Knowing exactly how customers move through your site—and where they get stuck—is essential to maximizing conversions, especially during high-demand periods like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. If a shopper calls because “the checkout didn’t work,” chances are they simply missed a validation error. By inspecting the user-tracking flow chart, you can see every step they took—and the exact error messages they encountered.

1. Getting Started with User Tracking

1. Locate the Order
   • In your dashboard, go to My Orders » View Pending.
   • Filter by date range or search by customer name or order number.

1. Identify Discarded Orders
   
2. • If the payment icon reads “discarded”, that order didn’t complete.
   • Click User Tracking on that row to open the flow chart.

1. 2. Anatomy of the User Flow Chart
   

Each block represents a page or event in the customer’s session:

• Referrer
  The first block shows where they came from (Google, Bing, etc.).
  If blank, they arrived via a direct link—perhaps an email—or typed your URL directly.
• Page Views
  Subsequent blocks list each page visited:
  1. Homepage
  2. Category pages
  3. Product pages
  4. Checkout page
• Checkout
  When the chart shows Checkout, the customer reached your checkout page.
• Error Messages
  Any red block indicates an error displayed on checkout. There are two kinds:
  1. Customer-Defined
     E.g. “This product isn’t available in your area.”
  2. System-Generated
     • “We don’t deliver to the entered location.”
     • “Delivery date unavailable for that suburb/day.”
     • “Cut-off time for this location has passed.”

  These are the exact messages your customer saw, in the order they saw them.

3. Typical vs. Complex Flows

A standard flow might look like:

Google → Homepage → Category → Product → Checkout → Payment → Complete

In reality, many shoppers browse multiple categories or products before checking out. Their flow charts will reflect every detour—giving you insight into their decision process.

4. Turning Insights into Action

1. Review Regularly
   Make it a habit to scan user-tracking reports and note recurring error messages or drop-off points.
2. Clarify Error Messages
   Generic reasons like “Mother’s Day” aren’t helpful. Instead, tailor messages to guide the customer:

   “For Sunday, 11 May, we can only accept orders for our Mother’s Day Collection. Click here to choose a qualifying product.”

3. Streamline Support Calls
   When a customer complains that “the checkout doesn’t work,” immediately:
   • Search for their order in View Pending.
   • Open User Tracking and note the red-flag error.
   • Explain the specific validation they missed.

By using the user-tracking flow chart to diagnose friction points and improve messaging, you’ll reduce abandoned checkouts and turn more visits into successful orders.