Variant Substitution
Variant Substitution compares the variant a visitor was shown with the one they put in the cart. It shows when visitors switch options, or switch to a different product.
How It’s Calculated
Use the Scope tabs to choose Within Product or Across Products. Each row is a pair: what the visitor was shown, and what they added. The table lists up to 200 pairs, with the switches first, then the pairs with the most sessions.
Within Product
The columns are:
- Product: the product.
- Viewed: the variant on display the first time the session viewed the product.
- Added: the variant the visitor added to the cart.
- Outcome: Kept when the 2 are the same, and Switched when they differ.
- Sessions: sessions with that pair.
- Units: the items added in those sessions.
- Share of Viewers: the sessions with that pair divided by all sessions that were shown that variant first and added the product.
The report uses the first variant shown in each session because some themes record a new view each time a visitor clicks an option. Using the last view would make every switch look like a visitor who kept the same variant.
Each add to the cart is paired once. A session that views a product and adds it is paired with its own product’s first view.
Across Products
The columns are Viewed, Added, Sessions, Units and Share of Viewers. A pair here is a product that the visitor was looking at, and a different product they added without ever viewing it. The add is paired with the other product whose first view in the session came latest before the add.
A visitor who viewed both products isn’t counted, because they compared, not substituted.
Every row is a switch by definition, so there is no Outcome column.
Summary Cards
The cards above the table are Pairs, Sessions, Units and Switch Rate. Pairs is the number of rows. Sessions and Units add up the rows.
Switch Rate is the share of all paired sessions in the date range that switched, counted over every pair and not only those listed. It is blank on the Across Products tab. With Compare on, each card shows its change.
A bar chart above the table shows the 10 switched pairs with the most sessions.
What Counts
- Visitors who declined analytics cookies, or who opted out of the sale or sharing of their data while Require Sale-of-Data Consent is on, aren’t recorded. Known bots are left out.
- Only events inside the date range count, in your store’s time zone.
- Turn on Live to refresh the report every 30 seconds. Without it, a figure can be up to 10 minutes old.
A warning shows above the report when das Pixel saw less than 70% of your online-store orders in the last 30 days. This report has no Segment, Sales Channel or Filters control.
What Good Looks Like
There’s no target. A Switched pair with many sessions shows an option that visitors move away from. If many visitors switch from the same variant, it is probably the wrong default.
Across products, the biggest pairs are products that compete for the same need.
What to Do About It
- Many Switched sessions from one variant: change the variant shown first in your theme to the one visitors choose.
- A pair across products with many sessions: compare the 2 products’ prices and photos, and think about whether you need both.
- A low Switch Rate: visitors mostly add the variant they were shown. No change is needed.
Variant Demand vs Sales shows how much demand each variant draws.
Get AI Insight at the top of the report asks Copilot for a short read of it.
Where to Find It
- Variant Substitution: open Reports and look under Web Analytics.