Think Again: How To See Changes In Your Site Traffic and What You Can Do to Capitalize on It
2020 has been a year of unprecedented growth in the eCommerce industry, namely because COVID-19 has forced many brick-and-mortar stores to close their physical doors and sell primarily online. That said, now is a time more crucial than ever to be aware of the shift in online shoppers’ demographics, and how to utilize that information to make better-informed business decisions.
There is a wealth of customer information that companies selling online now have access to, and using that data unlocks the potential for incredible business growth. However, many companies don’t know where to begin collecting, analyzing, and reporting on customer data to make smarter decisions. If this sounds like you, we’ve got you covered.
Where can you access useful data?
One source of this data comes directly from visitors on your eCommerce website. The most common tool for tracking these statistics is Google Analytics: a tool that any merchant can use to track their site’s user demographics, behavior, conversions, and attribution. Google Analytics helps determine the tools merchants should utilize to serve their audience better.
With the rise in buying power of younger consumers, many companies fail to realize that they should be tailoring their strategies towards Generation Z and Millennial cohorts. Your target audience’s demographics are constantly changing, so it’s essential to have data on their characteristics and consistently check those numbers to make sure you aren’t alienating your biggest customer bases.
It’s important to note that there is so much more data to be collected than what Google Analytics can give you, so while you can get an overview of your website visitor audiences in GA, having 1:1 customer data from several sources that you can combine to get a 360˚ view of your customers should be your end goal. Relying too much on just one source for your data gives you biased and incomplete reports to run your business off of, so it’s best to ensure you have the right tools to help you combat this lack of visibility. Luckily, making data-based marketing more accessible is the specialty of companies like Tadpull, a valued Sezzle partner. Their tool Pond helps you unify your disparate data sources–from customer to catalog to campaigns–and returns with automated insights that help you make better business decisions.
Step by Step: How to pull relevant insights about your website on Google Analytics
If you’re looking to gain insight into how your customer demographics are evolving, here’s our quick guide to identifying generational cohort performance and other age-based insights in Google Analytics.
Under Reports on the left-hand sidebar, go to Audience > Demographics > Age. - Set your primary metric to Users if it isn’t already. Your secondary dimension should be set to Age.
- Set your date range. We recommend using the past year to date. Check the compare to box and select the previous period.
- In the upper right-hand corner of the table (below the time-series graph), click the pie chart button next to the table button that is currently selected.
- Hover over the pie chart sections for 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds and compare the slice percentages to the slices from last year.
6. Return to the grid view by selecting the grid button to the left of the pie chart button. Near the top of the page, under the ‘Explorer’ tab, select the eCommerce title on the far right. Look for the percent % YoY across 18- to 24-year-olds and 25- to 34-year-olds in relevant columns.
