9 Essential Google Analytics Custom Reports for Ecommerce

We suggest some ready-made Google Analytics reports which can help you to view and understand your website data more effectively

Google Analytics comes with some useful basic reports, but they’re targeted at a broad audience and may not always match up with different business goals.

This is where customisation comes in. There are various ways to customise and manipulate data, and custom reports are an excellent way to do this.
Using the custom function, you can create your own reports from scratch by choosing the combination of dimensions, metrics and display format that works for you.

Alternatively, and thanks to the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery, you can choose from ready-made reports, and just import them into your own analytics account. From there you can also further customise or add segments to make them more useful for you.

There are various ways to customise and manipulate data in Google Analytics. Learning data patterns and reporting on customer behaviour allows you to make better decisions and identify areas for improvement. 

For example, you can use Google Analytics custom reports to identify micro conversions like email sign ups or downloads. The more granular you can visualise your ecommerce Google Analytics reports the better your marketing strategy and campaign planning will be. Data-driven decisions for the busiest retail months online like Black Friday sales yield the greatest results. 

Here’s a selection of Google Analytics custom reports for ecommerce. To import any of them, simply click the link to view the preview and import the report.

Rush Hours & Busiest Day of Week Report

This report, from ClickInsight, helps you to identify times and days when your website is busiest, and when people are most likely to convert.
This information can help to inform things like timing of marketing campaigns, so you can attract large numbers of visitors at the best time.

View Rush Hours & Busiest Days Report

Site Speed Metrics by Browser & Browser Version

Speed matters, as slow loading sites can deter potential customers. This report shows site speed metrics for various browsers which can help sites to spot issues with particular versions of different browsers.

View Site Speed Metrics by Browser & Browser Version Report

Referring Sites Report

This report identifies the referring sites which are providing the most value in terms of traffic, goal completions and conversions.

The screenshots here use the Google Analytics demo account which uses real data from Google’s own merchandise store, hence the mentions of googleplex.
Import Referring Sites Report

Content Efficiency Report

This report was created by analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, and helps you to identify the pieces of content which are working well.
It looks at the obvious traffic metrics, but also stats that indicate engagement, such as time spent on the page and bounce rates.
In theory, longer time on page and low bounce rates indicate that people are interested in the content.

Finally page value shows which pieces of content played a role in conversions, whether these are sales, bookings, or micro-conversions like email sign ups and downloads.

Import the Content Efficiency Report

Traffic Acquisition from Social Media

There are some built in reports that show social traffic, but this is handy because it bundles lots of data into one view, with metrics like goal conversions

View Social Traffic Report

Site Search Report

There’s a lot that sites can learn from site search data, and this report provides a useful overview of site search.
It shows search volumes as well as useful metrics like exits and number of search refinements, which could indicate that some users are having problems finding what they want.

View Site Search Overview Report

Organic Search Ecommerce Report

This report provides a useful overview of all organic search traffic, and allows you to monitor performance across a series of dimension such as device and location.

View Organic Search Ecommerce Report

Ultimate Site Performance Report

This report looks at various aspects of site performance – load time, bounce rate etc – allowing you to identify areas where improvements can be made.

View Site Performance Report 

Landing Pages Analysis

Another from Avinash Kaushik, this one shows your landing pages alongside key performance metrics.

View Landing Pages Report (part of a bundle)

Reviewed by Brad Ward
Written by Graham Charlton
— Updated on 11/02/2021