Analytics: first-party data, plainly explained

The Analytics page at /dashboard/analytics turns your storefront traffic into numbers you can act on. It is built on first-party tracking: events are captured by your own storefront and stored in your platform's own database. No third-party analytics scripts, no third-party cookies, and no sharing your shopper data with an outside ad network. ## How tracking works Your storefront records five event types as shoppers browse: 1. **pageview** — every page visit, tagged with an anonymous visitor ID. 2. **product_view** — a product detail page was opened. 3. **add_to_cart** — an item went into the cart. 4. **checkout_start** — the checkout flow began. 5. **order_placed** — an order was completed. The referrer of each visit is classified into a coarse source bucket — **direct**, **search** (Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo), **social** (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn), **whatsapp**, **twitter**, or the referring host — which is what powers the traffic-sources panel. ## How to read the page 1. Pick a range at the top: **7d**, **30d**, or **90d**. Every panel below recalculates for that window. 2. Read the headline metrics first: **visitors** (unique visitor IDs that viewed a page), **orders**, **revenue**, **paid revenue**, and **average order value**. 3. Follow the **conversion funnel**: product views down to add-to-cart, checkout starts, and orders. Each step shows its drop rate, so you can see whether you have a traffic problem or a checkout problem. 4. Check **traffic sources** to see which channels actually deliver, and **top pages** to see where visitors spend time. 5. Use the **7 x 24 visitor heatmap** to find your busiest day-of-week and hour-of-day combinations — schedule campaigns and restocks around the bright cells. 6. Review **top products** and the **customer growth** chart to spot what is pulling its weight and whether your audience is compounding. ## What happens next Analytics answers questions; the actions live elsewhere. A funnel leaking at checkout points you to **Settings** and your payment methods. A heatmap full of weekend evenings points your email campaigns and discount windows at exactly those hours. Top products feed your **Collections** and homepage banners. ## Plan availability Basic KPIs are on every plan. The advanced suite — the funnel, heatmap, traffic sources, top products, and customer growth — is governed by the plan's **advancedAnalytics** feature flag. The Free plan ships with it off by default; higher plans include it. If you do not see these panels, it is a plan matter, not a settings problem — **Billing** shows what your current plan includes. ## Tips 1. Because tracking is first-party and cookie-free, numbers are unaffected by browser cookie blocking — the same visitor is counted whether or not they accept marketing cookies. 2. Revenue on this page counts all orders in the range; the **paid revenue** line isolates money that actually settled. Compare those two when reconciling with your payment provider. 3. Counting methods differ across tools: this page counts unique visitor IDs on pageviews, so expect small differences versus external trackers that estimate visitors differently. ## FAQ **Do I need to install anything or add a tracking ID?** No. Tracking is built into every storefront and starts the moment your store goes live. There is no script tag to paste and no third-party account to create. **Does it work without third-party cookies?** Yes. All five event types are recorded by the platform itself, and the visitor ID is a first-party identifier. Nothing is sent to an outside analytics service. **Why do visitor counts differ from my old analytics tool?** Different tools define a "visit" differently and filter bots differently. This platform counts distinct visitor IDs from real pageview events, which tends to be conservative and stable — better for comparing week over week than for matching another vendor's absolute number.