Why do you need to monitor an e-commerce site?
Monitoring an e-commerce site is not just good practice, but a necessity. By ensuring continuous availability, high performance and security, you can significantly improve user experience, increase sales and secure the future of your business. In this article, we will explain why e-commerce site monitoring is crucial to the success of your business and the benefits it brings.
What is e-commerce website monitoring?
By monitoring an e-commerce site, we mean a series of activities that verify the system in terms of performance, accessibility and functionality. According to a Google study, if the loading time of a page increases from 1 to 6 seconds, the rejection rate increases by 106%. Nearly 80% of internet users admit that they do not return to purchase on a portal whose performance they are not satisfied with. Added to this is the risk of the site becoming unavailable, translating directly into financial losses. Minor irregularities can generate less reach for years, and there are also UX issues and negative brand impressions.
When we take responsibility for a client's service at Monogo, we introduce the necessary monitoring tools. This allows us to monitor the status of the system and make decisions based on the data. In addition, monitoring allows us to quickly detect and diagnose problems in the functioning of the service.
The areas that are monitored are:
- server environment
- service performance
- system error logs
- Service optimisation in terms of performance and availability
- SEO, web analytics and UX
E-commerce monitoring tools
Choosing the right e-commerce monitoring tools depends on the specific needs of your business. When making a decision, it is also worth paying attention to the multi-faceted structure of the platform. There are several items in the basic toolkit that will work for monitoring almost any site:
Google Analytics
An essential website traffic analysis tool that allows you to track user behaviour: conversions, traffic sources and many other indicators. It offers a wide range of features that can help online shop owners track the performance of their sites. It monitors some of the most important KPIs in e-commerce: number of transactions and revenue values. Thanks to its advanced reporting capabilities, you can tailor analyses to your specific business needs. The main advantage of Google Analytics is its standard free version. For advanced statistics, e-commerce platform owners may want to consider paid analytical tools such as Adobe Analytics.
HotJar
Hot Jar is a popular tool for analysing user behaviour and optimising the user experience, which stands out above all by creating heat maps. By monitoring user activity on the website, Hotjar shows in a precise way where users click, how far they scroll and where they focus their attention. This allows you to understand which areas of the site are most engaging and which elements need improvement. The tool also allows users' sessions to be recorded, making it possible to watch their interactions on the site live. This makes the analysis of user behaviour even more detailed.
Graylog
Tool for storing and viewing system logs and possible alerts. With this tool, we can catch application errors. Graylog has a configurable system for notifying configured events to email and Slack. Logs can be analysed on a daily basis and the highest priority errors can be listed on a dedicated channel on Slack. In addition, we can colour-code them - red, highest priority error; yellow, lowest priority error.
NewRelic
NewRelic is a tool for evaluating the performance of an e-commerce system, verifying performance issues and the efficiency of communication with external services and services necessary for the operation of the site (database, cache server, etc.). Thanks to this tool, we know which services affect the performance of the entire system and what slows the system down. Based on the data from NewRelica, we optimise the service mainly in the backend area.
Protection against attacks
Trust, but verify. And in life and in business. Systematic e-commerce monitoring has many benefits that secure you and your business on many levels. When we think of e-commerce monitoring, the first thing that comes to mind is the security of our shop. And rightly so, active monitoring allows us to effectively secure our shop against attacks. Alarms and security also give us the ability to react quickly to security threats, protecting company and customer data.
Cost reduction
Monitoring the platform service also optimises maintenance costs. Early detection and resolution of technical problems helps avoid costly repairs. It also prevents site crashes and inaccessibility to the site, which generates huge losses for any business.
Data-driven business decisions
Process monitoring is also about data, which is the best advisor for making better business decisions. Numbers don't lie, especially when they show user behaviour, service performance, traffic and other key foundations of our business. Analyse and draw conclusions to make informed business decisions.
Higher conversions
All of these actions ultimately lead to higher conversions. Ensuring uninterrupted availability and optimal website performance translates into user satisfaction. Reliable e-commerce is the key to satisfaction and building loyalty with the customer.
How to effectively monitor the service?
The monitoring of e-commerce in various areas can sometimes be neglected. In the flurry of ongoing tasks, when everything is running smoothly, it is easy to forget about the maintenance needs of the site. However, it must not be forgotten that the development of the platform must be stable. You drive your car every day, but its service is taken care of by a specialist who keeps it in top technical shape so that you always arrive at your destination safely.
At Monogo, a team of professionals takes holistic care of your e-commerce platform so that you are free to pursue your business goals.
Contact us to discuss your shop. We care about the best quality of our platforms and are happy to advise our clients on the best tools and proven technologies tailored to their business needs.