Ecommerce product insights and how to use them

Product insights are part of routine ecommerce analytics and reporting. Product performance and a product sales report are invaluable for product and inventory management. Since products are the focus of DTC brands, any action or optimization should be data-backed.

Let’s see the various product insights you can get from your analytics and how to use them.

Conversions by product

The basic product report is sales data for specific products. It shows the individual conversion rate of each product, that is what percentage of people who see the product page, buy it.

Some possible product insights you might get are:

• The best converting products might not be the bestsellers in terms of quantity – usually niche products convert a very targeted audience. Use this for segmentation and further tailored engagement of those buyers based on their special needs.
• Some products get reordered more than others – this means people love them. Promote them more to get others to try them and order repeatedly.
• Some products don’t perform well – try to find the reasons by asking the people who bought them for feedback.

Product variations performance

If you have different variants of the same product – various colors, for example, product insights get even more exciting.

Some variants will convert better than others and that is very valuable information. Maybe your customers prefer specific colors for some reason (ask them what others to make) or just the quality of some variants looks lower. This way, you can optimize your inventory easily.

Native, for example, found out that people love their Coconut Vanilla scent and used in ads. Read more about Native’s tactics.

Views by product

This product report is not as exciting as the sales one, but still gives you precious data to improve your marketing.

Which products get a lot of views but not so many orders?

Product performance by views in Metrilo

That’s a sign of a problem with the converting power of this product page – compare it with others and make it up to par. It can be the description, the images, the social proof or the price. Dive in the custom feedback you’ve received about this item to see if you can find something.

Feedback for specific product

Abandonment rate

Abandonment rate by product is also quite telling – people add it to cart but then leave it. Why?

In Metrilo, for instance, you can see which other products they bought instead. This shows which products substitute one another in the mind of the customer and how they make a buying decision: do they choose based on price or features or color?

People who added moisturizer to cart either bought it or got one of the day creams

• Create a choosing guide so everyone can find the best product for their needs
• A glossary or 101 explainer of some sort can also make things clearer
• Detailed product pages are a must – don’t skimp on the correct uses and maintenance only to disappoint people later

Retention by product

The power of certain products to inspire greater loyalty than others is among the most important product insights you can get.

For a long-term strategy, product management should optimize the offerings to drive customer satisfaction and repeat sales up. Retention by product shows you which product makes such a pleasant first impression that people become returning customers.

Related: Retention analysis for free

Retention, CLV, AOV by product

This way, you’ll know with which product the perfect customer journey starts. Recreate it for more new customers by featuring the loyalty-inducing product(s) more.

More visibility means more people will try them and enter the loyalty loop. Also, use it as a last resort for customers about to churn – maybe they stay just because of this product.

Related: The Superstar product trick

Product correlations

Product insights are also the dependencies between products. They help you create better offers and improve metrics like AOV and CLV.

Frequently bought together

People who bought the light moisturizer, also bought the BB moisturizer and the day cream for dry skin

This insight directly shows you how people would buy more. By learning from customer behavior, you can get higher average value orders.

• Create relevant product bundles or mix-and-match offers
• Offer great gift sets to existing customers
• Start off new customers with good sample sets

Related products

People who viewed product Y also viewed product X.

Although not a conversion, this behavior shows us what kinds of products catch the attention of your visitors. What products they’re choosing from for their needs. It’s a glimpse into how they think about your category.

People who viewed Glow mask, were also interested in the BB moisturizer and the day cream for dry skin

Some findings might surprise you, but that’s the beauty of it – it’s facts to work with and use for driving sales.

• Create content explaining the difference between those products to help people choose
• Up-sell and cross-sell better using these insights
• Suggest those related products on product pages as alternatives

Bonus: In Metrilo, you can see which articles on your blog converted people so you’ll know what content to create more of.

Sales funnel by product

Sales funnels are a fundamental part of ecommerce analytics. But funnels by product are a very interesting breakdown.

By breaking down the whole buying process, you see where people drop off so you can fix it. It’s eye-opening to find out that:

• Some products get very determined customers (not many but high purchase intent) who go through the ordering process at 100% – continue with targeted ads and promos

The order completion rate is 100%

• While others somehow lose the customer just before the end – maybe the price is below the free shipping threshold and they decide it’s not worth it? Offer free shipping for these products to test that theory.

To sum up

As an ecommerce brand, there are many product insights you can use to improve your inventory, offers and range – and products influence your overall metrics, too. All these insights can be found as part of Metrilo’s analytics platform.