If you're running a Shopify store, you probably have a love-hate relationship with data. You know the gold is in there somewhere—the secret to higher conversions, the magic bullet for customer retention, the map to a better ROAS. But finding it? That can feel like trying to find a specific needle in a giant, chaotic haystack of other needles.
The native Shopify analytics are… fine. They give you the basics. But as you grow, “fine” just doesn’t cut it. You need more. You need to know not just what happened, but why it happened and what’s likely to happen next.
I’ve been in the e-commerce trenches for years, and I’ve seen countless apps promise to be the one-stop solution. So when I first heard about By The Numbers, I was skeptical. Another dashboard? Another tool to add to the stack? But then I saw who was using it—brands like Quay and Posh Peanut—and I saw it was featured in Shopify’s own “Get That Tech Stack.” Okay, you have my attention.
So, I took a closer look. And what I found was pretty impressive.
What Exactly is By The Numbers? (Beyond the Hype)
First off, calling this just an “analytics app” is selling it short. It’s an all-in-one analytics and marketing automation platform built from the ground up for Shopify. Think of it this way: your standard Shopify dashboard is like the speedometer and fuel gauge in your car. It gives you critical, but basic, information. By The Numbers is like installing a full Formula 1 telemetry system. It tells you your speed and fuel, sure, but it also shows you tire degradation, engine performance, downforce on every corner and gives you a predictive model for the next lap.
Visit By the Numbers
It’s designed for Shopify merchants who are past the “let’s see if this works” phase and are firmly in the “okay, let’s scale this thing” phase. It connects all the dots between your store's performance, customer behavior, and your marketing efforts in a way that’s genuinely insightful.
The Features That Actually Matter
A feature list is just a list. What matters is what those features actually do for you. How do they save you time, make you more money, or stop you from pulling your hair out? Let’s break down the big ones.
AI-Powered Segmentation That Feels Like Cheating
This is the star of the show, in my opinion. We all know we should be segmenting our customers. Sending the same email to a loyal VIP and a one-time bargain hunter is just lazy marketing. But building those segments manually? It’s a soul-crushing time-suck.
I’ve spent literal hours in Klaviyo trying to build the perfect segment of “customers who bought product A in the last 60 days, haven't bought product B, and have a high predicted LTV.” It's tedious.
By The Numbers uses AI to do this for you. It comes with pre-built segments like 'High AOV Customers', 'At-Risk Customers', 'Hesitant Buyers', and 'Most Profitable Customers.' It analyzes your real-time Shopify data and automatically groups these people. It's almost unfairly easy. You can then take these segments and do… well, anything.
Dashboards and Reports That Don't Put You to Sleep
Forget static, one-size-fits-all reports. The platform allows you to build custom dashboards that focus on the metrics that matter to your business. Are you focused on Lifetime Value (LTV)? Build a dashboard for that. Trying to optimize your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)? Build a dashboard for that. You can track everything from cohort performance and repurchase rates to profit analysis on a per-order basis. It finally gives you a single source of truth, pulling everything into one clean, understandable view.
Seamless Integrations: Your Marketing Stack's New Best Friend
Here’s where the magic really happens. Data is useless if it’s trapped in a silo. By The Numbers integrates directly with the tools you're already using. The big ones are:
- Klaviyo: Automatically sync those powerful AI segments directly into your Klaviyo account for hyper-targeted email and SMS campaigns.
- TikTok Ads & Google Ads: Push your best customer segments into these platforms to create ridiculously effective lookalike audiences. Stop guessing who your best customers are; let your own data tell you.
- Facebook Ads: Same deal. Improve your targeting and lower your ad spend by using audiences built on actual purchase behavior, not just fuzzy demographics.
This turns your data from a passive report card into an active, money-making asset. It’s the difference between knowing who your best customers are and actively marketing to more people just like them.
Let's Talk Turkey: The Pricing Structure
Alright, the all-important question: what’s it going to cost? By The Numbers uses a tiered model based on your monthly order volume. I actually appreciate this approach. It scales with you. You’re not paying an enterprise price when you’re just starting to grow.
| Plan | Orders per Month | Price per Month | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Up to 100 | $19 | New Stores |
| Growth | Up to 500 | $39 | Growing Stores |
| Pro | Up to 3,000 | $89 | Scaling Businesses |
| Advanced | Up to 10,000 | $179 | Established Brands |
| UNLIMITED | Unlimited | $299 | High-Volume Sellers |
Prices are as of the time of writing. Check their pricing page for the most current information.
Every plan comes with a 14-day free trial, which is plenty of time to hook up your store, see what insights it spits out, and decide if it's right for you. Honestly, it’s a no-brainer to at least give it a test drive.
The Good, The Bad, and The Nitty-Gritty
No tool is perfect for everyone. So let's cut to the chase.
The Good Stuff: The AI segmentation and seamless integrations are, without a doubt, the biggest wins. They work together to create a potent marketing engine. Another huge plus that gets overlooked is their 5-star, North American-based customer support. If you've ever been stuck waiting two days for a support ticket response from a team in a completely different time zone, you know how valuable this is. They also promise a 1-click install, which is music to the ears of anyone who isnt a developer.
Potential Hurdles: The pricing model, while fair, might be a consideration for businesses with very high order volume but razor-thin margins. Also, and this is true of any powerful tool, there can be a slight learning curve. When you suddenly have access to so much data, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first. The key is to start small: pick one goal (e.g., increase repeat purchase rate) and use the tool to tackle that first.
Who Should Use By The Numbers (And Who Can Skip It)?
So, is this app for you?
You should definitely give it a try if: You're a Shopify store owner doing at least 100 orders a month, you're running paid ads on platforms like Google or TikTok, you use Klaviyo for email/SMS and you feel like you're guessing more than you're strategizing.
You can probably skip it for now if: You're a brand new store just getting your first few sales. The native Shopify tools are likely sufficient at that stage. But I’d bookmark it. Once you start getting traction, this is the kind of tool that will help you turn that initial spark into a wildfire.
By The Numbers FAQs
I poked around their site and these seem to be the most common questions people have.
- Will I be charged when my 14-day free trial is up?
- No. The trial is genuinely free. You won't be charged unless you actively choose to subscribe to a paid plan after the trial ends. It’s not one of those sneaky auto-subscribe trials.
- How do you calculate the monthly order volume?
- It’s based on the number of paid orders your store processes in a month. It’s pretty straightforward and easy to track in your Shopify admin.
- Is my historical store data included when I sign up?
- Yes! This is a big one. The app will pull in your historical data, so you can start generating insights right away instead of having to wait to accumulate new data.
- What if my order volume fluctuates?
- This is a common concern for e-commerce stores. According to their info, you can easily upgrade or downgrade your plan as needed to match your store’s performance.
- Is my data secure?
- They take data security seriously, adhering to industry best practices to ensure your store and customer data is protected. It's a fundamental requirement for any app in the Shopify ecosystem.
My Final Verdict
In a world overflowing with data, insight is what’s rare and valuable. Data tells you what you sold; insight tells you who to sell to next, and how. That’s the gap By The Numbers aims to fill, and from what I’ve seen, it does a damn good job of it.
It’s a serious tool for serious Shopify merchants. If you're ready to stop flying blind and start making data-driven decisions that actually move the needle on revenue and retention, then it's absolutely worth taking for a spin. That 14-day trial is your risk-free chance to see what your data is really trying to tell you.
