How to Track Core Web Vitals in Shopify

Shopify includes powerful performance tracking capabilities that many store owners don’t realize exist. If you haven’t been using this feature, you’re missing valuable insights that could help boost your store’s performance.

Where to Find Your Performance Data

Many store owners don’t realize how easy it is to access their performance metrics. You have two simple ways to find this data:

View peformance metrics summary:

1. Go to Online Store → Themes
2. Click on Web Performance
3. Customize your view using the date range selector (Today, Last 7 days, or Last 30 days)
4. Drill down into specific metrics by clicking on any value:

• Click the “LCP P75” value to see detailed loading performance over time
• Click the “INP P75” value to explore interaction responsiveness data
• Click the “CLS” value to examine layout stability issues
• Review “Sessions by Device Type” to see performance differences across devices

View the web performance reports

1. Navigate to Analytics → Reports
2. Type “:” in the search bar

• Type “:” to see all web performance reports at once
• Type “contentful” to focus only on LCP (loading) reports
• Type “next” to find INP (interactivity) reports
• Type “cumulative” to view CLS (stability) reports

Either path takes you directly to your performance dashboard, where you’ll see detailed reports on each Core Web Vital.

Note: For advanced users: utilize the ShopifyQL query editor to create custom performance reports

Shopify’s Native Web Performance Tracking

One of Shopify’s most valuable but underutilized features is its comprehensive Core Web Vitals tracking. What makes this tool particularly powerful is that it’s:

• Already part of your Shopify admin – no installation needed
• Using real customer data – not theoretical tests
• Included with your subscription – no additional costs

This means you can see exactly how your actual customers experience your store, based on their real-world interactions—not simulated tests.

What Metrics Are Being Tracked?

Shopify’s built-in performance tool monitors the three critical Core Web Vitals that directly impact your conversion rates:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

This measures how quickly the main content of your page loads and becomes visible to customers. When your LCP is optimized, visitors see your products faster, reducing bounce rates.

Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

This tracks how responsive your site feels when customers click buttons, add products to cart, or navigate your store. A good INP score ensures your store feels snappy and professional.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

This measures whether elements on your page jump around as content loads. Low CLS scores mean shoppers won’t experience the frustration of trying to click a button that suddenly moves away.

Powerful Insights Available

The depth of information provided in Shopify’s tool is impressive:

• Performance trends over time – see how your store performs as you make changes
• Breakdowns by page type – identify whether product pages, collections, or checkout need work
• URL-specific reports – find exactly which pages need attention
• Device comparisons – understand differences between mobile and desktop experiences
• Automatic annotations for theme edits, code changes, and app installs

This last feature is particularly useful—Shopify automatically marks when you’ve made changes to your store, so you can see their direct impact on performance.

Complementary Tools Worth Using

While Shopify’s built-in tracking provides excellent ongoing monitoring, you can gain even deeper insights with these free external tools:

• Lighthouse – for developer-focused audits that suggest specific code improvements
• PageSpeed Insights – for separate mobile and desktop performance scores
• GTmetrix – for detailed load waterfalls showing exactly what’s loading slowly

Simple Things Shopify Owners Can Do to Improve CWV

Quick Wins to Improve Your Core Web Vitals Based on working with hundreds of Shopify stores, here are the most effective improvements that require minimal technical knowledge:

1. Audit and Remove Unused Apps

1. Go to Settings → Apps and sales channels
2. Review each app and ask: “Is this generating enough value to justify the performance cost?”
3. Remove any apps not directly contributing to sales

Why this matters: Each app adds JavaScript to your store that slows down loading and interaction times.

2. Optimize Your Images

1. Use Shopify’s built-in image optimization
2. Consider a specialized app like TinyIMG SEO Image Optimizer
3. Aim for images under 200KB for product photos

Why this matters: Oversized images are the #1 culprit for slow LCP scores on most stores.

3. Limit Third-Party Tracking Scripts

1. Audit your theme code for analytics pixels and tracking codes
2. Use Google Tag Manager to manage all scripts in one place
3. Consider implementing a consent-based loading approach for non-essential scripts

Why this matters: Every tracking pixel adds loading time before customers can interact with your store.

Conclusion

Shopify’s built-in Core Web Vitals tracking gives you valuable performance insights without requiring any technical expertise or additional tools. Many store owners aren’t taking full advantage of this feature, despite its potential to help identify issues before they impact sales.

Take a moment today to check your store’s Core Web Vitals if you haven’t already. The insights you gain could be the key to improving your customer experience and boosting conversions.

Have you checked your Core Web Vitals in Shopify yet? What did you discover about your store’s performance?