Leveraging Data and Business Intelligence for Magento eCommerce Success

Data utilization is a hot topic in technology. Device manufacturers like Apple require software developers to disclose tracking, and privacy regulations such as GDPR provide users with greater transparency around data collection.

It’s enough to make some businesses wonder if data collection and is worth the hassle. In short, yes. The benefits of data collection analysis and utilization make it worth the effort for growing eCommerce businesses. With the native tools and integrations available to Magento users, eCommerce businesses of all sizes have access to big data collection and analysis tools. 

Understanding the Essential Types of eCommerce Data

eCommerce data can involve insights gleaned from business intelligence tools, search engine queries, product orders, social media campaigns, email marketing, and more.

Some key data points for eCommerce businesses include:

• Sales trends
• Average order values
• Conversion rates by location and device
• Purchasing patterns
• Customer retention rates
• Customer referral rates
• Search trends
• Clicks and referrals by source
• Bounce rates
• Average visits before converting

Collecting eCommerce Data

Various data tools exist within or work alongside the Magento ecosystem, providing eCommerce business owners with rich data sets in organized dashboards.

• Google Analytics and Google Search Console provide rich, actionable insights about clicks and search behaviors linked to a website
• Google Trends provides a broad, industry-wide view of preferences and patterns shaping consumer behavior
• Magento Business Intelligence automatically presents business owners with data around average order values, customer lifetime values, retention rates, conversion rates, and more — all ready for analysis and reporting.
• Google Campaign URL Builder allows for the easy creation of unique, trackable links
• Heat mapping integrations allow businesses to see the parts of their websites that are getting the most positive — or negative — response from customers by aggregating clicks and browsing patterns.
• User-Generated Content (UGC) includes reviews, feedback forms, videos, and social posts from consumers. UGC provides a direct source of insight as to specific customers’ thoughts, loyalty, and experiences. The utilization of automatic email follow-ups and website review integrations can enhance the collection of UGC.

Using Data and Business Intelligence in eCommerce

Once collected, eCommerce companies can use various data types — from anonymized website statistics to account-level user preferences — in making informed business decisions. As more businesses begin to leverage this data, expect to see it increasingly influence decision making regarding:

• Demand forecasting: By tracking and analyzing past product and category sales, businesses can develop predictions about when particular product lines will be in higher demand. In turn, this data aids with inventory planning and pricing strategies.
• Pricing: Digital commerce giants like Amazon exercise continual, automated repricing to maximize sales. By monitoring competitor pricing and valuable customer accounts’ purchasing trends, eCommerce businesses can begin to develop and A/B test a flexible pricing strategy backed by data.
• Marketing campaigns: Search trend predictions from Google and other search engines can provide insights into customers’ increasing interest in specific products and offerings, like Buy Now Pay Later. Additionally, data gleaned from previous campaigns can further refine consumer segments for more targeted advertising and marketing.
• Personalization: Businesses can leverage trends from prior orders to personalize each shopper’s experience — including offering products purchased by similar customers at checkout, sending reordering reminders, and promoting special offers to high-volume repeat customers.

Interested in learning more about how data collection and utilization can benefit your eCommerce business? Check out our full Tech Talk library to stay up-to-date on the tools and trends every Magento eCommerce business owner needs to know.