Live View
If you use the online store channel, then you can use Live View for a real-time view of the activity on your store. Live View includes a 2D world map and a 3D globe to display where the activity on your store is coming from and some key metrics to let you know what's happening right now.
You can use Live View to monitor the activity on your online store and your sales from all channels. It's especially useful during high traffic periods, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM), and when you want to observe the immediate results of your recent marketing activity, discounts, or other promotions.
Information in the Live View is displayed in your store’s local time.
On this page
Open Live View
The Live View page displays the Globe view by default when you open it for the first time. After this, the Live View page displays the last viewing mode that was used.
Steps:
Desktop
- From your Shopify admin, go to Analytics > Live View.
- Interact with the Live View by doing any of the following actions:
- To reposition the map or globe, click and drag it.
- To center the globe or map on a specific location, type the location name into the Search location searchbar.
- To activate Streamer mode, click the
icon. - To select the 2D world map, click the
icon. - To select the 3D globe view, click the
icon. - To display only Live View on your monitor, click the
icon. - To zoom in or out, use the
+and-buttons.
- Optional: To navigate to the report associated with a metric card, click the name of the report on the card.
Mobile
From the Shopify app, tap the
icon.In the Analytics menu, tap the
icon, and then tap Live View.Interact with the Live View by doing any of the following actions:
- To reposition the map or globe, tap and drag it.
- To center the globe or map on a specific location, tap
and then type the location name into the Search location searchbar. - To select the 2D world map, tap the icon.
- To select the 3D globe view, tap the icon.
- To zoom in or out, pinch the screen closed or open.
Optional: To navigate to the report associated with a metric card, tap the name of the metric card.
Stream Live View
If you need to share your Live View information in real time, then you can click Streamer mode. When Streamer mode is active, your Live View metrics are hidden. This enables you to display your customer activity on the map or globe, and maintain privacy. You can use any streaming or video sharing service to share your screen.
Information displayed on Live View
On the 3D globe view and 2D map view, blue dots indicate recent visitor sessions, and purple dots indicate orders. You can interact with the globe to get more information about the visitors and orders, including:
- Toggling between map view and globe view.
- Rotating the globe to observe traffic and orders from around the world.
- Hovering over a dot to access more information about that visit or order.
- Zooming into a geographic area by searching for a specific country, region, or city.
If you click or tap on the name of a metric card in Live View, then it navigates to the legacy version of the report.
The following metrics are displayed on Live View:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Visitors right now | Number of visitors who have been active on your online store in the past 5 minutes. To remain active, the visitor needs to view a page or click a button. This number might differ from data provided by Google Analytics. Google doesn't reveal how they determine a real-time visitor count. |
| Total sales | Total value of sales based on the orders on your online store and from other sales channels as of midnight. Total sales is equal to gross sales − discounts − sales reversals + shipping + taxes. |
| Total sessions | Total number of sessions on your online store as of midnight in your store's local timezone. |
| Total orders | Total number of orders placed on your online store and from other sales channels as of midnight. An order occurs when a visitor completes the checkout process and purchases an item. |
| Top locations | The geographic regions where the most visitors to your online store are located as of midnight in your store's local timezone. |
| Customers | Customers that have placed an order from your online store. |
| Top products | The products that have generated the highest in total sales for your online store as of midnight in your store's local timezone. |
| Customer behavior | Number of sessions in your online store in the last 10 minutes that have added items to their cart, reached the checkout, or made purchases.
|
The data in Live View might vary from the data gathered by analytics tools from other companies. For information on why the data can vary, review Analytics discrepancies.
Troubleshooting the Live View
If visitor counts seem inaccurate, locations are incorrect on the map, or data isn't loading in Live View, then review the following common issues for how to troubleshoot the Live View.
Discrepancies between Live View data and third-party analytics
If Live View visitor counts or metrics don't match data from Google Analytics or other third-party services, then this is typically due to differences in how each service tracks and counts visitors. These discrepancies are expected and don't indicate an error.
Review the following factors that affect visitor counts:
Counting methods: active sessions are counted in 5-minute windows, whereas other services might use different time frames or methods to define unique visitors.
Bot filtering: most bots are automatically filtered from visitor counts, but other services might include them.
Tracking requirements: If visitors have JavaScript turned off or block cookies, then they might be counted differently or not at all by certain services.
Timezone settings: If the services use different timezones for reporting, then the same activity can appear in different time periods.
Cookie consent: If you use a cookie consent banner, then it can prevent third-party analytics from tracking visitors who don't consent, whereas Shopify's tracking isn't affected.
Store location appears in the wrong place on the Live View
If your store's pin displays incorrectly on the Live View map, such as in the Atlantic Ocean at coordinates 0°, 0°, then Google Maps can't verify your store address. Update your store address to one that Google Maps recognizes.
To update your store address, go to Settings > Store contact details in your Shopify admin, confirm your complete address is correct and matches a valid Google Maps location, and then click Save.
If your address is correct in Google Maps but still displays incorrectly in Live View, then contact Shopify Support for assistance.
Visitors appearing from Kansas
If you notice visitor activity concentrated in Kansas when you don't typically have traffic from that region, then this indicates that Live View can't determine the visitor's exact location.
When Live View can't identify a specific location within the United States from an IP address, it defaults to displaying the coordinates 38°N 97°W, which is roughly the geographic center of the United States in Kansas.
Traffic displayed in Kansas typically comes from:
- Search engine bots and automated services.
- Google crawlers and similar services that mask their location.
- Virtual private network (VPN) users or proxy services.
- Any visitor with an IP address that doesn't resolve to a specific US location.
This is expected behavior and doesn't indicate actual customer traffic from Kansas.
Live View displays a delay message
If you're viewing Live View and see "There's a delay, but your live data will appear soon," then high processing volumes are delaying data display.
Peak traffic periods or high activity across multiple stores can cause this delay. The delay typically resolves within 1-2 hours as the processing load decreases. No action is required.