WooCommerce guides
Plain answers to the questions store owners ask about their numbers: how WooCommerce counts them, where to find them for free, and the quicker way.
Sales reporting
Revenue, best sellers, order value and period comparisons, and how WooCommerce counts them.
- WooCommerce sales reports: the complete guideWhere WooCommerce keeps its sales reports, what every number in Analytics means, why totals differ from your orders, and what the built-in reports can't show.
- Why WooCommerce Analytics numbers don't match your ordersWooCommerce Analytics showing different totals from your Orders list? The usual causes: excluded statuses, refund dates, date type, tax and missing imports.
- WooCommerce average order value: how it's calculated and how to raise itFind your average order value in WooCommerce Analytics, learn exactly how it's calculated (net sales ÷ orders), and see practical ways to raise it.
- How to see your best-selling products in WooCommerceFind your best sellers in WooCommerce Analytics by units sold or net sales, compare them with last month, and spot which products are rising or fading.
- How to compare two date ranges in WooCommerce AnalyticsUse the Compare to option in WooCommerce Analytics to see this month against last month or last year, read the results, and avoid misleading comparisons.
- Net sales vs gross sales vs total sales in WooCommerceWhat gross sales, net sales and total sales mean in WooCommerce Analytics, how each is calculated, a worked example, and which one to use for decisions.
- How to calculate your WooCommerce refund rateWork out your WooCommerce refund rate by value and by order count from Analytics, find which products get refunded most, and avoid the refund-date trap.
- How to see WooCommerce sales by categorySee sales by product category in WooCommerce Analytics, compare categories, avoid double counting products in several categories, and export the numbers.
- How to see WooCommerce sales by countryWooCommerce Analytics has no sales-by-country report. How to get sales by country from the Customers report, a CSV export, an extension or a SQL query.
- How to find your busiest days and hours in WooCommerceWooCommerce Analytics has no day-of-week or hour report. How to find your busiest days with a daily export, see hourly sales for one day, and use SQL for the rest.
- How to see sales by variation (size, color) in WooCommerceSee which sizes and colors sell in WooCommerce with Analytics › Variations, filter by attribute, compare variations, and use the numbers to plan stock.
- How to compare WooCommerce sales year over yearCompare this year's WooCommerce sales with last year's using Compare to › Previous year, read month-by-month growth, and avoid the common year-over-year traps.
Inventory and stock
Low stock, sell-out dates, dead stock and reorder points for small and mid-sized stores.
- WooCommerce inventory forecasting: a practical guideHow to forecast stock in WooCommerce: what the built-in Stock report and thresholds do, how to work out days of stock left, reorder points and dead stock.
- How to find dead stock in WooCommerceWooCommerce has no dead stock report. Here's how to list products that have stock but no recent sales, using an export, Analytics, SQL or one question.
- How to work out the value of your WooCommerce inventoryWooCommerce doesn't show total inventory value. Here's how to calculate stock value at cost or at retail with an export, a spreadsheet, SQL or one question.
- How to get a low-stock report in WooCommerceSee every low-stock product in WooCommerce with Analytics › Stock, set thresholds that match each product's pace, and get low-stock emails that arrive in time.
- What running out of stock costs a WooCommerce storeEstimate the sales you lost while a WooCommerce product was out of stock, from its sales rate before the stock-out and the days it was gone. Plus how to stop it.
- How to find products about to sell out in WooCommerceWork out which WooCommerce products will sell out soon by dividing stock by daily sales. Step by step with Analytics, a spreadsheet, SQL, or one question.
- How to set reorder points for WooCommerce productsCalculate a reorder point for each WooCommerce product from daily sales, lead time and safety stock, then use the low stock threshold to get alerted in time.
- How to calculate sell-through rate for WooCommerce productsWooCommerce doesn't report sell-through rate. Here's the formula, where to get units sold and stock in WooCommerce, a worked example, and how to read the result.
- How to track stock for variations (sizes and colors) in WooCommerceTrack stock for each size and color in WooCommerce: turn on Manage stock per variation, see variation stock in Analytics › Stock, and spot which one runs out first.
Marketing attribution
Which channels, campaigns, coupons and devices bring orders, from WooCommerce order attribution.
- WooCommerce order attribution, explainedHow WooCommerce order attribution tracks where each order came from, what Direct, Referral and Unknown mean, where to see it, and how to total it by channel.
- Why WooCommerce order attribution says Unknown (and how to fix it)Why WooCommerce orders show Unknown as their origin: tracking off, consent, firewalls, blocked scripts, or orders made outside checkout. How to find the cause and fix it.
- How to measure a sale or campaign in WooCommerceMeasure a WooCommerce sale or campaign: compare it with a fair baseline in Analytics, check coupon use and UTM-tagged orders, and look past the first week.
- How to tell if a WooCommerce coupon paid offFind a WooCommerce coupon's orders, discount and net sales in Analytics › Coupons, then work out whether it made money once margin and normal sales are counted.
- Instagram vs email: comparing WooCommerce revenue by sourceCompare how many WooCommerce orders and how much revenue Instagram and email bring, using order attribution and UTM tags, and avoid the traps that skew it.
- Mobile vs desktop orders in WooCommerceSee how many WooCommerce orders come from mobile, tablet and desktop using order attribution's device type, compare order values, and act on the split.
- How to see which channels bring the most WooCommerce ordersSee WooCommerce orders and revenue by channel using order attribution: the Origin column, an export, SQL, or one question. Plus how to read the totals.
- How to see which websites send you WooCommerce customersSee which websites send buyers to your WooCommerce store using order attribution's referral source and referrer URL, total them by site, and read the gaps.
- How to track UTM campaigns in WooCommerceHow WooCommerce saves UTM source, medium and campaign on every order, how to tag your links so they're counted, and how to total orders by campaign.
Customers and retention
Repeat buyers, lapsed customers, lifetime value and where your customers come from.
- WooCommerce customer analytics: the complete guideWhat WooCommerce can tell you about your customers, where to find it, which metrics need a spreadsheet or SQL, and how to track repeat buyers and lapsed customers.
- How to calculate customer lifetime value in WooCommerceWork out customer lifetime value for your WooCommerce store from the Customers report summary, a simple formula or SQL, and learn which version to trust.
- How to see where your WooCommerce customers areSee where your WooCommerce customers are by country, region or city using the Customers report, a CSV export or SQL, and turn it into shipping and marketing decisions.
- Which products bring customers back? First-purchase analysis for WooCommerceFind which first products turn WooCommerce buyers into repeat customers. How to run a first-purchase analysis with an export or SQL, and what to do with it.
- How to find customers who stopped buying in WooCommerceFind WooCommerce customers who used to buy and then stopped, using the Customers report filters, a CSV export or SQL. Plus how to count them in one question.
- How to see new vs returning customers in WooCommerceSee how many WooCommerce orders and sales come from new vs returning customers using the Orders report's Customer type filter, an SQL version, or one question.
- How to calculate your WooCommerce repeat purchase rateWooCommerce has no repeat purchase rate report. Here's how to calculate it from the Customers report, a CSV export or SQL, and how to read the number.
- How long do customers take to order again in WooCommerce?Measure how many days your WooCommerce customers take between orders, using order history, a CSV export or SQL, and use it to time emails and spot lapsed buyers.
- How to find your top customers in WooCommerceFind your top WooCommerce customers by total spend or number of orders in the Customers report, rank them for a date range with SQL, and decide what to do next.
Profit
Cost of goods, margins, and what refunds, discounts, shipping and fees take out.
- WooCommerce profit reporting: what you need and how to do itWooCommerce Analytics shows sales, not profit. What you need to work out profit and margin: product costs, refunds, discounts, shipping and payment fees.
- How to add cost of goods to WooCommerceTurn on WooCommerce's built-in Cost of Goods Sold field, set costs for products and variations, import them by CSV, and see what it does and doesn't report.
- How discounts eat into WooCommerce marginsA 20% discount can remove 40% or more of your profit per sale. How to work out what a WooCommerce coupon or sale really costs, and the extra sales it needs.
- How to calculate gross margin by product in WooCommerceWooCommerce doesn't report margin per product. Export net sales from Analytics › Products, add unit costs, and calculate gross profit and margin in a sheet.
- How payment fees affect WooCommerce profitWooCommerce Analytics doesn't record payment processing fees. How to find your real fee rate, why small orders and refunds cost more, and how to add fees to profit.
- How to calculate profit after refunds and discounts in WooCommerceNet sales already removes refunds and coupons, but profit needs more. How refunds and discounts change cost of goods and margin, and how to calculate it.
- Are you losing money on shipping? Comparing costs and charges in WooCommerceWooCommerce reports the shipping you charge, not what you pay. How to compare the two each month, find orders that lose money, and fix your shipping rates.
AI for store owners
Using AI on your store data safely, and the questions worth asking it every week.
- How to use AI to analyze your WooCommerce storeWhat AI can and can't do with WooCommerce data, the three ways to use it, how to keep customer data safe, and how to check the numbers it gives you.
- Questions to ask after Black Friday: a WooCommerce sales reviewTwelve questions to review your WooCommerce Black Friday: sales against last year, best sellers, coupons, channels, refunds and what to reorder.
- ChatGPT vs a built-in store analyst for WooCommerce: which should you use?When uploading a WooCommerce CSV to ChatGPT works fine, its risks (stale exports, customer data, wrong sums), and when a built-in analyst fits better.
- How to check an AI's answers about your WooCommerce storeA simple method to verify any AI's sales, product, stock and coupon numbers against WooCommerce Analytics, and the usual reasons the two disagree.
- Is it safe to give AI your store data? 8 questions to ask firstA vendor-neutral checklist for any AI tool that reads your WooCommerce store: what leaves the store, retention, training, write access and customer data.
- 10 questions to ask your WooCommerce store data every MondayA short Monday routine for WooCommerce owners: ten questions about sales, products, stock, channels and customers, and where each answer comes from.
- 7 mistakes store owners make with their numbers (and how to avoid them)Seven common mistakes WooCommerce owners make reading their numbers, from comparing partial months to mistaking revenue for profit, and how to fix each one.
- A weekly WooCommerce reporting checklist (with a one-page template)A weekly WooCommerce reporting checklist: what to check before you start, the numbers to record, where each comes from in Analytics, and a one-page template.