Answers

Questions that come up constantly when a business tries to read its own numbers — answered in full, with the arithmetic, and without needing an account.

• Why doesn't my Google Analytics revenue match Stripe?

  The four reasons GA4 and Stripe report different revenue — timezone, refunds, blocked tracking and currency — and how to tell which one is affecting you.

• Why is my GA4 conversion rate showing 0%?

  A GA4 conversion rate of 0% almost always means no key event is configured, not that nobody is buying. How to confirm it, and what to measure instead.

• How do I calculate my real conversion rate from Stripe and Google Analytics?

  Divide Stripe orders by GA4 sessions for the same day, in the same timezone. The formula, the traps, and why it beats GA4’s own conversion rate.

• Why did my revenue drop? A method that finds the cause

  Revenue is traffic × conversion × order value. Work out which of the three moved and you have narrowed a vague drop to one specific problem.

• Revenue is flat but conversion is falling. What does that mean?

  Flat revenue with falling conversion means you are buying growth to stand still. Why it is worse than a visible drop, and how to catch it.

• My traffic went up but sales stayed the same. What does that mean?

  More visitors and the same revenue means conversion fell by roughly as much as traffic rose. Why that is worse than it looks, and how to find the cause.

• How do I find out which marketing channel actually drives revenue?

  Your payment processor knows the money but not the channel. Analytics knows the channel but not the money. How to join them without ecommerce tracking.

• Is 2% a good conversion rate for a small business?

  Published benchmarks are close to useless for one business. What to compare against instead, and when 2% is genuinely good or genuinely bad.

• My average order value dropped but orders went up. Is that bad?

  Whether more, smaller orders is good depends on one calculation. How to tell a healthy shift from a discounting problem.

• How many visitors do I need before my conversion rate means anything?

  At low traffic a conversion rate is mostly noise. Roughly how much volume you need before a change is real, and what to watch until then.

• Why doesn’t Stripe show me where my customers came from?

  Stripe records the payment, not the journey. What it can and cannot tell you about acquisition, and the two ways to fill the gap.

• My Google Analytics and Stripe are in different timezones. Does it matter?

  A timezone gap misfiles every sale near midnight. When it matters, when it doesn’t, and why changing the setting won’t fix history.

• How do I get a daily sales report by email?

  Four routes to a daily revenue email — native notifications, spreadsheets, scripts and dedicated tools — and what each actually delivers.

• Why do my sales drop every January?

  A January fall is usually seasonal, and usually larger than people expect. How to check whether yours is normal, and what to compare against.

• How do I tell if a sales drop is seasonal or a real problem?

  Four checks that separate an expected seasonal dip from an actual decline, in the order that rules things out fastest.