In online retail, every click leaves a trace, but what is done with it? Surprisingly, many online retailers still prefer intuition over metrics. Without clear reporting and data utilization, an online store operates like a brick-and-mortar shop without a door counter or cash register information. Not the way to go.

The value of data is not in its quantity but its usability

Good analytics do not mean having a hundred dashboards. It means being able to combine the right data and make decisions based on them. And it's crucial to understand the origin of the data in this context.

• First-party data is your own: purchase history, visitor data, email lists, conversions. It's the most precise and valuable.

• Third-party data comes from external sources – like paid advertising channels (e.g. Meta, Google Ads), which have their own way of explaining what happened. I emphasize their own way.
  
  
  

The problem? They never completely agree.

One truth is not found from a single source

Why is reporting overlooked? Often the reason is clear: the tools are there, but they are not used. Or they are used incorrectly. Google Analytics, Shopify reports, click trackers, conversion tracking – all collect data, but it remains unused. The reason can be a lack of resources, a skills gap, or simply not valuing the data. If you're interested in data-driven business understanding, you can read more about it here.

In practice, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, and Shopify can provide completely different views of the same sales event. Each channel attributes sales differently:

• Facebook takes credit if the customer saw the ad and purchased within 7 days.

• Google gives credit to the last click.

• Shopify shows direct sales, but doesn’t always see the original contact.

The result: one sale, three different truths. If you don’t critically compare different sources, you mislead yourself.

What does a smart online retailer do?

• Cross-examines data. Don't blindly trust the ad platform's figures. Compare conversion data with online store and analytics.

• Utilizes first-party data correctly. Build customer lists, segmentation, and purchase paths around it, as you won’t lose it even if cookies “die.”

• Asks the right questions. What really brought customers to the store? What only reached a click level? How can customers be encouraged to return, not just convert once?

A smart online retailer cross-references data from different sources. A good practice is to build a unified analytics reporting framework, combining various views into one cohesive whole. It conveniently collects all the metrics of interest, e.g., the most used payment methods at checkout, or the most profitable traffic source (highest average purchase or most conversions). Server-side tracking can help with this, improving data accuracy and privacy levels.

Good reporting highlights leakages and growth areas

Good e-commerce reporting isn’t a numerical novel. It is a concise view of the essentials: sales per channel, customer acquisition cost, conversion rate, inventory turnover. When these are known in real-time, you can influence and optimize: halt a campaign in time, reprice a popular product, refine the customer journey to be even more convincing.

An e-commerce competitive edge comes from accurate measurement

Utilizing analytics isn’t a technical project, but a continuous process that builds competitive advantage. When you know where customers come from, what they do, and why they don’t buy, you can dynamically adjust offerings, the site, and marketing. And when based on your own data, combined with external data, and willing to also confront contradictions, a clearer picture emerges of where you are and where it’s worth going.

Analytics helps identify aspects such as:

• Where in the purchasing process customers fall off

• Which campaign brings the most value (not just clicks)

• Which product attracts attention but doesn’t convert

When analytics are integrated into daily operations, you gain the ability to react in time, not days or months later.

An online store doesn’t grow on intuition. It grows on knowledge.

• Which campaign brought the most value, not just clicks?

• Where in the purchase process do people disappear, and why?

• What do customers buy on their second visit, and how were they brought back?

• What is the most used payment method and does a higher return rate correlate with a certain payment method?

If reporting is still an Excel exercise, it's time to upgrade tools. Automate. Visualize. Set the important KPIs (i.e., metrics and targets) for the online store and make them part of daily language. The data doesn’t need to be perfect – it needs to be actionable. 

An online store doesn’t grow on intuition. It grows on knowledge. And on that foundation, results are built.