Most e-commerce brands track traffic and conversion rates. But dig deeper and ask how many know where and why their customers drop off, and many won’t know.
Integrating analytics goals into your e-commerce setup is how you turn performance marketing into performance intelligence. Without it, you’re operating on guesswork. You need analytics goals to have visibility across the entire customer funnel, from first click to repeat customer.
So why do so many brands miss it? And what should you be tracking instead? Let’s break it down.
Why most analytics setups fall short
In our experience at Geeks360, most e-commerce brands focus on the basics: where traffic is coming from, how much it costs, and what the top-line conversion rate looks like. Basic tracking is better than no tracking but it does not give you a full picture.
Too much focus is usually placed on metrics like cost per acquisition (CPA) without understanding why performance is fluctuating. Are users bouncing because a page isn’t loading? Are they adding products to their cart but failing to convert? Are ads bringing the wrong customer profile to the website? You cannot optimize what you do not track. And if you’re not tracking those moments, how can you effectively optimize for them? The result is that decisions are made based on incomplete data.
Often, brands simply don’t know what to track, or they rely on basic tools like Shopify’s built-in analytics. Platforms like GA4 offer far deeper insight, but they can be intimidating and unintuitive to use without technical support or marketing agency support. And not all agencies possess the necessary expertise and can provide this level of data analysis and insight.
What analytics goals are—and why they matter
Analytics goals (also called events) are specific actions users take on your website such as add to cart, begin checkout, complete purchase, sign up for a newsletter, or click on a product filter. These goals map directly to key stages in the customer journey.
Setting up these events allows you to:
- Understand exactly how prospects move through your site
- Spot friction points before they impact your bottom line
- Train advertising algorithms more effectively
- Align marketing activity with business outcomes
Properly integrated analytics goals let you track not just how prospects move through your site, but also understand their behavior. Clearly identifying and optimizing opportunities within the funnel and customer journey can lead to 10% and higher revenue growth.
The difference between goals and funnels
Goals are the actions. Funnels show how users flow through them. For example, a basic sales funnel might look like:
Product page viewed → Add to cart → Begin checkout → Purchase
If you’re only tracking the last step (purchases), you’ll never know where potential customers are dropping out. But by viewing the funnel in full, you can spot patterns: maybe your checkout page has an invisible button, or your cart page loads slowly on mobile. These are real issues we’ve uncovered—ones that directly impact revenue.
Funnels can also be used creatively to track customer behavior across all touchpoints, not just conversions. They can be used to understand how customers interact with your brand at key points before, during, and after a purchase.
Overlooked analytics goals that make a difference
Some of the most valuable insights come from metrics that rarely make it into standard reports. At Geeks360, we often see brands overlook the following:
- Bounce rate by page. Are users leaving a specific product or landing page without engaging and why?
- Exit rate by page. Where in the journey are users abandoning the site entirely?
- Returning vs. new users. What portion of your sales comes from repeat customers, and what are they doing differently?
- Upsell opportunities. Tracking post-purchase behavior and product interaction funnels helps reveal when and where customers are most open to buying more.
- Post-purchase behavior. Are people buying again, referring friends, or signing up for additional offers?
These metrics are essential for a 360-degree view of the business performance. When tracked properly, they can unlock powerful UX and CRO improvements.
Key funnels to track for e-commerce brands
If you’re not sure where to start, these are the key funnels we recommend to track—each offering visibility into a different stage of the customer journey and opportunities to improve conversion, loyalty, and customer lifetime value.
Sales funnel
Tracking your primary conversion path helps you understand where shoppers drop off and why. It allows you to optimize product pages, simplify the checkout process, and reduce cart abandonment improving conversion rates.
Retention funnel
This funnel shows how effectively you’re turning first-time buyers into repeat customers. It helps identify when to re-engage, what drives loyalty, and how to increase customer lifetime value through smart post-purchase touchpoints.
Lead-gen + nurture funnel
Essential for brands with longer purchase cycles or higher price points, this funnel helps measure how well your content, email flows, or offers are converting interest into sales. It highlights where to nurture leads more effectively.
Post-purchase funnel
Often overlooked, this funnel reveals valuable insight into what happens after a purchase—such as referrals, reviews, and upsell conversions. Tracking it allows you to optimize for advocacy, increase average order value, and build stronger brand loyalty.
How we approach analytics at Geeks360
It’s in our name—at Geeks360, we take a 360-degree approach to analytics. We start by setting up tracking correctly across Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Meta, ensuring complete and clean data from the beginning. We then build out custom analytics goals and funnels tailored to your product, audience, and growth stage. Finally, we analyze the full picture—acquisition, conversion, retention—and use those insights to optimize both paid campaigns and website experience.
Such an approach helps us and our clients understand exactly what’s happening with their customers and what to do next.
Final thoughts
If your analytics setup stops at traffic and purchases, you’re flying blind. Goals and funnels give you the visibility to make smarter decisions, reduce wasted spend, and build campaigns that scale.
It’s not about tracking everything but rather about tracking what matters. And that starts with knowing what to look for. Need help figuring it out? That’s what we’re here for. Let’s talk.
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