5 best practices for analyzing

ecommerce data
and 7 mistakes to avoid

May 2012
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You don’t suffer from a lack of data. But you no doubt operating in a highly competitive market, then incorporate
5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

face an avalanche of questions about how that data can third-party market share metrics. The litmus test to use is
be used to drive your site. whether or not you can clearly explain how every metric on
your dashboard connects to your organization’s objectives.
Creating an informative, clear, interactive dashboard
closes the gap. By combining relevant data into a single
view that supports dynamic discussions and better
decisions, you’ll be leveraging that rich data to drive big
business, not just big storage requirements.

Crafting this type of dashboard doesn’t have to be time

consuming. And it doesn’t have to require someone
with highly specialized skills. So – how do you create
dashboards that work for you and your team?

Focus on these 5 best practices. Equally important,

keep an eye on the 7 critical mistakes you don’t want to
make. Figure 1: Select metrics you can act upon
Knowing where your site visitors originate let you

1 Choose metrics that determine how to make the right content available for
better conversions. Click this dashboard and explore
matter how much you can quickly learn about performance
against goals through these charts and graphs.

2 Keep it visual
Selecting relevant metrics to include in your dashboard is
critical. Above all, they must be metrics that matter and
that are relevant to the job at hand. But that doesn’t mean
every metric should be included – far from it. You should
be highly selective in determining which metrics earn a Dashboards are meant to be fast and easy to read.
spot on your dashboard. Number-based tables are not fast or easy to read. This is a
case where a picture really is worth a thousand words.
In order to find the right set of metrics to include, you need
to consider the following: The human brain processes numbers and images as
discrete “chunks” of information. As a result, reports and
• How does each metric contribute to those objectives?
tables filled with numbers are difficult and time consuming
• Do you have data, either internal or external, that can to process. However, a single chart or graph can be
shed light on the objectives? comprehended almost immediately.

• Can you design a meaningful metric that measures When people are given the chance to see data as a
those contributions? picture versus a table, they focus on what your dashboard
is saying. This is the underlying reason why your
• Is this metric truly necessary to contribute to the
dashboard should emphasize “visualizing” data in charts
objectives?
and graphs vs. overloading it with tables.
• Can you build a systematic and on-going means of
Dashboards that include bar graphs, line graphs, heat
measurement?
maps, and scatterplots are popular and impactful because
Start with a clear understanding of your executive or they are clear and people know how to read them. So
team’s objectives. If your organization is in growth mode, while it’s tempting to show off your depth of charting skills,
then measure new customer acquisition rates. If you’re keep it simple on dashboards that will be used by many.
“We use analytics to drive the
site. You can’t stand in an eBay
store and watch customers
walk around.
So, the visibility you have is in the web logs
coming off of eBay.com. And so by looking
at those, we not only see what customers
are doing, we see more than a regular
retailer would see.”
– David Stone, Senior Manager Analytics Platform, eBay
 p4

When designing your dashboard, embrace the use of

5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

colors, shapes, lines, thicknesses, degrees of shading,

and other treatments that leverage visual perception.
Things to avoid include overly cute widgets, 3D graphic
treatments, and distracting color schemes.

Figure 3: Ask and answer questions with your

dashboard
The content on your website is a major asset, but
how do you know if it’s working? Use a dashboard to
show website content performance. With a click you
can drill from section to subsection to web page and
Figure 2: Dashboards should be straightforward evaluate trends over all your content.
Every website is different, so you need the flexibility

4
to explore what’s driving your traffic. Combined
metrics that show useful correlations can lead to big Keep it current or don’t
insights for your decisions. Explore this dashboard
to see how weekly traffic to this sight varies from bother
weekdays to weekends and the respective conversion
Make sure that the data underlying your dashboard is
rates.

3 Make it interactive
up-to-date and that your selected metrics reflect current
business challenges.

Data can be from this quarter, this week, this hour—

whatever the right timeline is for your business. Stale
Your dashboard has relevant metrics and is visually
data can lend a false sense of confidence to decisions.
engaging – you’ve got everyone looking at the same
You think you’re making fact-based decisions, but the
page. But once they’re on the same page, viewers will
data is no longer representative of or relevant to your
have unique questions about what they see. Create
current situation.
your dashboard so that individual viewers can interact
with it to get the answers they seek. Over time, key metrics can shift as well. In one year,
the number of new customers might matter most. But
Interactive dashboards enable your audience to perform
the following year, the focus may shift to customer
basic analytical tasks, such as filtering views, adjusting
satisfaction, product profitability, or quarter-to-quarter
parameters, and drilling down to examine underlying
revenue growth. Keep your eye on whether or not the
data – all with intuitive selections on the dashboard.
metrics in your dashboard are still relevant and make
Providing this interactivity equips your viewers to go
sure to update when needed.
from the big picture to insight about how they can use
the data to make better decisions in a matter of 1-2
clicks.
 p5

5 Make access easy

5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

This one is critical. It doesn’t matter if you’ve mastered the list above, no one will use your dashboard if they can’t get to it.
Browser-based distribution is ideal – especially if your dashboards can pull current data and adhere to security. Make it easy
for people to select a link and go right to the dashboard – whether they’re at their desk or with mobile devices.

Alternatives include posting files on websites, Wiki’s, or blogs. File-based distribution will present data synchronization
issues (i.e., people reading old versions) and security may be more cumbersome, but at least you can develop good habits
about the importance of dashboards and collaboration.

As you get your dashboard off the ground, test your distribution plan and get feedback. Like any successful project, the key
is good testing. As you gain experience and learn what people are using, you can enhance the actual dashboard as well as
your distribution approach.
 p6

7 mistakes to avoid
5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

The flip side of these five best practice dashboard recommendations is a list of seven mistakes to avoid. Your
dashboard should help your organization make better data-centric decisions. Falling into one of these traps will move
you away from – not towards – these goals.

1. Starting off with too much complexity

It’s easy to get overly ambitious and want to provide highly detailed, real-time dashboards covering every
business challenge and offering users lots of drill-down options. Don’t spend weeks or months coming up with a
“perfect” dashboard. Instead, work in short cycles of prototype, test, and adjust.
2. Using metrics no one understands
The way you show and label metrics might make sense to you, but are they meaningful to others? Your metrics
can be so familiar to you that you don’t take the step to validate them with others. Make sure your metrics not
only support the objectives of the dashboard, but make sense to the audience that will encounter it.
3. Cluttering the dashboard with low-value graphics and unintelligible widgets
Resist the temptation to make your dashboard too flashy or over-designed, with gauge-like graphics and widgets.
As pretty as those may seem, they get in the way with your dashboard’s objective: rapidly and easily informing
your audience. Keep your dashboard simple in its visual appeal.
4. Waiting for complex technology and big business intelligence deployment projects
Traditional business intelligence (BI) implementations often take much longer than originally anticipated. Waiting
for a traditional BI project to materialize may mean months or years of delay. Use applications that help you build
and distribute dashboards quickly.
5. Underestimating the need to maintain the dashboard
Rolling out a dashboard is not a once-and-done exercise. If you don’t check in with your audience to validate
the metrics are relevant and the data is updated, it won’t get used. Make sure you’re validating the usefulness of
your dashboard on a regular basis.
6. Failing to match metrics to the goal
Dashboards are stronger when they connect to larger objectives. Don’t fall into the trap of creating dashboards
that don’t reflect how key metrics within your department impact the success of the organization as a whole.
7. Using ineffective, poorly designed graphs and charts
Take care in how you design your graphs and charts. For example, 3-D charts don’t increase viewer
comprehension. Garish colors can interfere with interpretation. Using a pie chart is often ineffective, especially if
more than six values are represented. Check out “recommended resources” for designing good visualizations.
 p7

Dashboards lead to powerful insights

5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

eTailers don’t suffer from too little data, but if you’re not displaying key metrics effectively, the data isn’t working for
you.
Dashboards help because they show relevant, current information showing how you are performing with respect to
overall goals. Keep in mind these five best practices to create successful dashboards:
• Choose metrics that matter
• Keep it visual
• Make it interactive
• Keep it current or don’t bother
• Make access easy

If you’re already creating dashboards, take note of these five best practices and evaluate how your efforts measure
up. Also, check to be sure you’re not getting caught in any of the seven mistakes to avoid.

If you haven’t yet started a dashboard to help achieve your corporate objectives, get started today. Seeing your data
as key metrics on a dashboard will help you march towards meeting your goals.

Tableau lets you create fast, impactful dashboards

Tableau makes it easy for you to create and share dashboards quickly and effectively. In a matter of minutes you can
connect to nearly any data source, use an intuitive interface to analyze your data visually, then drag-and-drop to
create dashboards. No programming expertise is required. Watch our 14-minute “Getting Started” video, download
our full-featured free trial, and start making your own dashboards. You can share your dashboard with a link to make it
easy for your audience to view from their computer or a mobile device.

About Tableau Software

Tableau Software helps people see and understand data. Ranked by Gartner and IDC in 2011 as the world’s fastest
growing business intelligence company, Tableau helps anyone quickly and easily analyze, visualize and share
information. More than 7,000 companies get rapid results with Tableau in the office and on-the-go. And tens of
thousands of people use Tableau Public to share data in their blogs and websites. See how Tableau can help you by
downloading the free trial at www.tableausoftware.com/trial.
 p8

Recommended resources
5 best practices for analyzing e-commerce data

Information Dashboard Design and Show Me the Numbers by Stephen Few

Books and articles by Edward Tufte

Juice Analytics’s writings on good analytic design

Presentation Zen’s writings on good presentation techniques

Telling Great Stories with Data whitepaper by Susan Moore, with Tableau Software

Tableau Visual Guidebook, Tableau Software

Which Chart or Graph is Right for You, Tableau Software

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