What exactly is a “Session” in Shopify?
A session is one visit to your online store.
One person opens your site → ✅ 1 session
Same person clicks around (products, collections, checkout) → still ✅ 1 session
Leaves the site for 30 minutes → session ends
Comes back after 30+ minutes → 🎉 new session
Think of it like walking into a physical store. You can browse aisles all you want—that’s still one visit.
What counts as the SAME session?
Shopify keeps it simple:
Navigating multiple pages ✅
Adding/removing items ✅
Refreshing pages ✅
As long as there’s activity within 30 minutes, it’s one session.
What creates a NEW session?
New session is triggered when:
User is inactive for 30 minutes
User closes browser and returns later
User clicks an ad again
User opens the site from a new source (Instagram → Google → Email)
Key terms you’ll see in Shopify Analytics
Let’s decode the buzzwords:
Sessions – Total visits
Online store sessions – Visits to your website only
Sessions by device – Mobile vs desktop traffic
Sessions by location – Where your visitors live
Sessions by traffic source – Instagram, Google, Direct, Ads, etc.
Sessions ≠ Customers (very important)
Let’s hit this with a real-world example:
1 person visits your store 5 times → 5 sessions
That same person places 1 order → 1 customer
So:
High sessions + low orders = 🚩 conversion problem
Low sessions + high conversion = ✅ traffic problem (need more eyeballs)
Why sessions matter (business logic)
Sessions help you answer BIG questions:
Are ads bringing traffic or just burning money?
Is Instagram doing anything useful?
Did today’s sale actually attract visitors?
Why are people visiting but not buying?
In short: Sessions = traffic health check.
