Sellbrite - Sell Smarter On Your Online Store - The Metrics You Need To Be Tracking With Google Analytics

Sell Smarter on Your
Online Store:
The Metrics You Need
to be Tracking with
Google Analytics
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Online Store 4
Setting Up Your Account 4

Getting Your Tracking ID 5
Turning on Ecommerce Tracking 7
How Data Impacts Growth on Your Online Store 9
Distribution of Your Marketing 9

Content of Your Messaging 10
Online Store Design 11
Product Price 12
Tracking Data on Analytics 13
Audience Report 14
Acquisition Report 17
Behavior Report 19
Conversions Report 20
So You Want to Improve Your Metrics 23
Channel Metrics 23
Visitor Type Metrics 24
Page Metrics 24
Order Metrics 24
Using Analytics to Grow Your Online Store 26
© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 2 www.sellbrite.com

Introduction
Merchants on online marketplaces need to stick to each platform’s rules to

be successful. An Amazon seller can’t win the Buy Box without matching
the site’s algorithms. Products on eBay rank higher in search results if they
come with free shipping.
Online store owners have more influence over their customer acquisition
and engagement since they control everything about their shop. They have
no marketplace rules to abide by, so they can make changes directly based
on data insights to help them sell more.
Sellers can start taking advantage of their online store’s data with Google
Analytics. We’ve created this ebook to help you understand:
• How to connect Analytics to your online store

• Where to find key growth metrics on Analytics
• How to use this data to improve customer acquisition and engagement
Online store owners can drive more purchasing opportunities by tracking

metrics with analytics and making improvements. Monitoring these figures
empowers sellers with data-backed knowledge to reshape their business
practices and boost new and returning customer sales.
We hope you can use the information presented in this ebook to grow and
strengthen your ecommerce business!
- The makers of Sellbrite

How to Set Up Google
Analytics on Your
Online Store
In order to understand your store, you need to measure it quantitatively.

Merchants who are selling on their own online store don’t have built-in
tools—like the ones major marketplaces provide—to measure their activity.
Instead, online store owners can set up Google Analytics to track metrics
and grow their business with data-based strategies.
Start by registering on the Google Analytics site. Signing up is free.

How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Online Store
After you click “sign up,” you’ll be redirected to the New Account page.
Make sure it’s set to Website, and then fill out your online store information.
Select Get Tracking ID at the bottom of the page.

When you accept the Terms of Service Agreement box that appears, you’ll
be redirected to the Tracking Code page. Copy the Global Site Tag tracking
code and paste it right after the opening <head> tag on each webpage you
want to track.
If you already have a Global Site Tag on your page, add the config line
from the tracking code snippet to your existing Global Site Tag.
Ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify and BigCommerce, typically have

additional instructions for pasting the code on their enabled online stores.
WordPress, GoDaddy, and Wix also have separate instructions for setting
up Analytics. Merchants using these platforms should refer to their sites for
additional instructions.
The next step is turning on Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics.

From your main view, click the Admin button in the bottom left-hand corner.

Under the View column, select Ecommerce Settings.
Enable Ecommerce Tracking by turning on Status and Enable Related

Products, a feature that shows similar products to your own on your online
store.

Once you click Next Step enable Enhanced Ecommerce Tracking, which
provides additional data around user behavior.
Select Submit, and Google Analytics will begin tracking ecommerce metrics
for your online store.

How Data Impacts
Growth on Your
Online Store
The likelihood of buyers purchasing products on your online store depends

on:
• The distribution of your marketing: where your marketing is presented.

• The content of your messaging: what you communicate to potential
customers through different channels, such as site pop-ups and promotional
emails.
• Your online store design: the layout and aesthetic of your online store.
• Your pricing: the prices you charge for products and shipping.
Online store owners can adjust each of these factors with data-backed
insights to help drive returning and new customers to purchase. We’ll cover
how these growth factors are shaped by Google Analytics data. Later down
below, we’ll explain where to find these metrics in reporting.
Distribution of your marketing

It doesn’t matter how well-written or well-designed your marketing is - if your
campaigns aren’t distributed where customers are looking, they won’t have
any impact on purchasing decisions. Marketing is only effective if it’s shown
in customers’ preferred channels.

How Data Impacts Growth on Your Online Store
Sellers can measure the performance of online channels by tracking their

ecommerce conversion rates. This metric indicates the percentage of
store visitors from each channel that converted to buyers. Channels with
high volumes of converting visitors are valuable for merchants—and that’s
where merchants should focus more of their marketing.
Another metric to check to measure channel performance is revenue.

Channels that generate high income should be targeted for growth. For
example, a seller might double down on Facebook ads if they see that social
networks are a high-conversion, high revenue channel.
Content of your messaging

Companies’ messaging resonates with buyers when it’s curated to specific
customer types. Online store content and promotional materials that speak
to specific buyers’ needs and wants are engaging. Relevant content is more
likely to encourage purchases.
Analytics can be used to understand the behavior of each customer type

and inform your buyer messaging to make it more individualized. Sellers can
choose which types of customers they want to track by setting up Segments,
which are subsets of buyers. Segments can distinguish buyers by a wide
range of factors, such as purchasing behavior, geographic location, and
technology usage.
These buyer categories are used to organize Analytics data. With metrics
organized by Segments, sellers can determine how to target and attract
each customer type with their messaging. Merchants can learn more about
setting up Segments here and find recommendations for Segments here.
Sellers also have the option of using Google’s pre-set reporting categories,
such as new versus returning customers, instead of Segments.
Once merchants have set their customer types, they should monitor each
buyer group’s behavior on their online store. Understanding where specific
customer types are losing interest helps merchants understand how they
should revamp their site messaging to keep buyers engaged. This could

mean editing pop-up announcements and page headers, or adjusting the

copy on the homepage.
Sellers can analyze customers’ online store behavior by tracking their

bounce rate and average session duration. The bounce rate indicates
the percentage of single-page sessions that involved no interactions, and
average session duration indicates the average length of a session. Buyers
with high bounce rates and low average session duration amounts need
to be engaged further with improved site messaging to encourage more
purchases.
Merchants should also track the revenue and ecommerce conversion

rate for each customer type. These two metrics measure how valuable a
buyer group is by indicating the amount of income they generate and how
likely they are to make a purchase when visiting a store. Understanding how
valuable a customer type is with this data helps sellers determine whether
the buyer group is worth targeting and how their messaging should be
changed to be more relevant.
Online store design

Humans are visual creatures — we process images in less than a tenth of a
second and half of the brain is involved with processing visuals. Your online
store’s design is critical given the power of visuals. A store’s layout and
aesthetic can encourage or discourage a buyer from making a purchase.
The likelihood of a sale is effected, for example, by the layout of an online

store’s shopping cart feature and checkout flow. Merchants can determine
whether they need to revamp their cart design, checkout process design, or
both by tracking the following metrics:
• No cart addition rate: the percentage of customers who viewed a product but
did not add it to their cart.
• Cart abandonment rate: the percentage of customers who added a product to
their cart but left without starting the checkout process.
• Checkout abandonment rate: the percentage of customers who began the
checkout process but did not complete their purchases.

These metrics indicate where merchants are losing sales. Sellers with high
no cart addition and abandonment rates should consider how their online
store’s cart or checkout designs can be improved. Small changes, like
changing the placement of a button, can create a more intuitive customer
experience.
Merchants can also assess how their online store’s design is impacting
purchases by checking their store pages’ views and bounce rates.
Knowing how frequently potential customers visit and interact with certain
pages allows merchants to identify where site content should be revised
for better engagement. If pages have low views and high bounce rates,
potential buyers could lose interest and leave your store without making any
purchases.
Product price
The price of your products is perhaps the most influential factor in buyers’
purchasing decisions. Consumers are savvy and know that there are
plenty of alternative shopping options online. Merchants have to constantly
check competitors’ prices to make sure their rates are competitive enough
to attract buyers. Sellers can assess whether their product prices are
discouraging purchases by tracking two metrics:
• The cart-to-detail rate: percentage of product views that resulted in

adding products to carts
• The buy-to-detail rate: percentage of product views that resulted in
purchases
Merchants can use these metrics to consider whether and where they need
to reduce pricing to incentivize purchases. Low cart-to-detail rates may
mean that your product price is too high for most buyers, while low buy-to-
detail rates could mean that additional checkout price factors, like shipping
costs, are also discouraging purchases.
Now we will get into tracking data on Analytics.

Tracking Data on
Analytics
Sellers have to know where to find the metrics that impact their marketing,
store design, and product price decisions in order to improve customer
engagement and conversion. This data can be found in four types of Google
Analytics reporting.
1. The Audience report includes the following visitor type metrics:

• Bounce rate
• Average session duration
• Revenue
• Conversion rate
2. The Acquisition report includes the following channel metrics:

• Conversion rate
• Revenue
3. The Behavior report includes the following page metrics:

• Page views
• Page bounce rate
4. The Conversions report includes the:

• No cart addition rate
• Cart abandonment rate
• Check-out abandonment rate
• Cart-to-detail rate
• Buy-to-detail rate
We’ll identify where to find each of these metrics in Google Analytics so that
sellers can identify opportunities for improvement.

Tracking Data on Analytics
Audience report
The Audience report provides insights on how different types of buyers are
interacting with your online store. It is the second report located on the left-
hand sidebar.
Merchants can view the customer type metrics by clicking the New vs
Returning report under the Behavior subsection of the Audience report.

The report is pre-set to indicate metrics for new and returning customers,
but merchants can easily add segments for different customer types at the
top of the page. Google Analytics allows users to add pre-built Segments or
custom Segments for analyzing different customer types.
From this report, merchants can view the following online store behavior
metrics:
• Bounce rate (by visitor type)

• Average session duration (by visitor type)
• Revenue (by visitor type)
• Conversion rate (by visitor type)

Sellers use these four metrics to understand which customer types are the
most valuable in terms of revenue and conversions and which types are
engaging with the store’s site most frequently. Merchants can apply this
knowledge when crafting their messaging to encourage longer store visits
and more purchases from buyer groups.
[Source]

Acquisition report
The Acquisition report provides insights on how users are arriving at your
online store from other channels on the Internet. It’s the third report located
on the left-hand sidebar.
Merchants can find the metrics for the channels customers are using to
arrive at your store by visiting the Channels report under the All Traffic
section of the Acquisition report.

The Channels section includes the conversion rate and revenue metrics for
each channel.
Sellers also have the option of selecting each channel category, such as
Organic Search, to view the same metric for individual sources within that
channel group.
[Source]
Tracking the conversion rate and revenue metrics allows merchants to

determine which channels are performing best, and where to double down
marketing efforts.
[Source]

Behavior report
The Behavior report provides insights on users’ experiences on your online
store. It’s the fourth report on the left-hand sidebar of Google Analytics.
Merchants can find data on how customers are interacting with their online
store pages by clicking the All Pages report under the Site Content section
of the Behavior report.

The All Pages section includes the views and bounce rates for each page on
your online store.
Sellers can engage customers and encourage more sales by revamping the
design of poor-performing pages with low views and high bounce rates.
Conversion report
The Conversion report provides data insights for ecommerce merchants on
their customers’ shopping behavior and sales performance of their products.
It is the fourth report located on the left-hand sidebar of the Google
Analytics main view.

Merchants can view shopping behavior metrics by clicking the Shopping

Behavior report under the Ecommerce section of the Conversions report.
The Shopping Behavior section includes the No Cart Addition, Cart

Abandonment, and Check-Out Abandonment metrics.
Merchants can use these three metrics to assess whether their online
store’s cart design, checkout process design, or both need to be improved
to encourage more sales.
[Source]

Sellers can also find product performance metrics under the Product
Performance report under the Ecommerce section of the main Conversions
report.
The Product Performance section indicates the cart-to-detail and buy-to-

detail rates for each product.
These two metrics help sellers assess whether they need to reduce
their pricing, including their product prices and their shipping prices, to
incentivize purchases from buyers.
[Source]

So You Want
to Improve Your
Metrics…
There are no universal benchmarks for Google Analytics metrics since
strong performance data is relative to seller and product circumstances.
Merchants instead can judge their metrics based on how they are ranked
in their own account. For example, Analytics ranks the channel with the
highest revenue from your customers. Sellers can also consider their metric
averages over time to set their own data benchmarks.
Merchants who are able to identify whether their metrics are high, low, or
average can use these insights to improve their strategies for engaging
returning customers and attracting new buyers. We’ve highlighted some tips
below for sellers who find that their metrics are at unhealthy levels.
Channel metrics
If a channel has a low revenue and a low conversion rate:
Consider whether the channel is worth targeting with marketing. Most
high-growth businesses receive 70-80% of their acquisition from just one
channel. Instead of piling on a bunch of channels, it may be more cost-
effective to cut back efforts on channels with low revenue and conversion
rates. Sellers who believe a poorly performing channel could be a missed
opportunity should revise their marketing strategy. They should cater their
tactics around attracting potential customers through that specific channel.

So You Want to Improve Your Metrics…
Visitor type metrics

If a visitor type has a high bounce rate and low session duration:
Alter your site to attract that visitor type quickly once they enter your online
store. Incorporate the specific needs and wants of that buyer group into
your messaging to engage them. For example, if new visitors have a higher
bounce rate on your store, consider showing a pop-up on your site that
promotes a discount for first-time purchases.
If a visitor type has a low revenue amount and low conversion rate:
Consider whether this type is actually a reliable customer that fits one of
your business’ buyer personas. If the answer is no, focus your marketing
efforts towards the high revenue and high conversion rate visitor types. If
you think the poor performing visitor type could be a more valuable buyer
group, work on changing your marketing content to target these buyers
more effectively.
Page metrics
If a page has low page views and a high bounce rate:
Reevaluate the design of the page. Is it user-friendly? Are there design
elements, like a sidebar, that are confusing and discouraging purchases?
Also consider whether the content of the page is useful. If it isn’t helpful to
your buyers, get rid of the page to avoid having customers lose interest and
leave your site.
Order metrics
If your store has a high no cart addition rate:
Consider whether the design of the shopping cart could be more user-
friendly. Are customers visiting your product pages but can’t find a discreet
Add to Cart button? Also consider whether your product page images could
be higher in quality to encourage more visitors to add the item to their cart.
If your store has a high cart abandonment and checkout

abandonment rate:

So You Want to Improve Your Metrics…
Think about reducing or eliminating some of the last minute checkout

page costs, like shipping prices, that could be discouraging buyers from
completing their purchase. Also consider whether the design of the checkout
page could be improved to be more intuitive and user-friendly. For example,
offering a Checkout as Guest option might encourage more sales.
If a product has a low cart-to-detail rate:

Improve the overall appearance of the product page to make it more
attractive and effective. Include high-quality clear item photos, avoid
cluttering with too much text, and make sure that the average product rating
is visible to build buyer trust. Consider whether the item’s price is too high in
comparison to competitors’ rates.
If a product has a low buy-to-detail rate:

Improve any design elements of the cart or checkout process that could
be discouraging purchases. Also, consider whether the total price of your
product (the item price plus its shipping cost) needs to be lowered to
compete with other online stores.
Sellers who follow these tips will make their marketing, messaging, store
design, and pricing more attractive to buyers and will help eliminate barriers
to conversion.

Using Analytics to
Grow Your Online
Store
Online store owners have more autonomy over their customers’ shopping
experiences than they would on outside marketplaces, like Amazon, with
governing rules and policies. Merchants can take advantage of their level of
control by tracking their own data and finding opportunities for improvement.
Utilizing Google Analytics, sellers can track a wide range of metrics on their
store activity. Merchants with this knowledge can form data-based insights
on how to reshape buyers’ experiences with their brand, products, and store
to motivate more purchases from returning and new customers.

About
Sellbrite is a leading multichannel inventory and order control solution

that helps retailers build, manage and grow their multichannel ecommerce
businesses. The intuitive Sellbrite platform enables retailers to list and
control their inventory on multiple online channels, such as Amazon, eBay,
Etsy, Walmart, Jet, Shopify, BigCommerce and others, all from one simple
interface. In addition, powerful automation and order fulfillment capabilities
free up time and accelerate growth. And, with its wide-reaching data and
reporting features, the platform delivers valuable cross-channel insights to
make smarter decisions.
To start your 14-day free trial of Sellbrite, visit us at sellbrite.com.
Master the Marketplaces

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Try it RISK-FREE for 14 Days!
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Sell Smarter on Your

How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Online Store 4

Setting Up Your Account 4

How Data Impacts Growth on Your Online Store 9

Distribution of Your Marketing 9

Tracking Data on Analytics 13

So You Want to Improve Your Metrics 23

Using Analytics to Grow Your Online Store 26

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 2 www.sellbrite.com

Merchants on online marketplaces need to stick to each platform’s rules to

• How to connect Analytics to your online store

Online store owners can drive more purchasing opportunities by tracking

- The makers of Sellbrite

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 3 www.sellbrite.com

In order to understand your store, you need to measure it quantitatively.

Start by registering on the Google Analytics site. Signing up is free.

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 4 www.sellbrite.com

Select Get Tracking ID at the bottom of the page.

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 5 www.sellbrite.com

Ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify and BigCommerce, typically have

The next step is turning on Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics.

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 6 www.sellbrite.com

Under the View column, select Ecommerce Settings.

Enable Ecommerce Tracking by turning on Status and Enable Related

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 7 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 8 www.sellbrite.com

The likelihood of buyers purchasing products on your online store depends

• The distribution of your marketing: where your marketing is presented.

Distribution of your marketing

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 9 www.sellbrite.com

Sellers can measure the performance of online channels by tracking their

Another metric to check to measure channel performance is revenue.

Content of your messaging

Analytics can be used to understand the behavior of each customer type

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 10 www.sellbrite.com

mean editing pop-up announcements and page headers, or adjusting the

Sellers can analyze customers’ online store behavior by tracking their

Merchants should also track the revenue and ecommerce conversion

Online store design

The likelihood of a sale is effected, for example, by the layout of an online

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 11 www.sellbrite.com

• The cart-to-detail rate: percentage of product views that resulted in

Now we will get into tracking data on Analytics.

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 12 www.sellbrite.com

1. The Audience report includes the following visitor type metrics:

2. The Acquisition report includes the following channel metrics:

3. The Behavior report includes the following page metrics:

4. The Conversions report includes the:

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 13 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 14 www.sellbrite.com

• Bounce rate (by visitor type)

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 15 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 16 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 17 www.sellbrite.com

Tracking the conversion rate and revenue metrics allows merchants to

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 18 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 19 www.sellbrite.com

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 20 www.sellbrite.com

Merchants can view shopping behavior metrics by clicking the Shopping

The Shopping Behavior section includes the No Cart Addition, Cart

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 21 www.sellbrite.com

The Product Performance section indicates the cart-to-detail and buy-to-

© 2018 Sellbrite, Inc. 22 www.sellbrite.com