New Shopify Feature: Live View

The Good Place is on hiatus until January 4th and I agree, there’s nothing good on TV until then. If you’re a Shopify merchant trying to figure out what to watch, they’ve introduced the next best show: your store.

Live View lets you see your customer actions, just like you could in a physical store

Shopify has just released a new analytics tool called Live View. It’s a screen that shows you what’s happening in your online store as you’re watching. In a brick-and-mortar, you’d be able to see a line out the door, feel the rush of customers buzzing around you and notice any sticking points. In an online store, it’s a whole lot harder.

But Live View starts to make up for that by showing you:
How many visitors are viewing your site and what country they’re shopping from
How many shoppers are adding items to their cart, checking out, and have made purchases
Daily total visits, orders and sales (including how much you made that day)
How many of your website’s pages are being viewed

Check out live view from your Shopify admin

You can access Live View from both your desktop and your Shopify app on your phone. Learn more about using live view here.

A great analytics tool to add to your repertoire

To access Live View, go to your Shopify Admin > Analytics > Live View. Put it up on full screen to get the most visual benefit.

While live view can show you a snapshot of what’s happening right now, of course it’s important to put it into context with other analytics.

Shopify Reports will tell you important metrics about your business, such as how it’s performing over time, what channels are driving your sales and what items are selling best.

Both Shopify Reports and Live View are good starting points to start asking analytical questions. For example, you can see if there are particular spikes during certain times of day or month, and start tailoring your marketing around those times. If you’re looking at your Live View screen and see that you have quite a few people on your FAQ pages, you might draw the conclusion that you are missing some information on your landing page and viewers are looking for answers. Or, you can notice if you have an emerging customer base from countries you don’t expect, and consider expanding internationally.

If you love live view and are interested in seeing more visualisations of your data, try connecting your Shopify store with Google Analytics and creating reports through Google Data Studio. It will let you use eCommerce information in conjunction with any other data you have, such as your email lists, online advertisements and market trends.

Bonus read: A crash course in getting started with analytics

I love live-action customer stuff. What else can I do?

Add live chat features

You can add a live chat service (often for free) that lets you talk to your viewers while they’re on your site. This can be a great way to offer customer service or prevent potential customers from walking away when they can’t find what they’re looking for.

That can help you delve into the world of conversational commerce - using messenger tools to talk to your customers and personalise their experience.

Use Launchpad to plan your next event

Launchpad is a great tool for Shopify Plus merchants that lets you prep your big launches, such as BFCM and other holiday sales.

Grabbing the popcorn yet?

Elkfox can help you understand your analytics and grow your eCommerce business on the Shopify platform. Talk to us today to get started.