By the Numbers vs Shopify Analytics
Shopify Analytics is the reporting built into every Shopify plan: accurate topline sales, orders, and traffic reports at no extra cost. Here is the honest side-by-side, area by area, including where Shopify's built-in analytics is the better pick.
60-second install · 14 days free · No card, no auto-charge
Shopify Analytics is free, always on, and correct about what happened: sales, orders, sessions, conversion. Every store should use it, and By the Numbers reads from the same source of truth rather than around it. The question is never whether Shopify Analytics is good - it is which questions it stops short of answering.
It tells you revenue went up. It does not tell you whether that revenue came from loyal repeat customers or one-off discount chasers, which cohorts are quietly churning, what a customer acquired in March will be worth by December, what next quarter looks like, or how to get your best-customer segment into Meta before the weekend.
Those questions are the entire By the Numbers product: 38 reports, a nightly RFM matrix, cohort curves, predictive LTV, ML forecasting with goals, Copilot AI chat, a Monday AI briefing, and hourly segment sync - from $19 a month on top of the platform you already pay for.
$19 to $299 a month by order volume on top of your Shopify plan, with a 14-day no-card trial. The first insight most merchants act on is usually a repeat-purchase or loyalty fix that pays the subscription for the year.
Included free with every Shopify plan. Deeper report customization is reserved for higher Shopify tiers, and there is no RFM, predictive LTV, forecasting, or audience sync at any tier.
At a glance
| Capability | By the Numbers | Shopify Analytics |
|---|---|---|
| Topline sales, orders, traffic | ||
| Accurate order data, zero setup | ||
| Report library | 38 question-shaped reports | Standard reports; custom on higher tiers |
| RFM loyalty scoring (16-cell matrix) | - | |
| Cohort retention curves | Limited | |
| Predictive customer LTV | - | |
| ML sales forecasting and goals | - | |
| AI segmentation (75+ filters) | Basic segments | |
| Hourly segment sync to Klaviyo / Meta / Google / TikTok | - | |
| Ad spend and ROAS reporting | - | |
| Multi-touch ad attribution | Multiple models | Last-click style |
| AI chat with your data | Copilot, analytics-deep | Sidekick, admin-wide |
| Proactive AI weekly briefing by email | - | |
| Server-side conversion tracking pixel | Das Pixel, included free | - |
| Price | From $19/mo | Free |
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- By the Numbers
- 38 question-shaped reports
- Shopify Analytics
- Standard reports; custom on higher tiers
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- Limited
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- Basic segments
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Multiple models
- Shopify Analytics
- Last-click style
- By the Numbers
- Copilot, analytics-deep
- Shopify Analytics
- Sidekick, admin-wide
- By the Numbers
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- Das Pixel, included free
- Shopify Analytics
- -
- By the Numbers
- From $19/mo
- Shopify Analytics
- Free
Based on publicly available information, verified 31 August 2026. Shopify Analytics is a trademark of its owner; confirm current details on their site.
The deep dive, area by area
Feature checklists flatter everyone. This is how the two products actually differ in each part of the job.
Reporting depth
38 reports shaped as answers: sales by channel and discount code, repeat-buyer revenue share, product bought-together and repurchase rate, ad spend and CTR by campaign. The reports Shopify's team would build if reporting were the product.
Solid standard reports on sales, orders, and sessions, with custom report building unlocked on higher Shopify plans. Product-level and marketing-level operating questions mostly require exports.
Customer economics
The layer Shopify does not attempt: nightly 16-cell RFM scoring, cohort retention and repurchase curves, predictive LTV per customer and segment, time between orders, and churn-risk visibility.
Customer reports cover first-time vs returning and basic counts. Cohort analysis is limited, and there is no RFM, predicted LTV, or churn modeling at any tier.
Forecasting and goals
Machine-learning forecasts of sales and orders that account for yearly, weekly, and daily seasonality plus holidays, with goal tracking against the forecast so Monday tells you whether you are on pace.
No forecasting product. Planning happens in a spreadsheet next to the reports.
Segmentation and activation
75+ behavioral filters across orders, products, LTV, and channels; any segment syncs hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok. The RFM matrix makes every loyalty cell one click from a live audience.
Customer segments with basic attribute filters, usable inside Shopify Email and discounts. No sync of segments to ad platforms.
AI layer
Copilot is analytics-deep: ask about cohorts, ROAS, or repeat rates and it answers from your reports. The Monday briefing then pushes the week's story to your inbox with three ranked actions.
Sidekick is a capable admin-wide assistant across all of Shopify. It is breadth where Copilot is depth; there is no proactive analytics briefing.
Price
From $19/mo, every feature on every plan, no-card trial. The bar it has to clear is one recovered segment or one repeat-purchase fix per year.
Free with the plan you already pay for. Genuinely unbeatable for topline questions - which is why By the Numbers only earns its fee where Shopify stops.
Where Shopify's built-in analytics wins
- Free, and already installed: for topline questions there is no reason to pay anyone.
- Source of truth for orders: it is the platform's own ledger. By the Numbers reads from it, not around it.
- Sidekick covers the whole admin (orders, themes, settings), not just analytics.
- No learning curve: if you know Shopify admin, you know where the reports are.
Where By the Numbers wins
- Customer-level economics: RFM scores, cohort curves, and predictive LTV turn "revenue was up 12%" into "your 90-day repeat rate is slipping in the March cohort, here is the segment to win back".
- Forecasting with goals: know whether this quarter is on pace before it ends.
- Action, not just reporting: any segment syncs hourly to Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok.
- Ad accountability: spend, ROAS, and marketing-attributed sales next to the retention numbers that say whether those customers were worth buying.
- The Monday briefing: what changed, why, and the three moves that matter, in your inbox before your first coffee.
Adding By the Numbers on top
- →This is an addition, not a switch: Shopify Analytics stays your order ledger, and By the Numbers builds the customer, retention, and forecasting layer on top of it.
- →Install to insight is one night: connect, let the full-history backfill run, and the RFM matrix, cohorts, and LTV are populated by morning.
- →Start with one workflow: most stores begin with the RFM at-risk cell synced to a Klaviyo win-back flow - it is the fastest visible payback.
- →Keep the free tier honest: if you are under about 100 orders a month and act only on topline revenue, stay free until retention questions start costing you money.
Which one fits your store?
Stay with Shopify Analytics alone if you are pre-100 orders a month and topline revenue is the only number you act on. Genuinely - do not pay for analytics you will not use yet.
Add By the Numbers when repeat purchase, loyalty, ad payback, or forecasting start driving decisions. That is usually the moment a store crosses a few hundred orders a month.
Shopify Analytics tells you what happened; By the Numbers tells you who did it, why, what happens next, and pushes the audience to fix it. Keep both - one is your ledger, the other is your operating system.
Weighing more options? See vs Lifetimely, vs Polar, vs Triple Whale or how stores consolidate their reporting stack.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify Analytics enough for my store?
For topline sales, orders, and conversion tracking, yes. It stops short of customer-level analytics: no RFM scoring, no predictive lifetime value, no forecasting, limited cohort analysis, and no way to sync a customer segment to ad platforms. When those questions start to matter, you need a dedicated tool on top.
Does By the Numbers replace Shopify Analytics?
It sits on top of it. Shopify remains the source of truth for orders; By the Numbers imports your full history and adds the 38 reports Shopify does not build: RFM, cohorts, LTV, forecasting, ad ROI, and segment sync.
How is Copilot different from Shopify Sidekick?
Sidekick is a general assistant for the whole Shopify admin. Copilot is analytics-deep: it answers questions about your cohorts, RFM segments, ROAS, and forecasts from the By the Numbers reporting layer, and pairs with the Monday briefing that proactively emails the week's story with ranked actions.
Does Shopify have RFM analysis or customer lifetime value?
Shopify's customer reports cover first-time vs returning and basic segments, but there is no RFM matrix and no predicted lifetime value at any plan tier. By the Numbers scores every customer into a 16-cell RFM grid nightly and models predictive LTV per customer and segment.
What does By the Numbers cost compared to Shopify's built-in reports?
Shopify's reports are free with your plan. By the Numbers starts at $19 a month for up to 500 orders, with a 14-day trial that takes no credit card. Most merchants judge it against the revenue from one recovered segment or one repeat-purchase fix, which is typically multiples of the subscription.
Run By the Numbers next to Shopify's built-in analytics for two weeks.
Both read the same Shopify data, so the trial is a fair test. Ours never takes a card, so comparing costs you nothing.
60-second install · 14 days free · No card, no auto-charge