How to read WooCommerce analytics in under 5 minutes

Most WooCommerce store owners spend 15-20 minutes daily navigating WordPress admin, clicking through WooCommerce Analytics tabs, manually comparing date ranges to understand if yesterday was better or worse than last week.

Here are the five essential WooCommerce analytics checks that give you 80% of decision-making value in 20% of the time. Each check takes under 60 seconds. Complete all five in under 5 minutes, make informed decisions, move on with your day.

These metrics work whether you check them in WooCommerce native analytics, Google Analytics 4, or automated email reports—what you measure matters more than where you view it.

Five essential WooCommerce analytics checks

1. Revenue compared to previous periods

What it is: Total sales for yesterday (or last 7 days) compared to the previous period and same period last year.

Why it matters: Spots trends immediately. If yesterday’s revenue is down 20% versus same day last week, you need to investigate (traffic drop, technical issue, seasonal change). If up 30%, something’s working (successful campaign, viral product, seasonal spike).

How to check:

• WooCommerce: Analytics → Revenue → Change date range to compare periods

• Google Analytics 4: Monetization → Ecommerce purchases → Add comparison date range

• Email automation tools: Automatic in daily reports with comparisons pre-calculated

What to do: If revenue down more than 15%, check traffic sources and conversion rate to identify cause. If up significantly, note what changed and amplify it.

Time: 30 seconds if comparisons are automatic, 90 seconds if manually changing date ranges.

2. Orders and conversion rate trend

What it is: Number of orders and the percentage of sessions that resulted in purchases, compared to your baseline.

Why it matters: Revenue can increase due to more traffic (marketing success) or decrease despite good traffic (site problem). Conversion rate isolates your store’s effectiveness. If traffic is up but conversion is down, you have a UX or technical issue, not a marketing problem.

How to check:

• WooCommerce: Analytics → Orders (for count) + calculate manually (orders ÷ sessions)

• GA4: Engagement → Conversions → Ecommerce conversion rate

• Analytics plugins: Show conversion rate with automatic period comparisons

What to do: If conversion trending down, check for technical issues (broken checkout, slow page speed), traffic quality problems (wrong audience from ads), or pricing changes. If trending up, identify what changed (new product photos, better descriptions, shipping promotion) and do more of it.

Time: 40 seconds.

3. Top 3 products and their performance

What it is: Your three best-selling products by revenue and whether their sales are increasing or decreasing.

Why it matters: A single product can make or break your month. If your number-one product suddenly drops 40% in sales, you need to know today (not next week) to check inventory, competitor activity, or seasonal patterns.

How to check:

• WooCommerce: Analytics → Products → Sort by net sales

• GA4: Monetization → Ecommerce purchases → Item name dimension

• Email reports: Top products included in daily summaries

What to do: If top product sales drop, verify inventory levels, check reviews for issues, and compare competitor pricing. If new product enters top 3, promote it more and ensure adequate stock. If seasonal product declining, prepare for off-season.

Time: 30 seconds.

4. Traffic source breakdown

What it is: Where your store visitors came from—organic search, paid ads, social media, direct traffic, or referral links.

Why it matters: Reveals which marketing efforts are working. If email drove 40% of yesterday’s traffic, your campaign succeeded. If paid ads drove 50% of traffic but conversion rate is low, you’re targeting the wrong audience and wasting ad spend.

How to check:

• WooCommerce: Requires Google Analytics integration (not available in native analytics)

• GA4: Acquisition → Traffic acquisition → Source/medium breakdown

• Analytics platforms: Traffic source reports with revenue attribution

What to do: High traffic from a source with low conversion means targeting problems (wrong audience). Unexpected traffic spike from referral source requires investigation (press mention, backlink) and leverage. Organic search dropping indicates SEO issue or Google algorithm update.

Time: 30 seconds.

5. Average order value versus your target

What it is: Total revenue divided by number of orders, showing the average amount customers spend per transaction.

Why it matters: Two stores with identical revenue can have vastly different profitability. $10,000 from 100 orders (average order value of $100) is typically more profitable than $10,000 from 500 orders ($20 average) due to lower transaction costs, payment processing fees, and shipping efficiencies.

How to check:

• WooCommerce: Analytics → Revenue → Average order value displayed in summary

• GA4: Monetization → Ecommerce purchases → Average purchase revenue metric

• Reporting tools: AOV with comparison to baseline period

What to do: If average order value dropping, add product bundles, increase free shipping minimum threshold, or suggest related products at checkout. If rising, identify why (higher-priced items selling, bundles working) and amplify successful tactics. Compare to profitability target—if you need $75 average order value for profitability but you’re at $60, focus on upsells and cross-sells.

Time: 20 seconds.

Total time: Under 5 minutes daily

Complete these five checks each morning:

• Revenue comparison: 30-90 seconds

• Orders and conversion: 40 seconds

• Top products: 30 seconds

• Traffic sources: 30 seconds

• Average order value: 20 seconds

Total: 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Time increases to 5-7 minutes if checking manually in WooCommerce or GA4 (changing date ranges, calculating comparisons, navigating between reports). Reduces to under 2 minutes with automated reports that pre-calculate period comparisons and deliver metrics via email.

The daily analytics routine

8:00am: Check these five metrics (or receive them via email)
8:05am: Done—make decisions based on trends, not guesses

If you’re spending more than 10 minutes daily on analytics but only need these core insights, consider streamlining your approach. Most stores under $500k annual revenue make better decisions by tracking fewer metrics consistently rather than reviewing dozens of reports sporadically.

Quick questions

Are these five metrics really enough for daily monitoring?

For most WooCommerce stores under $500k revenue: yes, for daily decisions.

You’ll need deeper monthly analysis (customer cohorts, product category performance, marketing channel ROI calculations), but daily operational decisions rarely require more than these five metrics. They answer the critical questions: Is revenue up or down? Is the site converting? What’s selling? Where are customers coming from? Are order values healthy?

What if I want to track more metrics?

Add them gradually after these five become routine. Track these five daily for 30 days first. Once it’s habitual, add 1-2 additional metrics if genuinely needed for your specific business. Most store owners realize these five cover 90% of daily decision-making needs.

How do I know if a change is significant or just normal variation?

Compare to multiple time periods. If revenue is down 5% versus yesterday but up 12% versus last week, it’s normal variation. If down 15% across all comparison periods (versus yesterday, last week, and last month), it’s a trend requiring investigation. Look for patterns across periods, not isolated data points.

Can I automate these checks completely?

Yes. Options include scheduled Google Analytics 4 reports (free but requires 30 minutes setup), email-based analytics tools like Peasy (starting at $49/month, 2-minute setup), or WooCommerce analytics plugins with digest features. Automation trades small monthly cost for time savings—10 minutes saved daily equals approximately 60 hours annually.

Looking for automated WooCommerce reports? Tools like Peasy deliver these five metrics via email every morning with period comparisons pre-calculated. Try free for 14 days.

Prefer manual checking? Bookmark this checklist and run through these five metrics daily in WooCommerce Analytics or Google Analytics 4.