The folks over at Webgility have continually enhanced their eCommerce platform since day one. Now they have released a new App, Webgility Intelligence that gives their users unparalleled visibility into their products, sales-channels, and orders generating the most profits. I know what you are thinking... "your sales channel (like Amazon or eBay) offers you analytics", or "your on-line store (like BigCommerce or Shopify) gives you access to analytics", and your Point-of-sale system or QuickBooks Software gives you detailed reports for your in-store data. So, you are asking, "Why do I need an 'Intelligence App' to work with my Webgility?"
The reason is simple... unless you are a genius at combining tons of data from multiple sources after you get it all formatted into the right configuration so that you can put it into Excel. And you are smart enough to know all of the statistical principles to perform all of the 'analytic formulas' to get all of the results you need (because you memorized all 392 pages of my 12-year old book). And you don't want to work you 'tail-off' each and every day doing this work to get the numbers, hoping they are right... you need to consider this App if you are a multi-channel eCommerce business.
Webgility Intelligence (hereafter referred to as 'WI') is an analytics tool with powerful intelligence built-in to perform the tasks that few accounting or bookkeeping professionals want to perform from raw data related to eCommerce sales, inventory (especially on an item-by-item basis), and sales sources. In simple, WI eliminates the painstaking tasks of complex analytics (you can throw my book away) to determine profitability as they relate to sales-channel(s), product(s), order(s), and many other specific criteria that eCommerce businesses need to make informed decisions regarding their operations.
There are countless numbers of factors that eCommerce businesses must take into consideration, and without sophisticated and intelligent software like WI, most people wouldn't even begin to compute factors like 'shopping cart abandonment rates' or 'the impact of rewards upon sales'. Successful eCommerce, especially in a multi-channel environment, is built around so many factors that you need to be able to compile all of the data from the 'seedlings' in order to see what 'the forest' is actually doing. There is no way you can really know how well your eCommerce operations are doing if you don't have a clear picture made-up of every piece of data because they all contribute to your success or failure. WI is geared toward giving you those kinds of analytics.
Parag Mamnani, the CEO of Webgility, and his team have done a tremendous job developing a complex analytical tool to deal with the volume of data from the multitude of sources that a multi-channel eCommerce business can have and reducing that data down to meaningful, yet highly informative metrics needed by these businesses. For example, you can easily see a snapshot of the sales data for any date along with revenue forecasts and trends, as well as products sales from the WI Sales Dashboard (like in the one shown below).
But I told you there was a wealth of data available, and I meant it... just look at the daily information1 you can get:
- Total Orders/AOV = Total orders for the day, AOV for the day with percentage compared to AOV from previous day
- Sales By Store = Total sales broken down by store for current day
- Period over Period = Month to Date v. Last Month to Date, This Month v. Last Month, This Month v. This Month Last Year, This Year v. Last Year
- Daily Sales Goal = Sales for current day vs. total sales from yesterday
as well as Product details1 available to you:
- Product Quantities Sold by Week = Total distinct count of quantity of products sold grouped by week
- Product Sales in This Date Range = Total distinct count of quantity of products sold in table view for selected date range
- Best Increases in Product Sales This Date Range = Top increase in quantity of products sold in date range compared to previous date range
- Greatest Declines in Product Sales This Date Range = Greatest decline in quantity of products sold in date range compared to previous date range
- Discounts & Coupons Used in This Date Range = Total amount of discounts and coupons used by product for selected date range
WI also provides valuable sales insights in the form of revenue analytics that give you not only sales but revenue trends so that you can reliably judge where you are headed. You will have access to such key information as to product-specific sales projections, your most productive sales channels, and purchasing trends that could guide your need to alter your purchasing and/or expense plans. But I know a few reports are not enough for you, that's why I want you to see the entire list of detailed Revenue trending1 included in WI:
- Revenue Forecast = Utilizing machine learning we determine an upper band, lower band, and expected range on a daily & monthly view
- Weekly Sales by Channel = Sales broken down by channel grouped by week
- Revenue vs. Orders = Total revenue measured against orders
- Revenue vs. Discounts = Total revenue from orders against total discounts grouped by day
- Revenue vs. Tax = Total revenue from orders against total tax amount grouped by day
- Revenue vs. Shipping = Total revenue from orders against total order count grouped by day
- Average Order Value = Average amount of all orders grouped by week
- Order Total vs. Running Total = Total sales of orders grouped by day compared against running total (cumulative)
But there is a lot more when it comes to 'revenue' because you have to be able to see the true operational costs for every aspect of your operation and every sales channel. You can't simply look at your dollars-in at the end of the day, and then how much you spent that day... you must know the revenues and costs directly related to each dollar earned as well as applicable expenses associated with earning those revenues. Once again, WI is the kind of analytic tool designed to maximize your knowledge of operational aspects of your eCommerce business, and this is what makes WI a true 'profitability' analysis tool.
By looking at the true operational costs of every aspect of your sales channels, and removing the complexity of determining profitability, WI gives you the ability to make better, more informed, business decisions. That's why there is a specific 'Profitability Dashboard' allowing you to see your overall business, product level, order level, and channel level profitability (as shown below).
It gives you a wealth of profitability information1:
- Total Overall Gross Profit = Total Revenue - Total COGS - Total Expenses grouped by day over the selected date range
- Gross Profit % = Total Revenue vs. Total COGS displayed as a percentage over the selected date range
- Total Gross Profit by Sales Channel = Total Revenue - Total COGS broken down across sales channel over the selected date range
- Expense Breakdown by Sales Channel = Total expense breakdown across sales channels over the selected date range
- Revenue vs. Expenses = Total Revenue vs.Total expenses grouped by day over the selected time period
- Total Expense by Sales Channel = Total expense across sales over the selected date period
- Total COGS vs. Total Sales = Total COGS displayed as a percentage of total sales over the selected date range
- Most Profitable Products = Top 10 most profitable products over the selected date range
- Least Profitable Products = Top 10 least profitable products over the selected date range
- Product Profitability Report = Complete breakdown of profit for all products broken down by income vs expense across each channel over the selected date range
- % of Sold Products Refunded = Total number of products sold / Total number of products refunded displayed as a percentage over the selected date range
- Most Refunded Products = Top 10 most refunded products over the selected date range
Each individual profitability report produced on the dashboard can be exported as a .csv file or to Excel for further analysis if you wish.
In all of these cases, you can personalize your data output to make the most sense to you by filtering, sorting, and displaying the information just the way you want to see it. Once you have the analytics defined 'your way', then save your profile for that WI report so you can share it with your team, accountant, or other business decision-makers.
Please remember that App Aware articles are not intended to be a comprehensive review of an app or software, but rather are simply an introductory 'glance' intended to make you aware of the app such that if it interests you then you will head on over to the Developer's website for more details. If you want more information about this new Webgility offering then you can check it out at this official Webgility Intelligence website where you can even 'see it in action', 'take it for a spin' by arranging for a free trial, or 'book a personal demo'.
Footnotes & Disclosures:
1 - Reports listed under these footnotes were adapted from those contained in the Webgility Help Center support document of August 16, 2021 titled 'Get Unparalleled Visibility into Profitability with Webgility Intelligence'.
Graphic illustrations used here were adapted by Insightful Accountant from Webgility Help Center documentation for informational and educational purposes only in promotion of Webgility Intelligence within this editorial feature.
App Aware articles are editorial features, they are NOT sponsored content. While they may (or may not) contain references or 'inserts' that refer to sponsored content, or sponsored webinars, the actual feature is intended as an informational resource for our readers.