How to Set Up Shopify Custom Reports and Dashboards (2026)

Why Default Shopify Reports Are Not Enough for Growing Stores

Every Shopify store gets a set of pre-built reports out of the box. They cover the basics — total sales, sessions, returning customers, top products. But the moment your business starts scaling, those defaults stop answering the questions that actually drive decisions.

Which marketing channel delivers the highest average order value after returns? What's the real contribution margin on your top 10 SKUs once you factor in ad spend? Which customer segments repurchase within 30 days versus 90? Default reports can't answer any of these without customization.

Setting up Shopify custom reports and dashboards gives you a single view of the metrics that matter to your specific business model. Whether you run a subscription box, a dropshipping operation, or a multi-location retail brand, custom reporting turns raw data into clarity. This guide walks through every method available in 2026 — from Shopify's native tools to third-party apps — so you can build dashboards that actually inform decisions. If you're serious about making data-driven decisions for your store, this is the playbook.

Understanding Shopify's Analytics Architecture in 2026

Before building custom reports, you need to understand what Shopify offers natively and where the boundaries are. The Winter 2025 Editions update overhauled the analytics experience significantly, and more capabilities have rolled out since.

The Dashboard Layer

The Analytics page in your Shopify admin is the top-level dashboard. It displays metric cards — individual data widgets showing a quick summary value for a specific business indicator. Each card links directly to a full report underneath.

Key dashboard capabilities:

• Drag-and-drop layout — reorder metric cards to prioritize what you check first
• Resizable cards — make high-priority metrics larger for quick scanning
• Add/remove cards — choose from 60+ prebuilt metric templates
• Real-time refresh — metrics update continuously, not on a delay

This dashboard layer is available on every Shopify plan, including Basic. The customization options here are your first step toward a personalized reporting experience.

The Report Layer

Below the dashboard sits the report library. Shopify organizes reports into categories: Sales, Customers, Acquisition, Behavior, Inventory, Finances, and Marketing. Each report can be filtered, adjusted, and exported.

The Exploration Layer

Data explorations are Shopify's most powerful native reporting tool. Available on Advanced plans and above, explorations let you build completely custom queries by selecting metrics, dimensions, filters, and comparison periods — without writing any code.

How to Customize Your Shopify Dashboard Step by Step

The dashboard is the screen you see every time you open your Shopify admin. Getting this right means you immediately see performance signals instead of digging through menus.

Adding and Arranging Metric Cards

Navigate to Analytics in your Shopify admin. Click the Customize button in the top-right corner. From here:

1. Add a metric card — click "Add metric" and browse categories or search by name. Popular additions include "Average order value," "Returning customer rate," and "Top products by units sold."
2. Reorder cards — drag cards to arrange them by priority. Put your north-star metric (usually total sales or net profit) in the top-left position.
3. Resize cards — expand critical cards to span two columns for better visibility.
4. Remove irrelevant cards — click the three-dot menu on any card and select "Remove." Fewer cards means faster pattern recognition.

Choosing Metrics That Match Your Business Model

Don't add every available metric. Choose 8-12 cards that reflect your specific business model:

For DTC brands: Total sales, AOV, returning customer rate, top products by revenue, sessions by source, cart abandonment rate, customer acquisition cost, gross profit margin.

For dropshippers: Total orders, gross profit, sessions by referrer, top products by units sold, fulfillment speed, refund rate.

For subscription businesses: Recurring revenue, churn rate, subscriber count, average subscription value, reactivation rate.

For multi-location retail: Sales by POS location, in-store vs online split, inventory turnover, staff performance by location.

Setting Up Date Comparisons

Every metric card supports date-range comparisons. Click the date selector at the top of your dashboard and choose a comparison period — previous period, previous year, or a custom range. This immediately adds percentage-change indicators to every card, turning raw numbers into trend signals.

Building Custom Reports with Data Explorations

Data explorations are where Shopify custom reports and dashboards get genuinely powerful. Instead of being limited to pre-built templates, you define exactly what data appears and how it's organized.

Creating Your First Exploration

Navigate to Analytics > Reports, then click Create custom report. You'll see two options:

1. Start from a template — choose a pre-built report and modify it
2. Start from scratch — build a blank exploration

For a from-scratch exploration:

• Select metrics — these are the numbers you want to see (total sales, order count, average order value, gross profit)
• Add dimensions — these are the categories that segment your data (product type, sales channel, customer tag, city)
• Apply filters — narrow results to specific conditions (orders over $100, customers tagged "VIP," traffic from paid channels only)
• Set comparison — compare against a previous period to see trends

Practical Exploration Examples

Product profitability report: Metrics = gross profit, total sales, units sold. Dimension = product title. Filter = last 90 days. Sort by gross profit descending. This instantly reveals which products generate actual profit versus just revenue.

Channel performance report: Metrics = total sales, orders, AOV, conversion rate. Dimension = sales channel. Filter = current quarter. This shows whether your paid channels are actually outperforming organic.

Geographic sales breakdown: Metrics = total sales, orders, shipping costs. Dimension = billing country, billing city. Filter = last 30 days. Use this to identify expansion opportunities or regional marketing targets.

Saving, Scheduling, and Sharing Reports

Once your exploration is configured:

• Save — click "Save" and name the report descriptively (e.g., "Q1 2026 Product Profitability by Channel")
• Pin to dashboard — saved explorations can be pinned as metric cards on your main dashboard
• Export — download as CSV or PDF for stakeholder presentations
• Schedule — set up automated email delivery on a daily, weekly, or monthly cadence

Using ShopifyQL for Advanced Custom Queries

ShopifyQL is Shopify's proprietary query language that powers every report behind the scenes. Since the Winter 2025 update, it's accessible directly within any report view — you can reveal the underlying query and modify it in real time.

ShopifyQL Basics

Every Shopify report is a ShopifyQL query. When you open any report, click "Show query" to reveal the code. The syntax resembles SQL but is tailored to Shopify's data model:

FROM sales
SHOW total_sales, order_count
GROUP BY product_title
SINCE -30d
UNTIL today
ORDER BY total_sales DESC

Key ShopifyQL components:

• FROM — the data source (sales, orders, customers, products, inventory)
• SHOW — the metrics to display
• GROUP BY — the dimension to segment by
• WHERE — filter conditions
• SINCE/UNTIL — date range
• ORDER BY — sort order

Writing Custom ShopifyQL Queries

You don't need to memorize the syntax. Shopify's configuration panel and the ShopifyQL editor work together — adjusting filters or metrics in the visual panel automatically updates the query, and vice versa.

Useful custom queries:

Sales by day of week (identify peak days):

FROM sales
SHOW total_sales, order_count
GROUP BY day_of_week(order_date)
SINCE -90d
UNTIL today

Repeat purchase rate by product category:

FROM orders
SHOW order_count, returning_customer_count
GROUP BY product_type
SINCE -180d
UNTIL today

Average discount depth by channel:

FROM sales
SHOW avg(discount_amount), total_sales, order_count
GROUP BY sales_channel
SINCE -30d
UNTIL today

Using Sidekick to Generate ShopifyQL

Shopify's AI assistant, Sidekick, can generate ShopifyQL queries from plain-language prompts. Click the Sidekick icon within any report view and type a request like:

• "Show total sales this month by product type"
• "Compare this quarter's revenue by sales channel to last quarter"
• "Which products had the highest return rate in the last 90 days?"

Sidekick generates the query, and you can review, modify, or run it immediately. This is the fastest way to build custom reports if you're not comfortable writing queries manually. According to Shopify's analytics documentation, Sidekick understands report context and generates valid ShopifyQL automatically.

Shopify Reporting by Plan: What You Get and What You Don't

Not every Shopify plan includes the same reporting capabilities. Understanding the differences prevents frustration when you try to build something your plan doesn't support.

Plan-by-Plan Comparison

What to Do on Basic and Standard Plans

If you're on Basic or Standard Shopify, you can still build meaningful custom dashboards:

• Maximize metric cards — the dashboard customization is available on all plans, so choose your 8-12 most important cards carefully
• Use filters on pre-built reports — even standard reports support date ranges, product filters, and channel filters
• Export and analyze in spreadsheets — export CSV files and build pivot tables in Google Sheets or Excel
• Install a reporting app — third-party apps like Report Pundit unlock custom reporting on any plan

When to Upgrade for Analytics

Upgrade to Advanced when you need:

• More than 5 custom explorations running simultaneously
• ShopifyQL queries with complex joins or calculated fields
• Automated scheduled reports for stakeholders
• B2B-specific reporting (Plus only)

If your monthly revenue exceeds $50,000, the analytics capabilities on Advanced typically pay for themselves through better decision-making. The ability to track conversions with precision becomes critical at that scale.

Third-Party Reporting Apps That Extend Shopify's Capabilities

Shopify's native analytics have improved dramatically, but some use cases still require third-party tools. Here are the top options for 2026 and when each one makes sense.

Report Pundit

Report Pundit ($9-35/month) is the most flexible Shopify reporting app available. It offers 150+ prebuilt report templates, unlimited custom reports, and integrations with Power BI and BigQuery for enterprise-level analysis.

Best for: Stores that need complex custom reports beyond what ShopifyQL supports, multi-store reporting, or data warehouse integration. Their support team will build custom reports for you at no extra cost.

Mipler

Mipler ($14.99-39.99/month) is a lightweight reporting tool with an AI assistant that generates reports from natural language requests. It's designed for small to medium stores that want fast, flexible reporting without complexity.

Best for: Merchants who want an AI-powered reporting experience similar to Sidekick but with more output flexibility and export options.

TrueProfit

TrueProfit ($35-200/month) focuses specifically on profit tracking. It automatically syncs COGS, ad spend from Facebook/Google/TikTok, shipping costs, and transaction fees to show true profit per order, product, and channel.

Best for: Stores spending significant money on paid advertising that need real-time profit visibility, not just revenue reporting.

According to Improvado's Shopify dashboard guide, merchants who combine native Shopify analytics with a specialized reporting app see the most complete picture of store performance.

Designing Dashboards That Actually Drive Decisions

Having access to data isn't the same as using data. The best Shopify custom reports and dashboards follow design principles that surface insights rather than bury them in numbers.

The Hierarchy of Metrics

Organize your dashboard into three tiers:

Tier 1 — North Star Metrics (2-3 cards, top row): These are the numbers your entire business optimizes toward. Examples: net revenue, net profit margin, customer lifetime value.

Tier 2 — Leading Indicators (4-5 cards, middle rows): These predict future performance. Examples: conversion rate, email subscriber growth, repeat purchase rate, average order value.

Tier 3 — Diagnostic Metrics (3-4 cards, bottom rows): These explain why Tier 1 and 2 metrics move. Examples: cart abandonment rate, top exit pages, refund rate by product, sessions by device.

Building a Weekly Review Dashboard

Create a dedicated dashboard view for your weekly business review:

1. Revenue vs target — are you on pace for monthly goals?
2. Channel mix — which channels grew or shrank this week?
3. Top and bottom products — what's selling and what's stalling?
4. Customer acquisition cost — are you spending more or less to acquire each customer?
5. Inventory alerts — which products are low stock or overstocked?

Pin these explorations to your dashboard and set the date range to "Last 7 days with previous period comparison." This gives you a complete weekly pulse in under two minutes.

Avoiding Dashboard Bloat

Common mistakes that make dashboards useless:

• Too many metrics — if you track everything, you prioritize nothing. Cap your dashboard at 12 cards.
• Vanity metrics in prime position — total pageviews without conversion context tells you nothing useful. Always pair traffic metrics with conversion data.
• No comparison periods — a number without context is meaningless. Always show period-over-period change.
• Mixing time frames — don't put daily metrics next to monthly metrics. Keep your dashboard on a consistent time horizon.

Connecting Google Analytics 4 to Your Shopify Dashboard

Shopify's native analytics cover on-platform behavior, but they don't tell you what happens before a customer reaches your store or after they leave. That's where GA4 comes in.

Why You Need Both

Shopify analytics track: orders, revenue, product performance, inventory, customer data, and POS transactions. GA4 tracks: full-funnel behavior from ad click to purchase, cross-domain journeys, audience segments for remarketing, and attribution modeling across channels.

Using both gives you a 360-degree view. If you haven't configured GA4 yet, follow our complete Shopify Google Analytics 4 setup guide before building cross-platform dashboards.

Building a Unified View with Looker Studio

Google's Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) is free and connects to both GA4 and Shopify data sources. This lets you build a single dashboard that shows:

• GA4 traffic and behavior data alongside Shopify revenue data
• Attribution paths from first click to purchase
• Marketing ROI calculations combining ad spend (GA4) with actual profit (Shopify)

To set this up:

1. Connect GA4 as a data source in Looker Studio
2. Connect Shopify via a third-party connector (Supermetrics, Coupler.io, or Hevo Data)
3. Build blended charts that combine metrics from both sources
4. Schedule automated PDF reports for stakeholders

Tag Manager Integration

For stores running advanced tracking, Google Tag Manager on Shopify enables custom event tracking that feeds into both GA4 and your Shopify custom reports. Track micro-conversions like "added to wishlist," "viewed size guide," or "started checkout" to understand the full customer journey.

Automating Report Delivery and Alerts

The most useful reports are the ones you don't have to remember to check. Automation ensures the right data reaches the right people at the right time.

Scheduled Report Emails

On Shopify Advanced and Plus plans, you can schedule any saved report or exploration to be emailed automatically:

• Daily reports — sales summary, inventory alerts, order fulfillment status
• Weekly reports — channel performance, customer acquisition, product trends
• Monthly reports — profit and loss, customer cohort analysis, year-over-year comparisons

Set these up by opening a saved report, clicking the "Schedule" button, and selecting recipients and frequency.

Building Alert-Based Workflows with Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow lets you create automated workflows triggered by data thresholds. While not a reporting tool per se, Flow complements your dashboards by alerting you to anomalies:

• Inventory drops below threshold — send a Slack notification or email
• Refund rate exceeds 5% on a product — flag for quality review
• Daily sales drop below target — trigger an alert to the marketing team
• High-value order placed — notify the fulfillment team for priority handling

Third-Party Automation Options

For more complex automation, explore tools recommended in the Talk Shop automation resources:

• Supermetrics — pull Shopify data into Google Sheets on a schedule
• Coupler.io — sync Shopify reports to spreadsheets, Looker Studio, or BigQuery
• Databox — mobile-first dashboards with push notification alerts

Common Mistakes When Setting Up Shopify Custom Reports

Even experienced merchants make reporting errors that lead to bad decisions. Avoid these pitfalls to keep your data trustworthy.

Ignoring Data Discrepancies Between Platforms

Shopify and GA4 will almost never show identical revenue numbers. Shopify records revenue at the point of order creation, while GA4 records it based on the tracking pixel firing. Factors that cause discrepancies:

• Ad blockers — 25-30% of users block GA4 tracking, so GA4 will undercount
• Cross-device journeys — GA4 may attribute a sale to the wrong channel if the customer switches devices
• Refunds and cancellations — Shopify adjusts for these; GA4 does not unless configured

Don't try to "fix" these discrepancies. Instead, use each platform for what it does best: Shopify for revenue truth, GA4 for behavior and attribution insights.

Tracking Revenue Without Tracking Profit

Revenue is the most dangerous vanity metric in ecommerce. A product generating $50,000/month in revenue might be losing money after COGS, shipping, returns, and ad spend. According to Bloom Analytics' research on common Shopify reporting oversights, standard Shopify reports do not automatically include inbound shipping costs, agency fees, or packaging in product cost calculations.

Always build at least one custom report that tracks gross profit and net profit, not just revenue. If native tools don't support this granularity, install a profit-tracking app like TrueProfit.

Not Segmenting Data by Channel

A single "total sales" number hides whether your business is healthy. Break every key metric down by channel:

• Organic search — free traffic, highest margin
• Paid social — scalable but expensive
• Email — owned audience, best ROI
• Direct — brand strength indicator
• Referral — partnership opportunities

This segmentation reveals where to invest more and where to cut spending. It's the foundation of data-driven business strategy.

Building Reports for Specific Business Goals

Custom reports should map directly to business objectives. Here are three report templates you can build today.

Customer Retention Dashboard

Goal: Increase repeat purchase rate from 20% to 30%.

Metrics to track:

• Returning customer rate (weekly trend)
• Customer cohort retention curves (30/60/90-day repurchase)
• Average time between first and second purchase
• Top products in repeat orders vs first orders
• Email subscriber conversion rate

Marketing ROI Report

Goal: Identify which channels deliver profitable customers, not just traffic.

Metrics to track:

• Revenue by acquisition source
• Customer acquisition cost by channel
• Return on ad spend (ROAS) by campaign
• Blended CAC vs customer lifetime value
• First-order vs lifetime revenue by channel

Inventory Health Report

Goal: Reduce dead stock and prevent stockouts on top sellers.

Metrics to track:

• Days of supply per SKU
• Sell-through rate by product category
• ABC inventory classification (A = top 20% of products by revenue)
• Reorder point alerts
• Overstock aging report (products with >90 days of supply)

What to Do Next: Your Shopify Dashboard Action Plan

You now have everything you need to set up Shopify custom reports and dashboards that drive real business decisions. Here's the sequence:

1. Audit your current dashboard — remove vanity metrics, add your north star metric to the top-left position
2. Build three core explorations — product profitability, channel performance, and customer retention
3. Connect GA4 — if you haven't already, set up Google Analytics 4 for full-funnel visibility
4. Evaluate reporting apps — if you're on Basic or Standard and need custom reports, start with Report Pundit's free tier
5. Schedule weekly delivery — automate your most important report to arrive every Monday morning
6. Review and refine monthly — as your business evolves, your reporting needs change. Revisit your dashboard setup every 30 days.

For more strategies on turning data into growth, explore the full analytics and data resources on our blog, or try the free ecommerce tools we've built for Shopify merchants.

What's the one metric you wish Shopify tracked natively that it doesn't? Share your answer in the Talk Shop community — we're always building tools based on merchant feedback.

About Talk Shop

The Talk Shop team — insights from our community of Shopify developers, merchants, and experts.