How to compare two date ranges in WooCommerce Analytics

To compare two date ranges in WooCommerce, open any report under Analytics (for example Analytics › Revenue), click the date range at the top, pick your main period, then under Compare to choose Previous period or Previous year and click Update. The figures at the top show the percentage change, and the chart draws both periods.

Below: how each comparison option works, how to read the results, which one to choose, and the traps that make a comparison misleading.

The free way: the Compare to option

1. In WordPress admin, go to Analytics › Revenue (or Orders, Products, Variations, Categories, Coupons and so on; they all share the same date picker).
2. Click the date range at the top.
3. Choose your main period. The presets are Today, Yesterday, Week to date, Last week, Month to date, Last month, Quarter to date, Last quarter, Year to date and Last year. You can also enter custom start and end dates.
4. Under Compare to, choose Previous period or Previous year.
5. Click Update.

The date range you choose stays as you move between Analytics reports, so you can check Revenue, then Products, for the same comparison without setting it again.

How to read the comparison

• The figures at the top (performance indicators) show each number for your main period with a color-coded percentage change against the comparison period.
• The chart draws two lines (or bars): one for your main period and one for the comparison. Click a different figure at the top to chart a different metric.
• The interval setting groups the chart by day, week, month and so on. For a month against a month, day or week works well. For a year against a year, use month.

On the Overview page, the headline figures show the same percentage changes, which makes it a quick place to start.

Previous period or previous year?

A practical rule: use previous period to ask "did something just change?" and previous year to ask "are we growing?"

For longer views, such as each month of this year against the same month last year, see how to compare WooCommerce sales year over year.

Comparisons that mislead

A comparison is only fair if the two periods are alike. Watch for these:

• Partial against full periods. "Month to date" on the 10th against all of last month looks like a collapse. Check the comparison dates shown in the picker and make sure both periods have the same number of days.
• Different weekdays. Most shops sell differently on weekends. A 7-day period that includes two Saturdays isn't comparable with one that includes one. Comparing full weeks avoids this. Your week's start day comes from Week Starts On in WordPress Settings › General.
• Different month lengths. February has fewer days than March. Compare averages per day, or use weeks.
• Moving holidays. Easter, and sale events tied to a weekday, fall on different dates each year. When comparing with last year, line up the event, not the calendar date.
• Refunds. Refunds count in the period you issued them. A month that processed lots of refunds for earlier orders will look weaker than its sales were. See returns.
• Analytics not up to date. If you recently changed Excluded statuses or haven't imported older orders, the earlier period may be incomplete. Why WooCommerce Analytics numbers don't match your orders explains how to check.

Comparing products across two periods

The same setting works on product reports. In Analytics › Products with Compare to › Previous period, you can see which products grew and which fell. The best-selling products guide walks through reading risers and fallers.

The Products, Variations and Categories reports also have a separate Comparison view in their Show menu. That one compares two or more items (for example two categories) over the same dates, which isn't the same thing as comparing periods.

Comparing two unrelated ranges

Analytics can't compare, say, this year's spring sale (12–18 March) with last autumn's (8–14 October) side by side, because the comparison has to be the period just before or the same dates a year earlier. Two ways around it:

• Check them one after the other. Set the first range, note the figures, then set the second. For a few numbers, this is quickest.
• Export both. Download the Revenue or Orders report for each range as a CSV and put them side by side in a spreadsheet.

For measuring a campaign properly, see how to measure a sale or campaign in WooCommerce.

The quick way: ask Askshelf

Askshelf adds Analytics › Askshelf to WordPress admin. Ask for a comparison in plain words and it runs the sales summary for both periods and reports the changes:

It can compare any date range with the previous period or the same period last year, for the sales summary and top products, and with an earlier period for orders by channel. Like Analytics, it compares with the period before or the year before, not two unrelated ranges in one lookup. More examples are on the AI sales reports page.

What to do with a comparison

• Explain any big change. A rise or fall of more than your normal week-to-week wobble usually has one cause: a campaign, a stock-out, a price change, a site problem.
• Check orders and AOV separately. Sales can rise because you got more orders or bigger ones. The fix is different for each. See the average order value guide.
• Keep a note of what you changed. Comparisons are much easier to read when you know a promotion started on the 14th.

For an overview of every sales report, see the WooCommerce sales reports guide.