Adobe Commerce — which is built on the Magento 2 codebase — offers potent Advanced Reporting capabilities that allow you to access insights into your online store's performance. In this guide, we will discuss everything you need to know about Magento 2 Advanced Reporting in Adobe Commerce — from enabling and accessing it to recommended extensions and best practices.
Advanced Reporting in Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source
Magento 2 Advanced Reporting is available for both Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce users. This feature provides insight into various aspects of your online store — including sales, customer behavior, product performance, conversion rates, and more. Whether you're running a small operation or a large enterprise-level eCommerce business, Advanced Reporting can help you make data-driven decisions that will help boost your sales and improve your customer's shopping experience.
Website Requirements for Advanced Reporting
Before diving into Advanced Reporting, it's essential to ensure that your website meets the necessary requirements. For starters, ensure that you are using either Magento Open Source or Adobe Commerce. Then, take a look at these requirements — which are from Adobe directly:
- The website must run on a public web server
- The domain must have a valid security (SSL) certificate
- Magento must have been installed or upgraded successfully without error
- In the Magento configuration for store URLs, the Base URL (Secure) setting for the store view must point to the secure URL — for example: https://yourdomain.com
- In the Magento configuration for store URLs, “Use Secure URLs on Storefront” and “Use Secure URLs in Admin” must be set to “Yes”
- Make sure that Magento crontab is created and cron jobs are running on the installed server
Do You Need Magento Business Intelligence to Access Advanced Reporting?
Magento Business Intelligence (MBI) offers enhanced reporting and analytics capabilities. Luckily, while Advanced Reporting does use MBI for its analytics, you do not need to have a dedicated MBI account to use the Advanced Reporting feature.
How To Enable Advanced Reporting in Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source
Enabling Advanced Reporting is a straightforward process in Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source. Here is a list of necessary steps to take:
- On the Admin sidebar, go to Stores > Settings > Configuration
- In the left panel where “General” is expanded, choose Advanced Reporting and do the following:
- Verify that Advanced Reporting Service is set to “Enable” (this is the default setting)
- Set the time of day to send data to the hour, minute, and second — according to a 24-hour clock — that you want the service to receive updated data from your store; by default, data is sent at 02:00:00 (2AM local time in 12-hour terms)
- Under Industry Data, choose the industry that best describes your business
- When complete, click “Save Config”
- When prompted, click “Cache Management” in the message at the top of the page — then, refresh any invalid caches
- Wait overnight or until after the time of your next scheduled update; then, check the subscription status — if it’s still pending, make sure that your installation meets all of the requirements
Once enabled, the system will start collecting data, and you'll be on your way to accessing valuable insights about your online store's performance.
How To Disable Advanced Reporting
If you need to disable Advanced Reporting for any reason, you can typically do so through the admin panel as well. This might be necessary if you decide to switch to a different reporting solution or if you no longer require advanced reporting capabilities.
In the Configuration menu, look for and click on the Advanced Reporting section. This section typically contains settings related to Advanced Reporting. In the Advanced Reporting section, you should see an option to enable or disable Advanced Reporting. It is usually represented by a toggle switch or a dropdown menu. If it's a toggle switch, simply click on it to turn off Advanced Reporting. The switch will change from "Enabled" to "Disabled." If it's a dropdown menu, select "Disabled" from the options provided.
After disabling Advanced Reporting, make sure to save your configuration changes. Look for a "Save Config" or "Save Configuration" button, often located at the top right or bottom of the Configuration page. Click this button to save your changes.
Keep in mind that disabling this feature will stop the collection of advanced reporting data, so ensure you have a backup of any data you might need for reference in the future.
How To Access Advanced Reporting
Accessing Advanced Reporting is usually done through the Magento admin panel. To see the Advanced Reporting dashboard, navigate to Reports > Business Intelligence > Advanced Reporting. The Advanced Reporting dashboard has three main tabs:
- Orders: This section offers 12 different report types, ranging from Revenue to Tax and Shipping fees
- Customers: This section features four reports on Unique Customers, New Registered Accounts, Top Coupon Users, and Customer KPI Table
- Products: This tab has four product reports on display, including Quantity of Product Sold, Products Added to Wishlists, and Best Selling Products by Quantity and by Revenue
From sales reports to customer behavior data, you'll have access to a wealth of information that can inform your business decisions.
3 Popular Magento 2 Advanced Reporting Extensions
Magento's flexible nature allows you to enhance your reporting capabilities further using extensions. Here are a few examples of popular Magento Advanced Reporting extensions that can boost your Advanced Reporting capabilities:
Magento Business Intelligence (MBI) by Adobe
Business Intelligence, developed by Adobe itself, is a powerful reporting and analytics solution designed to work seamlessly with Adobe Commerce. MBI provides advanced reporting features with intuitive dashboards and data visualization tools. It offers in-depth insights into customer behavior, sales performance, and inventory management. With MBI, you can create custom reports, analyze data from multiple sources, and make data-driven optimizations.
Advanced Reports by Amasty
Amasty's Advanced Reports extension helps enhance your Magento store’s reporting capabilities. It offers a wide range of pre-built reports — including sales, customer, and product reports, with detailed insights and visualizations. You can easily track key performance indicators, monitor sales trends in real time, and analyze customer behavior. The extension also provides unlimited custom report creation. A license for this extension starts at $299 for Magento Open Source users.
Magento 2 Google Analytics by Mageplaza
The Magento 2 Google Analytics extension simplifies the process of transmitting enhanced reporting to Google Analytics. This extension offers API/GraphQL support and provides access to five enhanced eCommerce reports, comprehensive tracking of product views, real-time monitoring of cart updates and the checkout process, and the ability to capture customer purchase order events, enhancing the depth of analytics available for online stores.
Advanced Reporting Recommendations and Best Practices
To make the most out of Magento 2 Advanced Reporting for your Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source stores, consider the following recommendations and best practices:
- Regularly review your reports to identify trends and areas for improvement
- Use the insights gained to optimize your product catalog, pricing, and marketing strategies
- Set up custom reports when needed to address specific business questions
- Ensure that your website data is accurate and up to date for more reliable reporting
Magento 2 Advanced Reporting is a very valuable tool that can benefit your business in major ways. With the right setup and extensions, you can take your reporting capabilities to the next level, helping you make data-driven decisions that drive success. By staying informed and leveraging the power of Magento 2 Advanced Reporting, you can get ahead of the competition.
