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Marketing & Customer Insights Reports Guide

Updated

Pulse Commerce includes specialized storefront reports that help you understand customer behavior, improve marketing effectiveness, and recover potentially lost sales. These reports provide insights into how customers search your site, why they abandon carts, and which products they're interested in purchasing.

Note: These reports are also accessible from the Marketing section of the admin panel. They're cross-linked under Reports for convenience, as they provide valuable data insights even though they support action-oriented tasks like placing orders from wish lists or clearing abandoned carts.
🔍 Site Search Report

Understanding Customer Search Behavior

Navigation: Reports > Site Search Report

The Site Search report tracks what terms customers use when searching your site, helping you understand their intent, optimize product listings, and identify content gaps in your catalog.

Key columns: Search Term, Date, Activity, Device Type, Record Count (results returned), Customer Name (if logged in), SKU, Category, Brand, Price Range Filters

When to Use This Report

  • Measure campaign effectiveness - See if marketing campaigns increase searches for promoted products
  • Identify product demand - Discover which products customers are looking for but may not be finding
  • Optimize SEO and site search - Improve product descriptions and tags based on actual search terms
  • Analyze mobile vs desktop behavior - Group by Device Type to understand platform-specific search patterns
  • Track result quality - Monitor Record Count to see if searches return appropriate results
  • Understand filter usage - See which category, brand, and price filters customers use to narrow results

Example: Measuring Campaign Impact

1Set your date range to cover your campaign period

2Add a filter on Search Term containing your campaign product (e.g., "jersey")

3Right-click Search Term and add Count aggregate to see total searches

4Group by Device Type to see which platforms drive the most searches

5Filter out blank Device Types to focus on known platforms only

Export Tip: This report contains rich data that works well in Excel pivot tables. Export the data to analyze search trends, seasonal patterns, or correlate searches with sales data.
🛒 Abandoned Shopping Carts Report

Recovering Lost Sales Opportunities

Navigation: Reports > Abandoned Shopping Carts or Marketing > Abandoned Shopping Carts

The Abandoned Shopping Carts report shows customers who added items to their cart but didn't complete checkout, helping you identify patterns, recover sales, and reduce cart abandonment.

Key columns: Date Created, Date Modified, IP Address, HTTP Referrer, Number of Items, Cart Value, Customer Name (if logged in), Customer Email

When to Use This Report

  • Identify high-value abandoned carts - Sort by Cart Value to prioritize recovery efforts
  • Recover sales through outreach - Contact customers with abandoned carts offering assistance
  • Analyze abandonment patterns - See which products are frequently abandoned
  • Track referral source effectiveness - Use HTTP Referrer to see which sources have higher abandonment
  • Place orders on behalf of customers - If customers call requesting help, locate their cart and process the order
  • Optimize checkout process - Identify where customers are getting stuck

Viewing Cart Details and Placing Orders

1Click on the Number of Items link for any cart

2A popup shows all SKUs in the cart with quantities and pricing

3If a customer calls requesting help, you can place a new order directly from their cart

4Use filters to search by Customer Email, Customer Name, or specific SKU

Understanding Abandoned Cart Data

Customer information limitations:

  • Only logged-in customers have Name and Email visible
  • Guest shoppers appear with IP Address and HTTP Referrer only
  • Date Modified tracks the last time the cart was updated
Cart Management: You can delete test carts or invalid entries to keep your report clean. This is useful after testing checkout flows or when carts contain obviously bogus data.
💝 Customer Wish Lists Report

Converting Interest Into Sales

Navigation: Reports > Customer Wish Lists or Marketing > Customer Wish Lists

Report Type: Simple (Real-Time)

The Customer Wish Lists report shows items customers have saved for future purchase, enabling you to reach out proactively when products become available, go on sale, or to offer personalized assistance.

Key columns: Customer Name, Customer Email, Number of Items, Wish List Contents (SKU, Quantity)

Module Requirement: This report requires the Wish List module. If you don't have access to wish list features, contact your account manager to learn about enabling this module for your store.

When to Use This Report

  • Proactive stock notifications - Contact customers when out-of-stock items return
  • Personalized promotions - Offer discounts on wish list items to drive conversions
  • Identify popular future purchases - See which products customers are interested in
  • Forecast demand - Use wish list data for inventory planning
  • Gift-giving opportunities - Enable gift registry features or wish list sharing
  • Convert interest to sales - Place orders for customers directly from their wish list

Using Wish Lists to Drive Sales

Scenario: Out-of-Stock Item Returns

1When you receive new inventory, use filters to search for that specific SKU

2The report shows all customers with that item in their wish list

3Contact customers: "Good news! The [product] you added to your wish list is back in stock"

4If they're ready to purchase, click the wish list link to view details

5Click "Place Order" to create an order directly from their wish list

Viewing Wish List Details

1Click the Number of Items link for any customer

2View all SKUs with quantities (e.g., 5 of one item, 1 of another = 6 total items)

3From this view, you can place an order for all or selected items

4Use export functionality to create targeted email campaigns

Sales Strategy: Wish lists indicate strong purchase intent. Customers who save items often just need the right incentive (back in stock, on sale, free shipping) to complete their purchase. Proactive outreach can significantly boost conversion rates.
💡 Best Practices for Customer Insight Reports

Combining Reports for Deeper Insights

These three reports work together to tell a complete story about customer behavior:

  • Site Search + Abandoned Carts - If customers search for a product then abandon it in cart, the price may be too high or shipping costs unexpected
  • Wish Lists + Site Search - High wish list additions after searches indicate strong interest but timing/price concerns
  • Abandoned Carts + Wish Lists - Products that appear in both may benefit from promotions or better positioning

Proactive Customer Service Strategies

  • Weekly abandoned cart review - Contact high-value abandoners within 24-48 hours
  • Monthly wish list campaigns - "Your wish list items are on sale this week"
  • Search-driven content creation - Add products frequently searched but not in catalog
  • Mobile optimization - If Site Search shows high mobile traffic, ensure checkout works smoothly on mobile

Privacy and Customer Communication

  • Only contact customers with legitimate abandoned cart or wish list recovery offers
  • Respect unsubscribe preferences in all outreach campaigns
  • Use wish list data for inventory planning, not invasive marketing
  • Consider automated abandoned cart emails for efficiency at scale
🎥 Video Walkthrough & Related Resources

Video Tutorial: Site Search Report

Video Tutorial: Abandoned Shopping Carts Report

Video Tutorial: Customer Wish Lists Report

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