at the time of sale. To get value from your profit data, you need to add up the costs of each item that you sell and divide that number by the quantity sold. If you don’t do this, you won’t know how much money you’ve earned on each sale. How to Add Cost per Item in 4 Simple Steps From your Shopify admin, select Products.Choose the product you want to edit.Add a dollar value in the Cost per item field in the Pricing section. The cost per item is the unit price of the product or variant. If you're reselling a product, you can enter the cost you paid the manufacturer, including taxes, shipping, and other charges. If you created the product yourself, you can enter a value based on your labor and material costs.Select Save. Follow These Steps to View Profit Reports: On Desktop: From your Shopify admin, go to Analytics > Reports.In the Profit margin section, choose the report that you want to review. On the Shopify App: From the Shopify app, tap Store, then tap Analytics.Tap Reports.In the Profit margin section, choose the report that you want to review. Conclusion Understanding your cost per item is an essential step in any e-commerce cash flow analysis guide. You can use this information along with your total product count to determine whether you are over- or underselling items for your current price points. Analyzing your profit report will help you make an informed decision about future strategies.
Asked a year ago
Visitors vs. Sessions: Understanding Shopify Metrics (With Examples!)
Understanding the difference between Shopify sessions and visits will help you plan your marketing efforts because they provide critical insight into your customer's behavior, such as who your audience is, where they came from, and how often they return. Shopify Sessions vs. Visitors: What's the Difference? Sessions Sessions are the length of time a customer spends in your store. A customer's session ends if they've been inactive on your store for 30 minutes. Alternatively, the session resets every day at midnight. As a result, a visitor can have multiple sessions. This also means that visitor numbers are almost always lower than session numbers. During a session, several activities can be performed, including: Page viewsEventsTransactionsSocial interactions An average session lasts three minutes, therefore it's an indication you're on the right track if any customer sessions are longer than this. Visitors While sessions provide insight into the duration of time customers spend on your store, visitors are determined by the number of devices they use to access your Shopify store. Cookies are required for both of these metrics. When your customers visit your store, cookies are stored on their various devices. Different cookies are used to identify the duration of customers' stays and their devices. Examples of the Difference Between Shopify Sessions and Visitors Let's use the following example: One customer who spends 25 minutes on your store and comes back twice in three hours is counted as one visitor and two sessions by Shopify. Due to the fact that a session expires after 30 minutes, their behavior is recorded as two sessions. In contrast, Shopify would count one session and one visitor if the customer spent 10 minutes in the store and then returned in 15 minutes. In Conclusion Understanding Google Analytics sessions as well as how Google Analytics assisted conversions helps to make customers out of visitors, will help you create better marketing strategies and improve conversion rates.
Asked a year ago
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