It’s the end of the day (or week, or month) so you open up your analytics tool and jot down some key metrics. “Traffic is up 2% week over week. Nice!” You pat yourself on the back, maybe do a little dance in your chair.

That’s data reporting. Up is good, down is bad.

You have to think of data and analytics the way you think of an iceberg. Sure, you can see a few shiny metrics above the water, but there’s so much hiding just below the surface.

Analysis is the process of diving below the surface and uncovering meaningful insights about your business. So instead of just getting the “what” from reporting, you start exploring the “why” and “so what”.

Analytics are a lot more complex than “up is good, down is bad”. But that added complexity of looking below the surface can be overwhelming, whether you’re using Google Analytics or Shopify analytics.