How to Use SKU-Level Performance Analysis in Squarespace: Step-by-Step Tutorial

Identify Your Top-Selling Products and Discontinue Underperformers with Data-Driven Insights

Introduction to SKU-Level Performance Analysis

Running a successful Squarespace store requires more than just adding products and hoping for the best. You need to know exactly which Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) are driving revenue, which are gathering dust in your inventory, and which products deserve more marketing attention.

SKU-level performance analysis gives you granular insights into every product variant in your catalog. Unlike store-wide metrics that only show aggregate sales, SKU analysis breaks down performance by individual items, colors, sizes, and variations. This allows you to answer critical business questions:

This tutorial will walk you through the complete process of performing SKU-level performance analysis on your Squarespace commerce data using MCP Analytics' specialized SKU performance tool. By the end, you'll have actionable insights to optimize your product catalog and increase profitability.

Prerequisites and Data Requirements

Before diving into SKU-level analysis, ensure you have the following requirements in place:

Account Access

Data Quality Checklist

For accurate SKU-level analysis, your Squarespace data should include:

Technical Requirements

Time Commitment: Plan for 20-30 minutes to complete this tutorial, including data export, upload, and initial analysis.

Step-by-Step: Analyzing SKU Performance

Step 1: Export Your Squarespace Order Data

The first step is extracting your order data from Squarespace in the correct format.

  1. Log into your Squarespace dashboard
  2. Navigate to Commerce → Orders
  3. Click the Export button in the top-right corner
  4. Select your date range (recommended: last 90 days for meaningful insights)
  5. Choose CSV format for the export
  6. Click Download and save the file to your computer

Expected Output: You should receive a CSV file named something like squarespace-orders-2024-01-01-2024-12-31.csv

Verify Your Data Export

Open the CSV file in your spreadsheet software and verify it contains these essential columns:

Order Number, Order Date, Product Name, SKU, Variant, Quantity, Item Price, Item Subtotal, Order Total

If any columns are missing, check your Squarespace export settings. Your products must have SKUs assigned for this analysis to work effectively.

Step 2: Review and Clean Your Data (Optional but Recommended)

While MCP Analytics handles most data formatting automatically, reviewing your export can prevent issues:

Understanding AI-first data analysis pipelines can help you appreciate how modern analytics platforms automatically handle data cleaning and preparation tasks that traditionally required manual intervention.

Step 3: Upload Data to MCP Analytics

Now you're ready to analyze your SKU performance using the specialized analysis tool.

  1. Navigate to the SKU Performance Analysis tool
  2. Click the Upload Data button
  3. Select your Squarespace orders CSV file
  4. Wait for the upload progress bar to complete (typically 5-15 seconds for most datasets)
  5. Review the data preview to confirm columns are mapped correctly
  6. Click Analyze to start the SKU-level analysis

What Happens During Analysis: The platform aggregates your order data by SKU, calculating key performance metrics including total revenue, unit sales, average order value, conversion contribution, and performance trends over time.

Sample Analysis Configuration

If you need to manually configure column mappings, use these settings:

{
  "sku_column": "SKU",
  "product_name_column": "Product Name",
  "quantity_column": "Quantity",
  "revenue_column": "Item Subtotal",
  "order_date_column": "Order Date",
  "order_id_column": "Order Number"
}

Step 4: Interpret Your SKU Performance Results

Once analysis completes, you'll see a comprehensive dashboard with several key sections:

Top Performing SKUs Table

This table shows your highest-revenue products ranked by total sales:

Interpretation Tip: Apply the 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle). Typically, 20% of your SKUs generate 80% of revenue. Identify which products fall into this top tier and prioritize them for inventory, marketing, and customer experience optimization.

Underperforming SKUs

The bottom section highlights SKUs that may be candidates for discontinuation:

Decision Framework: Before discontinuing a SKU, consider:

Performance Trends Visualization

The time-series chart shows how SKU performance evolves over your selected date range. Look for:

Step 5: Make Data-Driven Decisions

Transform your SKU analysis insights into concrete business actions:

For Top Performers

For Underperformers

Advanced Analysis Opportunities

Once you've mastered basic SKU analysis, consider these advanced techniques:

Step 6: Schedule Regular Analysis

SKU performance isn't a one-time analysis—it's an ongoing process:

  1. Monthly Reviews: Export and analyze data monthly to catch trends early
  2. Quarterly Deep Dives: Conduct comprehensive analysis quarterly to inform buying decisions
  3. Seasonal Preparation: Analyze 90-120 days before seasonal peaks to optimize inventory
  4. New Product Monitoring: Check performance of new SKUs weekly for the first 30 days

Pro Tip: Set calendar reminders for your analysis schedule. Consistency is key to catching opportunities and problems before they significantly impact revenue.

Verification: How to Know Your Analysis is Accurate

Validate your SKU performance analysis with these quality checks:

Revenue Reconciliation

Your total analyzed revenue should match your Squarespace reporting:

Sum of all SKU revenues = Total Squarespace revenue for date range (±2% acceptable variance)

Unit Count Verification

Total units analyzed should equal your order quantities:

SELECT SUM(Quantity) FROM orders WHERE date BETWEEN start_date AND end_date

Top SKU Sanity Check

Manually verify your #1 SKU by filtering your Squarespace orders:

  1. In Squarespace, filter orders by the top SKU
  2. Sum the quantities manually or in a spreadsheet
  3. Compare to the analysis results—they should match exactly

Expected Outputs Summary

Metric Expected Range What It Means
Total SKUs Analyzed Matches your catalog size All products included in analysis
Revenue Contribution (Top 10 SKUs) 40-80% of total revenue Healthy product concentration
SKUs with <1% revenue share 20-40% of total SKUs Normal long-tail distribution
Date range coverage Matches export parameters Complete data included

Ready to Analyze Your Squarespace SKUs?

Stop guessing which products deserve your attention. Get instant, data-driven insights into your SKU performance with MCP Analytics' specialized Squarespace analysis tool.

Start Your Free SKU Analysis Now →

Upload your Squarespace order data and receive comprehensive SKU performance metrics in seconds. No credit card required. No installation needed. Just clear answers to your product performance questions.

Next Steps with Squarespace SKU Analysis

Once you've completed your first SKU-level performance analysis, consider these next steps to maximize value:

1. Segment Analysis by Category

If you have multiple product categories, run separate analyses for each to understand category-specific performance patterns. This reveals whether underperformance is a product issue or a category issue.

2. Customer Lifetime Value by SKU

Connect SKU analysis to customer data to identify which products attract high-lifetime-value customers versus one-time buyers. This informs acquisition strategy.

3. Inventory Optimization

Use SKU performance data to calculate optimal reorder points and quantities. Focus capital on fast-movers and reduce investment in slow-movers.

4. Marketing Campaign Analysis

Before and after major marketing campaigns, run SKU analysis to measure which specific products benefited from the increased visibility and traffic.

5. Competitive Benchmarking

Compare your top-performing SKUs to competitor offerings to understand your competitive advantages and market positioning.

Learn More

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Encountering problems with your SKU analysis? Here are solutions to common issues:

Issue: "No SKUs Found in Uploaded Data"

Cause: Your Squarespace products don't have SKUs assigned, or the SKU column is empty in the export.

Solution:

  1. Go to Squarespace Commerce → Inventory
  2. Edit each product and add a unique SKU in the "SKU" field
  3. Wait 24 hours for new orders with SKUs, or manually add SKUs to your existing CSV export
  4. Re-export and re-analyze

Issue: Revenue Totals Don't Match Squarespace Reports

Cause: Tax, shipping, or discount handling differences between export and analysis.

Solution:

Issue: Some Products Show "Unknown" SKU

Cause: Products ordered before SKUs were assigned, or blank SKU fields.

Solution:

Issue: Upload Fails or Times Out

Cause: Very large dataset (>100,000 orders) or file formatting issues.

Solution:

Issue: Metrics Seem Unusual or Unexpected

Cause: Data quality issues, test orders, or legitimate business changes.

Solution:

  1. Sort by unusual metrics (extremely high/low prices) to find anomalies
  2. Filter out test orders before export (look for specific customer emails or $0 orders)
  3. Check for bulk orders or wholesale transactions that skew averages
  4. Verify that product variants (size, color) are properly distinguished
  5. Compare month-over-month to identify if changes are recent or historical

Issue: Can't Find Certain Products in Results

Cause: Product name changes, merged SKUs, or zero sales in date range.

Solution:

Still Having Issues?

If you've tried these solutions and still encounter problems:

Explore more: Squarespace Analytics — all tools, tutorials, and guides →