WooCommerce reports explained: Complete guide to every report type

WooCommerce provides 12 distinct report categories containing 30+ individual reports across Revenue, Products, Categories, Customers, Taxes, Coupons, Downloads, and Stock. This abundance creates confusion—merchants don't know which reports to check for specific questions or how to interpret results correctly. Yet 5-6 core reports answer 90% of operational questions, making most reports optional for typical stores.

According to WooCommerce usage research, store owners checking 15+ reports regularly spend 3-4x longer on analytics than owners focusing on 5-6 essential reports, yet both groups make comparable business decisions. Information overload reduces decision quality rather than improving it. Strategic report selection matters more than comprehensive monitoring.

This guide provides complete WooCommerce reports reference: what each report category contains, which specific reports matter most, how to interpret data correctly, and which reports you can safely ignore without missing critical business intelligence.

Understanding WooCommerce report structure

Where to access reports

Modern interface (WooCommerce 4.0+): WordPress admin → WooCommerce → Analytics. This is redesigned interface introduced 2020 with visual dashboards, date comparisons, and improved filtering.

Legacy interface (older versions): WordPress admin → WooCommerce → Reports. Same data, older interface. If using legacy interface, consider updating WooCommerce to access modern analytics (backup first).

Report organization

WooCommerce organizes reports into primary categories accessible via tabs: Overview (dashboard summary), Revenue (orders and sales), Products (items and variations), Categories (product category performance), Customers (customer data and lifetime value), Taxes (tax collection), Coupons (discount usage), Downloads (digital product downloads), and Stock (inventory levels).

Not all categories are equally important. Revenue, Products, and Customers answer most operational questions. Categories, Taxes, and Stock are periodically useful. Coupons and Downloads serve niche needs.

Revenue reports (the foundation)

Orders report

What it shows: Complete order list with dates, customer names, order status (completed, processing, pending), and order totals. Table view lists individual orders; chart shows daily/weekly/monthly order volume trends.

How to use it: (1) Verify daily order flow—are orders coming in consistently? (2) Identify order status issues (many ""pending"" orders might indicate payment problems). (3) Track order volume trends—growing, flat, or declining?

Key metrics: Total orders (count), Net sales (revenue), Average order value (net sales ÷ orders). Compare selected period to ""Previous period"" or ""Previous year"" understanding whether performance improving or declining.

When to check: Weekly for trend awareness (last 7 days versus previous 7 days). Daily checking adds minimal value unless running time-sensitive campaigns requiring real-time monitoring.

Sales report

What it shows: Revenue broken down by: Gross sales (before discounts and refunds), Total sales (after discounts), Refunds, Net sales (final revenue), Shipping charges, and Taxes. More detailed financial breakdown than Orders report.

How to use it: (1) Calculate true profitability—net sales is actual revenue kept. (2) Monitor refund rate—refunds ÷ gross sales. Healthy: under 5%. Above 10% indicates quality issues or expectation mismatches. (3) Track discount impact—are promotions eroding margins excessively?

Key insight: Gross sales growth without net sales growth means discounts or refunds are increasing. You're working harder (more orders) without making more money (same net revenue). This signals pricing or quality problems.

When to check: Monthly for financial planning and profitability analysis. Weekly checks unnecessary—these metrics change slowly.

Product reports (inventory intelligence)

Products report

What it shows: All products ranked by items sold, with columns for: Items sold, Net sales (revenue), Orders (number of orders containing product), and Stock status. Sortable by any column.

How to use it: (1) Identify bestsellers—top 10-20 products by items sold. These drive revenue and cannot go out of stock. (2) Calculate inventory velocity—items sold per day/week. Informs reorder quantities and timing. (3) Identify slow movers—products with minimal sales are phase-out or promotion candidates.

Key pattern: Top 10-15 products typically generate 60-80% of revenue (Pareto principle). This concentration is normal and healthy. Inventory investment should reflect this—stock bestsellers deeply, niche products lightly.

When to check: Weekly for bestseller inventory status (top 20 products). Monthly for full product review (all products) informing inventory planning and product strategy.

Variations report

What it shows: For products with variations (sizes, colors, styles), breaks down sales by specific variation. Example: ""T-shirt"" product shows sales by ""Small/Blue,"" ""Medium/Red,"" ""Large/Black,"" etc.

How to use it: Inventory planning at variation level. T-shirt sells 100 units monthly, but variation report reveals ""Medium/Black"" sells 35 units while ""Small/Pink"" sells 2 units. Stock deeply in high-demand variations; minimize slow variations.

When relevant: Stores with significant variation complexity (apparel, shoes, customizable products). Stores without variations (digital products, single-SKU physical goods) can ignore this report entirely.

Category reports (product mix analysis)

Categories report

What it shows: Product categories ranked by: Items sold, Net sales, Orders, and Category performance trends over time.

How to use it: (1) Identify revenue drivers—which categories generate most sales? (2) Calculate category growth—is ""Dresses"" growing while ""Accessories"" declining? (3) Inform inventory investment—allocate budget proportionally to category revenue contribution.

Strategic insight: If ""Activewear"" generates 45% of revenue but receives 20% of inventory budget, you're underinvesting in your revenue driver. Category report reveals these allocation mismatches.

When to check: Monthly. Category trends change slowly; weekly checking provides no additional insight.

Customer reports (relationship intelligence)

Customers report

What it shows: Customer list with: Name, Email, Date registered, Orders count (lifetime), Total spend (lifetime revenue), Average order value, Last order date. Sortable and filterable.

How to use it: (1) Identify VIPs—top 10-20 customers by total spend. These deserve personalized retention efforts (exclusive offers, early access, personal outreach). (2) Segment one-time buyers—customers with exactly 1 order who haven't returned in 60+ days. Reactivation opportunity. (3) Track customer acquisition—new customers this month versus previous months.

Key metrics: Total customers, New customers (first-time buyers), Returning customers, Average customer lifetime value (total revenue ÷ total customers). Compare period-over-period identifying whether customer base growing and whether existing customers returning.

When to check: Monthly for VIP identification and customer segmentation. Customer relationships develop over weeks/months, not daily, so frequent checking adds minimal value.

Customer orders report

What it shows: Distribution of customers by order count: How many customers have placed 1 order? 2 orders? 3+ orders? Visualizes customer retention.

How to use it: Calculate repeat purchase rate: (Customers with 2+ orders ÷ Total customers) × 100. Healthy: 25-40% for most product categories. Under 20% indicates retention problems (customers don't come back). Above 50% indicates strong retention and product-market fit.

Strategic insight: If 70% of customers have exactly 1 order, customer acquisition is working but retention isn't. Focus retention strategies (email marketing, loyalty programs, restock reminders) over acquisition spending.

When to check: Quarterly. Retention patterns change slowly; monthly checking provides minimal additional insight.

Tax reports (compliance tracking)

Taxes by date report

What it shows: Sales tax collected by date, tax rate, and jurisdiction. Breaks down exactly how much tax was collected when and where.

How to use it: Tax filing and remittance. Export report for filing period (monthly, quarterly, annually depending on jurisdiction), provide to accountant or tax filing software. WooCommerce calculates tax at checkout based on configured rates—this report aggregates for filing.

When to check: When preparing tax returns (monthly, quarterly, or annually per requirements). Between filing periods, minimal attention needed unless suspecting tax calculation errors.

Taxes by code report

What it shows: Tax collected broken down by tax code/rate rather than date. Useful if you have multiple tax rates (state tax, county tax, city tax) needing separate reporting.

When relevant: Stores operating in multiple jurisdictions with different tax rates. Single-rate stores (one state, one tax rate) can use simpler ""Taxes by date"" report.

Coupon reports (promotion analysis)

Coupons report

What it shows: Discount coupons by: Usage count (how many times redeemed), Total discount amount (money discounted), Orders (orders using coupon). Shows which promotions drive most orders.

How to use it: (1) Calculate coupon ROI—revenue from orders using coupon versus discount given. Coupon generating $5,000 revenue with $800 discounts = net $4,200 contribution. Good ROI. (2) Identify overused coupons—coupon intended for limited promotion but used hundreds of times suggests sharing or gaming. (3) Evaluate promotion effectiveness—which discount types drive orders (% off, fixed amount, free shipping)?

Strategic insight: Coupon driving 200 orders at $35 AOV with 15% discount generates $5,950 net revenue ($7,000 gross - $1,050 discount). Same orders without coupon at $42 AOV (no discount incentive needed) generates $8,400 net revenue. Coupon ""succeeded"" (high usage) but potentially cannibalized full-price sales. Always compare promotion revenue to baseline non-promotion revenue determining true incrementality.

When to check: After each promotion campaign ends. Compare promotion results to non-promotion baseline determining whether promotion generated net positive revenue.

Download reports (digital products only)

Downloads report

What it shows: For downloadable products (ebooks, software, courses), tracks: Product downloaded, Customer, Download count, Downloads remaining (if limited). Monitors digital product delivery.

When relevant: Digital product stores only. Physical product stores can ignore entirely—this report will be empty.

How to use it: Verify download limits enforced correctly (if you allow 3 downloads per purchase, ensure customers can't exceed). Identify customers who purchased but never downloaded (potential delivery issue or confusion).

Stock reports (inventory management)

Stock report

What it shows: Current inventory levels for all products: Stock quantity, Stock status (in stock, low stock, out of stock), Product SKU. Real-time inventory snapshot.

How to use it: Daily or weekly inventory check for physical product stores. Filter by ""Low stock"" viewing products approaching stockout requiring reorder. Filter by ""Out of stock"" viewing products currently unavailable (revenue loss).

Automation opportunity: Set low stock thresholds in product settings (WooCommerce → Products → Edit product → Inventory → Low stock threshold). WooCommerce emails you when products hit threshold, eliminating need for daily manual checking.

When relevant: Physical inventory stores managing stock. Dropshipping stores or digital product stores can ignore—inventory is supplier-managed or infinite respectively.

Which reports matter most (priority ranking)

Essential (check weekly)

1. Revenue - Orders: Order volume trends and revenue performance. 2. Products - Products: Bestsellers and inventory planning. These two reports alone provide 70% of operational intelligence needed.

Important (check monthly)

3. Revenue - Sales: Financial detail including refunds and discounts. 4. Customers - Customers: VIP identification and customer acquisition. 5. Categories - Categories: Product mix performance (if you have multiple categories). These add strategic context to operational reports.

Situational (check as needed)

6. Taxes - Taxes by date: For tax filing only. 7. Stock - Stock: For inventory management only. 8. Coupons - Coupons: After promotions only. 9. Variations - Variations: For variation-heavy stores only. Check when specific need arises, not routinely.

Optional (ignore unless specific need)

10. Downloads, Customer orders distribution, Taxes by code, and various sub-reports. Most stores never need these. Check only if specific question arises these reports answer.

Report interpretation best practices

Always use date comparisons

WooCommerce allows comparing selected period to ""Previous period"" or ""Previous year."" Always enable comparison—absolute numbers without context are meaningless. Revenue of $15,000 last month—good or bad? Compared to previous month ($12,000), it's 25% growth (excellent). Compared to same month last year ($18,000), it's 17% decline (concerning). Context matters.

Understand net versus gross metrics

Gross sales: Total charged before refunds and discounts. Net sales: Gross sales minus refunds minus discounts. Always use net sales for financial planning—this is actual money kept. Gross sales inflates by discounts and doesn't account for refunds.

Calculate rates, not just counts

Don't just track raw numbers—calculate rates revealing trends. Examples: Refund rate = refunds ÷ gross sales. High refund rate (above 8-10%) indicates quality problems. Discount rate = total discounts ÷ gross sales. High discount rate (above 15-20%) indicates over-reliance on promotions eroding margins. New customer rate = new customers ÷ total customers. Low rate (under 40%) indicates acquisition problems.

Common report interpretation mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing order count with revenue

Merchant celebrates 200 orders this month (up from 150 last month, +33% growth). But revenue is flat ($15,000 both months). Why? Average order value declined from $100 to $75. More orders at lower value = same revenue. Always analyze revenue and AOV together, not order count alone.

Mistake 2: Ignoring seasonality

Merchant sees December revenue 50% higher than November, assumes extraordinary growth. Reality: December always spikes for holiday shopping. Compare December this year to December last year determining actual year-over-year growth separate from normal seasonality.

Solution: For seasonal businesses (retail, gifts, apparel), always use ""Previous year"" comparison alongside ""Previous period."" This isolates true growth from seasonal patterns.

Mistake 3: Focusing on wrong products

Merchant obsesses over underperforming products (""Why isn't Product X selling?"") while ignoring bestsellers (""Products A, B, C are low stock""). Result: bestsellers go out of stock (revenue loss) while time is wasted on products customers don't want.

Solution: 80% of inventory attention should focus on top 20% of products (bestsellers). These drive revenue and cannot fail. Remaining 20% of attention can explore why other products underperform, but never at expense of bestseller availability.

Report export and external analysis

Why export reports

Native WooCommerce reports provide tables and charts but limited customization. Exporting to CSV enables spreadsheet analysis: custom calculations, pivot tables, merged data from multiple reports, and visualizations WooCommerce doesn't provide.

How to export

Any WooCommerce report: Click ""Download"" or ""Export"" button (icon location varies by WooCommerce version, typically top-right of report). Select CSV format. Save file, open in Google Sheets, Excel, or Numbers for custom analysis.

Useful custom analyses

Product profitability: Export Products report (items sold, net sales). Add column for cost-of-goods-sold (your cost per unit). Calculate profit: (net sales - COGS). Rank products by profit, not just revenue. Highest-revenue product might not be most profitable.

Customer cohorts: Export Customers report. Group by registration month (Jan 2024 signups, Feb 2024 signups, etc.). Calculate average orders per cohort over time. Reveals whether recent customer cohorts are better or worse than historical cohorts.

Category trends: Export Categories report for last 12 months. Chart category revenue by month in spreadsheet. Visualize which categories growing, flat, or declining over time. Informs inventory allocation and product development priorities.

WooCommerce Reports Complete Guide

WooCommerce provides 12 report categories containing 30+ individual reports. Five essential reports answer 90% of operational questions: (1) Revenue - Orders (order volume and revenue trends), (2) Products - Products (bestsellers and inventory planning), (3) Revenue - Sales (financial detail), (4) Customers - Customers (VIP identification), (5) Categories - Categories (product mix performance). Remaining reports serve situational needs (taxes for filing, stock for inventory, coupons for promotions).

Weekly routine: 15 minutes checking Orders report (last 7 days versus previous 7 days) and Products report (top 20 items, inventory status). This provides operational awareness without excessive time investment.

Monthly routine: 30 minutes reviewing all five essential reports (30-day period versus previous 30 days and same period last year). This provides strategic context for planning next month's inventory, marketing, and product focus.

Interpretation best practices: Always use date comparisons (previous period and previous year for seasonality), calculate rates not just counts (refund rate, discount rate, new customer rate), and focus 80% attention on top 20% of products (bestsellers driving revenue). Export reports to CSV for custom analysis beyond WooCommerce's native capabilities.