These reports turn raw data into actionable insights, helping you make informed decisions to grow your POD business. From identifying top designs to improving customer retention, Shopify Analytics is your go-to tool for boosting profitability.
7 Essential Shopify Analytics Reports for POD Store Success
The Sales by Product report is your go-to tool for understanding which designs are driving your revenue. It provides a clear breakdown of total sales and Net Quantity (sales minus returns), giving you a precise picture of your earnings. By highlighting the number of units sold and the revenue each product brings in, this report helps you identify your top-performing designs.
For print-on-demand (POD) businesses, this report is essential for spotting trends and potential issues. A design might look successful based on gross sales, but if its net quantity is much lower, it could point to problems like frequent returns due to print quality or sizing issues. Since this report excludes shipping charges and duties, it focuses solely on the revenue generated by the product itself. To calculate your Gross Profit (net sales minus production costs), make sure to input the cost-per-item from your fulfillment service into each product variant in Shopify. These insights can guide you toward more profitable decisions.
Use ABC analysis to categorize your products. Generally, your top 20% of designs (A-grade) will account for 80% of your revenue. Focus your marketing efforts on these top performers to maximize returns. By comparing gross sales to net sales, you can identify products with high return rates, which may signal quality or fit issues. The Sales by Product Variant report takes this a step further, showing which specific sizes or colors perform best. This level of detail allows you to fine-tune your promotions and address any potential problems. Such insights also help you make smarter inventory decisions.
Even though POD businesses don’t manage physical inventory, this report is still a goldmine for making strategic decisions. For instance, if a popular product - like a specific t-shirt style - frequently runs out of stock with your supplier, you can adjust your marketing to highlight alternative designs before customers encounter availability issues. On the flip side, identifying lower-performing (C-grade) products that contribute minimally to your revenue can help you streamline your offerings and focus on what truly sells.
The Sales by Channel report gives you a clear picture of your net sales across all the platforms where you operate - whether it’s your online store, social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, marketplaces, or even physical Point of Sale (POS) systems. By breaking down your product performance data, this report helps you understand how each channel contributes to your overall revenue. Net sales, in this context, refer to your gross sales after deducting discounts and returns, offering a more accurate snapshot of your earnings. It also highlights the "last interaction" referrer, showing which site or app directly led to a purchase. Let’s explore how analyzing this data can refine your marketing spend and inventory planning.
For Print-on-Demand (POD) sellers, this report is especially valuable in pinpointing which sales channels are driving actual revenue. Since returned POD items often can’t be resold, tracking return rates by channel is vital for protecting your profit margins. If a particular channel has high return rates, it might indicate that the marketing there is creating unrealistic expectations about your products.
By comparing revenue per visitor to your ad spend, you can identify which channels are delivering the best returns. For example, if your TikTok Shop generates $5,000 in net sales but requires $3,000 in ad spend, while your online store brings in $8,000 with just $1,500 spent on marketing, it’s clear where your budget might be better spent. Using a unified data tracking system across all your channels can also lower your operational costs by as much as 37%.
Shopify's "nested tables" feature can help you group data by sales channel and product title, making it easier to see which designs perform best on specific platforms. This insight allows you to tailor your product bundles and imagery for each channel. Different audiences respond differently - buyers on social platforms may value social proof and user-generated content, while customers at in-person events like pop-ups might be more receptive to loyalty programs. Adjusting your marketing strategies to fit the preferences of each audience can significantly boost your conversion rates.
The Customers Over Time report keeps track of both first-time and returning customers across various timeframes - hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. This breakdown helps identify when customer activity hits its peak. By distinguishing between first-time buyers and repeat customers, you can figure out whether your growth stems from attracting new shoppers or keeping your existing ones coming back.
This report is a game-changer for spotting seasonal trends, which can directly influence your design launches and marketing efforts. For instance, if you notice a surge in new customers every October, it’s a clear signal to ramp up Halloween-themed designs. Pair that with a strong advertising push 2–4 weeks before the expected peak, and you’re setting yourself up for success.
It’s also a great tool for evaluating the impact of discount events like Black Friday. Are these events bringing in loyal, repeat customers, or are they mostly attracting one-time bargain hunters? Understanding this can help you fine-tune your promotional strategies.
Use these seasonal trends to dig deeper into customer behavior. Are people who shop during heavy discount periods coming back to buy at full price later? If not, you might be pulling in shoppers who are less likely to contribute to long-term profitability.
"The better you know your customers and how they interact with your business, the more well-equipped, empowered, and prepared you are to tailor your marketing for maximum impact." - Smriti Chopra, Shopify
You can also identify at-risk customers - those who haven’t made a purchase in a while despite a history of buying from you. Personalized email campaigns featuring new product launches can help re-engage these lapsed buyers. This approach not only reduces acquisition costs but also boosts customer lifetime value.
The report pinpoints when customer activity is at its highest, helping you plan your marketing efforts more effectively. Align your social media posts, email campaigns, and paid ads with these high-traffic periods. For example, if Tuesday afternoons consistently outperform Saturday mornings, shifting ad spend to that time slot can make a big difference.
It also helps you decide where to focus your energy - whether that’s growing your customer base or strengthening relationships with your current audience. These insights ensure your marketing dollars are spent where they’ll have the most impact. Plus, they set the stage for diving into customer retention metrics in the next section.
The Returning Customer Rate report highlights the percentage of customers who place multiple orders. In Shopify, a returning customer is defined as someone who has made at least two purchases from your store. This metric is a great way to assess whether you're cultivating a loyal customer base or relying too much on bringing in new shoppers.
For print-on-demand (POD) businesses, this metric can shed light on whether customers are coming back because they genuinely connect with your brand or if they’re simply making one-off purchases. Since POD stores depend heavily on their online catalog and customer relationships, a strong returning customer rate signals that your designs are hitting the mark - key for maintaining steady profitability.
Returning customers tend to spend more per order compared to first-time buyers. They’re also more likely to purchase higher-priced items because they already trust the quality of your products. If these repeat buyers make up a large share of your sales, it’s a clear sign that your business is positioned for long-term growth.
Shopify’s RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) analysis divides customers into 11 categories, such as "Champions", "Loyal", and "At Risk", allowing you to fine-tune your strategies. For instance:
You can also filter your Returning Customer report to focus on those who’ve subscribed to marketing emails. Export this list to create targeted campaigns that align with their interests. These insights can guide adjustments to your digital catalog and marketing strategies.
Even though POD stores don’t manage physical inventory, this report is invaluable for fine-tuning your product offerings. For example, if tote bags are more popular with repeat buyers than t-shirts, consider expanding your tote bag designs. Additionally, cohort analysis can reveal which acquisition months or marketing channels bring in the most loyal customers, helping you allocate your ad budget more effectively.
Tracking your returning customer rate on a monthly basis allows you to identify trends early and adjust your marketing calendar. For example, if repeat purchases spike around specific holidays, you can plan email campaigns 2–4 weeks in advance to capture that momentum.
Average Order Value (AOV) is a key metric that shows how much customers spend on average per transaction. Shopify calculates it by dividing gross sales (minus discounts) by the number of orders, excluding adjustments like returns or exchanges. This report helps track spending trends over time, revealing both short-term spikes and long-term patterns. It’s an essential tool for assessing the effectiveness of your pricing and bundling strategies.
In the print-on-demand (POD) business model, AOV plays a significant role in profitability. It helps distribute fixed costs - like customer acquisition and shipping - across multiple items. When customers purchase more items per order, revenue increases without a corresponding rise in marketing expenses. For context, the average AOV in industries like fashion, accessories, and apparel (where many POD stores operate) is $142.
Tracking AOV gives you a clear picture of how your pricing strategy is performing. A downward trend might indicate that customers are gravitating toward lower-priced items or that discounts are eating into profits. Since AOV is a key component of Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), understanding and improving this metric can help predict the total revenue each customer brings to your business.
One effective way to increase AOV is by offering free shipping thresholds. Shoppers tend to spend an average of $22 more per order when free shipping is available. Orders with free shipping also tend to include about 2.5 items, compared to fewer than 2 items when shipping isn’t free. To implement this, set your free shipping threshold around 15–20% higher than your current AOV. For example, if your AOV is $60, set the threshold at $75 to encourage customers to add one more item to their cart.
Another strategy is product bundling. Shopify's "Online store cart analysis" report can help you identify items that are frequently purchased together. Use this data to create pre-made bundles at a slight discount. For instance, if customers often buy a graphic tee and a matching tote bag separately, you could bundle them as a "Holiday Duo" to increase the total transaction value.
AOV insights can also guide your marketing and inventory decisions. For example, comparing AOV across different traffic sources can reveal which channels consistently drive higher-value orders. This allows you to adjust your advertising budget to focus on the most profitable sources.
Seasonal trends are another consideration. Retailers often see an AOV increase in mid-December as shoppers purchase gift sets and holiday bundles. By tracking these patterns, you can fine-tune your marketing campaigns to align with seasonal demand. Even though POD businesses don’t manage physical inventory, monitoring AOV trends can help you prioritize which designs and products to promote in your catalog.
The Online Store Conversion Over Time report, part of Shopify's Behavior reports, keeps tabs on how well visitors are converting into buyers over time. This tool is especially helpful for testing new designs and sales channels, allowing you to see what’s working in your sales process and what might need a tweak.
For print-on-demand (POD) businesses, tracking conversions can reveal which designs strike a chord with customers and highlight weak spots in the sales funnel - whether that's on the product page, at the cart, or during checkout.
Device-specific data can also uncover critical insights. For instance, if the Sessions by Device report shows poor mobile conversion rates, that's a big warning sign. Since over half of shoppers steer clear of sites with clunky mobile experiences, it's vital to fix these issues. Tools like mobile diagnostics can help pinpoint and resolve these problems. These insights naturally tie into your earlier sales and customer behavior reports, giving you a clearer picture of what’s happening.
Analyzing the checkout funnel helps identify exactly where potential customers drop off. As Jessica Kohl, Merchant Success Manager at Shopify, puts it:
"Checkout funnel analysis helps to identify the percentage of customer drop-offs at different stages of the checkout. Doing so indicates different barriers and areas that need improvement to increase their trust, reduce fear, or investigate strange occurrences like shipping costs being higher than the product cost".
With 70% of shoppers abandoning their carts, even minor tweaks to your checkout flow can make a big difference. For example, adding Shop Pay’s one-click checkout can boost conversion rates by 35%. If shipping costs are a sticking point, consider reviewing and adjusting them. Shopify Scripts also allows you to offer perks like free shipping for VIP customers or automatic discounts for first-time buyers, making the checkout process smoother.
For product pages with high exit rates, reorganizing the layout to feature pricing and calls to action prominently above the fold can reduce drop-offs.
Conversion data can also guide your marketing and inventory decisions. By comparing conversion rates from a customer’s first interaction to their last, you can identify which channels are best for attracting new visitors and which ones are better at closing the deal. Exit page analysis is another goldmine - if visitors often leave from high-intent pages like product or contact pages, it’s a sign your copy, imagery, or social proof might need a refresh.
For POD stores, these trends can help you decide which designs deserve the spotlight. Highlighting high-converting products on your homepage or in popular collections can significantly increase their visibility. Pairing slower-moving designs with bestsellers in bundles is another way to lift overall sales. Don’t forget to automate cart recovery emails and analyze unfulfilled searches to capture even more conversions.
After analyzing sales and conversion reports, inventory metrics provide a clearer picture by highlighting product performance. Shopify's Inventory and Product Performance Metrics help identify which products drive the most revenue and which ones fall short. This is done through an ABC Product Analysis over the past 28 days. Products are categorized into three grades: A-grade products are top performers, contributing 80% of revenue; B-grade items account for the next 15%; and C-grade products make up the remaining 5%.
These inventory metrics are essential for shaping product strategies in the print-on-demand (POD) business. While most POD stores don’t manage physical inventory, these metrics still track sold quantities and revenue shares - critical indicators of what’s working. For POD sellers who stock blanks or pre-print popular designs, the Sell-Through Rate measures the percentage of inventory sold compared to what’s available. Additionally, the Inventory Sold Daily report shows the average number of units sold per day for each variant, helping pinpoint which colors or sizes are the most popular. This kind of insight can directly influence pricing, bundling, and stock decisions.
Inventory metrics work hand-in-hand with customer and sales data to create actionable strategies. For instance, Shopify's analytics helped Still Life Story boost their Christmas revenue by 50% year over year. These metrics can inform everything from supplier orders to marketing focus. Concentrate advertising efforts on A-grade products to maximize ROI. For C-grade items that underperform, consider discounting, redesigning, or phasing them out to cut marketing expenses. The Retail Sales by Product Variant SKU report is particularly useful for identifying your top-selling variants, such as a blue XL t-shirt versus a red medium, allowing for smarter future launches.
For POD stores that stock inventory or operate with hybrid fulfillment models, the Days of Inventory Remaining report is invaluable. It predicts how long your current stock will last based on average sales rates, helping you plan supplier orders - especially during busy seasons.
"Creating custom dashboards lets us focus on our core product performance without needing to export and clean the data. It allows us to stay nimble and reactive." - Shelby Adams, Operations Manager at Cleverhood
Another strategy is to bundle underperforming B or C-grade designs with A-grade bestsellers. This can increase order value while clearing out less popular stock. Historical data for these inventory metrics is available starting October 1, 2023.
These seven Shopify Analytics reports transform raw data into actionable strategies that can boost your POD (Print on Demand) profitability. Understanding the distinction between reporting and analytics is key: reporting tells you what happened, while analytics dives deeper to explain why it happened and outlines the next steps you should take. For POD sellers, this shift from guesswork to informed decision-making can make all the difference, optimizing everything from product selection to marketing budgets.
By leveraging these reports, you can refine forecasting, identify bottlenecks in your sales funnel, and highlight your best-performing designs. For instance, analyzing your sales funnel helps pinpoint exactly where potential customers are dropping off, allowing you to address those specific hurdles.
The financial rewards are clear. Ruby Friel, for example, used insights from these reports to increase Christmas revenue by 50%, while custom dashboards helped her team stay agile and responsive. A unified approach to data simplifies decision-making and reduces costs, proving that even small adjustments can lead to big gains. The secret lies in consistency: regularly reviewing key metrics, setting clear "if-then" scenarios, and acting quickly on the insights you uncover.
The 'Sales by Product' report is your go-to tool for understanding which items are bringing in the most revenue. When you know what your best-sellers are, you can prioritize promoting these products, keep them well-stocked, and even consider adding similar items to your inventory.
This report doesn’t just stop at identifying top performers - it also highlights trends in customer preferences. With this information, you can fine-tune your marketing strategies and allocate your resources more strategically. In short, it’s the kind of data that helps you make smarter decisions to boost your store’s profitability.
Boosting the Average Order Value (AOV) in your print-on-demand store means finding smart ways to encourage customers to spend more during each visit. A great starting point is offering product bundles or discounts for higher-value purchases. For example, you could create a "buy two, get one at 50% off" deal or bundle complementary items together at a reduced price. These types of offers make it easier for customers to justify adding more to their carts.
Another effective tactic is cross-selling and upselling. Highlight related products or premium versions of what shoppers are already considering. For instance, if a customer is eyeing a t-shirt, suggest a matching mug or hoodie. Focusing on your store's bestsellers as the base for these recommendations can lead to bigger orders.
Don’t forget to take advantage of Shopify’s analytics tools. These can reveal valuable insights into customer behavior, like which products are most popular or how shoppers interact with your site. Use this data to create personalized recommendations and targeted marketing campaigns. You can even tailor promotions based on factors like a customer’s location or the device they’re using. Regularly analyzing these trends helps you fine-tune your strategies and build a shopping experience that naturally encourages customers to spend more.
To figure out where customers are dropping off during the buying process, dive into Shopify Analytics and examine key customer behavior metrics. Focus on areas like entry pages, shopping cart activity, and conversion trends. For instance, if a specific entry page attracts a lot of traffic but sees few conversions, it might signal issues like unclear messaging or a confusing layout. Similarly, frequent cart abandonment could point to problems such as unexpected shipping fees or a checkout process that's too complicated.
Once you’ve pinpointed these trouble spots, take specific steps to enhance the shopping experience. Simplify the checkout process, make shipping and return policies easy to understand, or experiment with different fixes to address the identified issues. By keeping a close eye on these metrics, you can make smarter, data-driven improvements that smooth out the buying journey, boost conversions, and ultimately drive more sales.
