Start with WooCommerce Analytics. It’s built in, it covers revenue, orders, products, customers, coupons and taxes, and it costs nothing extra. Add a reporting plugin or service only when you need something it doesn’t do, such as customer lifetime value, cohort views, traffic attribution or scheduled report emails. This guide covers the built-in tool first, then the plugins and services that fill the gaps.
WooCommerce describes its own Analytics and Sales Reports as including detailed report views, advanced filtering and segmenting tools, CSV downloads and a customizable dashboard. For many stores that’s enough for months. The tools below matter once your questions get more specific.
WooCommerce Analytics: what you already have
WooCommerce Analytics lives inside your dashboard and reads your own order data, so there’s nothing to connect. According to the WooCommerce documentation, you can filter and segment its reports, download them as CSV files and arrange the dashboard around the metrics you check most.
The documentation also defines how each metric is calculated, which helps you read the numbers correctly:
- Gross sales is the sale price multiplied by the quantity ordered. It doesn’t include refunds, coupons, taxes or shipping.
- Net sales is gross sales minus returns and coupons.
- Total sales is gross sales minus returns and coupons, plus taxes and shipping.
- Average order value is net sales divided by orders.
One detail catches people out. In Analytics, a refund shows up on the date the refund happened, not the date of the original order. If you compare a month to the same month last year, a refund issued in a later month changes the later month’s figures. Knowing that saves you from chasing a number that isn’t wrong.
You need permission to view WooCommerce reports to open Analytics, and a user who can manage WooCommerce to change its settings or run a historical data import. If your numbers look incomplete after a migration, the historical import is where to look.
When the built-in reports stop being enough
Built-in Analytics answers “what happened in my store”. It’s less suited to questions like these:
- Which customers buy again, and how much are they worth over time?
- Which marketing channel brought the orders, not just the visits?
- Can I get a report emailed to my accountant every Monday?
- Can I see store data next to ad spend or email results?
If you recognise those questions, one of the tools below is worth a trial. If you don’t, stay with the built-in reports and spend your time acting on them.
What to check in a reporting tool
- Revenue you can trust. Compare a month in the new tool with the same month in WooCommerce Analytics. A tool that disagrees without explanation isn’t ready to use.
- Customer views. Repeat purchases, customer lifetime value and segments are where third-party tools earn their place.
- Export and sharing. You should be able to get data out as a file or send a report to someone who doesn’t log in.
- Where the data is processed. A hosted service reads your orders on its own servers. A plugin runs inside WordPress. Both are fine, but they behave differently under load and under privacy rules.
- Fit with your stack. Check whether it handles the plugins you depend on, such as subscriptions or memberships.
Reporting plugins and services for WooCommerce
Metorik
Metorik is a hosted service for WooCommerce and Shopify stores. Its site describes it as bringing real-time store data, analytics, reports and email marketing into one tool. A small helper plugin, Metorik for WooCommerce, connects your store; the plugin page lists fast analytics, advanced reports, email marketing and abandoned-cart recovery. It suits store owners who want customer and order reporting without building it themselves. See the Metorik website.
Putler
Putler is a hosted analytics tool that describes itself as multichannel ecommerce analytics, with reports on sales, orders, products, customers and visitors, plus segmentation and forecasts. It’s worth a look if you sell through more than one channel and want everything in one view. Visit putler.com.
Metrilo
Metrilo presents itself as a growth platform for ecommerce brands, combining ecommerce analytics, a customer CRM and email marketing aimed at retention. Choose it if you want your reports and your customer emails in the same place. See metrilo.com.
MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights connects WordPress to Google Analytics and shows the results inside your dashboard. It’s built for traffic and behaviour reporting rather than order accounting, so use it next to WooCommerce Analytics, not instead of it. The free and paid tiers differ in features, so check the plugin page for what ecommerce tracking requires.
Site Kit by Google
Site Kit is Google’s own WordPress plugin. It puts Analytics, Search Console, AdSense and speed data into the dashboard. It’s a good choice if you want Google’s tools without a third-party layer. Get it from the WordPress.org page.
Google Analytics for WooCommerce
This plugin provides an integration between Google Analytics and WooCommerce, so shop events reach your Analytics property. It’s a plain connector. Use it when you want ecommerce events in Google Analytics and are happy to read the reports there. See the plugin page.
Conversios
Conversios covers GA4, Google Ads and Meta conversion tracking, plus product feed sync for WooCommerce. Its plugin page also mentions server-side tracking and reports in the same plugin. It fits stores that run paid ads and want tracking and reports tied together. Details are on the WordPress.org listing.
Sales Report for WooCommerce
This plugin generates daily, weekly and monthly sales reports. It’s a small, focused option for owners who mainly want a regular summary in their inbox. See the plugin page for the current feature list.
Order Export for WooCommerce
Not a dashboard, but useful when your reporting lives in a spreadsheet. It exports orders and products with advanced filtering, in CSV and Excel formats. Pair it with a spreadsheet when you need to combine WooCommerce data with costs or ad spend. Find it on WordPress.org.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Type | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce Analytics | Built in | Everyday sales, product and order reports |
| Metorik | Hosted service | Customer and order reporting with email |
| Putler | Hosted service | Multichannel stores, segmentation |
| Metrilo | Hosted service | Analytics, CRM and email together |
| MonsterInsights | Plugin | Traffic data from Google Analytics |
| Site Kit by Google | Plugin | Google tools in one dashboard |
| Google Analytics for WooCommerce | Plugin | Ecommerce events in Google Analytics |
| Conversios | Plugin | Ad conversion tracking with reports |
| Sales Report for WooCommerce | Plugin | Scheduled sales summaries |
| Order Export for WooCommerce | Plugin | Spreadsheet-based reporting |
Pricing models differ widely. Hosted services usually charge a recurring fee, and plugins may be free or sold with a licence. Check each vendor’s own page for current terms.
Choosing by store stage
A new store
Use WooCommerce Analytics and nothing else. You don’t have enough orders for cohort views to say anything useful, and more tools add more places to check.
A growing store
Add traffic attribution if you spend on ads or content. Site Kit or MonsterInsights shows where visitors come from, and WooCommerce Analytics shows what they bought. Together they answer most growth questions.
A larger or subscription store
Customer lifetime value and repeat purchases start to drive decisions, so a hosted service such as Metorik, Putler or Metrilo pays off. If you sell subscriptions, read our guide to WooCommerce subscription plugins and check whether your reporting tool understands the plugin you pick.
Metrics worth tracking
Most owners watch revenue. These numbers explain it:
- Net sales. Revenue after returns and coupons. It’s the number that matches your accounts better than gross sales.
- Average order value. Net sales divided by orders. Track it by category to see where bundles and upsells work. Our guide to cross-selling and product bundle plugins covers that side.
- Repeat purchase rate. The share of customers who order more than once. Raising it is usually cheaper than finding new buyers.
- Customer lifetime value. What a customer spends across the whole relationship. A customer who orders steadily for a year can be worth more than one big first order.
- Conversion by source. Which channels turn visits into orders. Traffic tools help here.
- Coupon and tax reports. Useful at month end and when you review discount habits.
Common reporting mistakes
- Tracking revenue instead of profit. WooCommerce doesn’t hold your cost of goods as a standard field. Export your data and add costs in a spreadsheet, or use a tool with a cost field.
- Reacting to daily swings. A weak Tuesday means little. Look at weekly or monthly trends.
- Running two analytics tools as the source of truth. They’ll disagree slightly, and you’ll lose time working out why. Pick one primary tool for sales and use a second only for traffic.
- Ignoring refund timing. As noted above, refunds land on the date they happen. Remember that when you compare months.
- Collecting data you never act on. Before you add a tool, write down the questions you need answered and what you’ll do with the answers.
If you’re also reviewing order handling, see our guides to order management plugins and PDF invoice plugins. For more on the analytics side, our roundup of WooCommerce analytics plugins goes wider.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free way to report on a WooCommerce store?
WooCommerce Analytics, which is built in. It gives you filtered reports, CSV downloads and a customizable dashboard with no extra install.
Do reporting plugins slow down my store?
Hosted services process data on their own servers, so they place less work on your site, though they sync with your store. Plugins that build reports inside WordPress use your database. Test on a staging copy if you have a large catalogue or many orders.
Can I use WooCommerce Analytics with a third-party tool?
Yes. Many owners use Analytics for daily checks and another tool for traffic or customer analysis. Both read the same orders, so sales figures should line up closely.
Which tool is best for customer lifetime value?
Hosted services built around customers, such as Metorik, Putler and Metrilo, describe customer analytics as a core feature. Compare them by their own pages and a trial against your data.
How do I see profit, not just revenue?
Cost of goods isn’t a standard WooCommerce field, so no report can show true profit without it. Export your order data and add your costs in a spreadsheet, or pick a tool that lets you store a cost per product.
Is MonsterInsights enough for ecommerce reporting?
It covers traffic and behaviour through Google Analytics. For order and customer reports, use it alongside WooCommerce Analytics. Check its plugin page for which tier includes ecommerce tracking.
Why don’t my WooCommerce Analytics numbers match last month’s report?
Often it’s refund timing. Analytics books a refund on the date it was issued, not the order date, so earlier months can change after the fact. A missing historical import can also cause gaps.
Next step
Open WooCommerce Analytics, write down the three questions it can’t answer, and trial one tool against them using last month’s data. If you’re also weighing storefront themes while you rebuild, you can try the live Reign demos.