Driving Success for Your Business With SaaS Data Analytics

Software as a Service (SaaS) is swiftly gaining popularity. SaaS data analytics examine and visualize data from SaaS applications to gain insights.

It is becoming increasingly vital to analyze and understand the data generated from these services. Therefore, learning how to analyze SaaS data in Excel is crucial.

What is SaaS Data Analytics?

SaaS data analytics constitute data collection, analysis, and interpretation from software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. It comprises employing analytic techniques to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences. It aids businesses in getting customer insight and optimizing their products and services.

You can track and analyze user activities, such as sign-ups and log-ins, using SaaS data analytics. From this data, you can identify improvement opportunities. Additionally, you can track user involvement to refine your product and boost its usefulness.

Why Do You Need SaaS Data Analytics?

● Track User Engagement

SaaS analytics empowers you to track user engagement with a product. You can monitor data about your customers to gain an understanding of how customers use your products. Like how interactive they are, what functions they use, and their navigational processes.

● Identify Customer Segments

You can segment your customers and gain additional knowledge about them using SaaS analytics. As a result, you can successfully modify your goods and services to suit their needs. Here, metrics like customer demographics, preferences, and behavior are used for tracking purposes.

● Optimize processes

SaaS analytics makes it possible to improve procedures. You can optimize your marketing strategies by monitoring their effectiveness. This is by tracking metrics like click-through rate, cost per click, and cost per acquisition.

SaaS Data Analytics Metrics

You can understand the metrics by considering them under different categories.

Business Analytics

Business analytics help you to gain insights into a business’s performance.

Business analytics metrics include:

• Customer lifetime value (CLV) evaluates a customer’s value over their relationship with a company. Customer revenue and acquisition and servicing costs determine CLV.
• Churn rate determines the customer defection rate. Churn rate is calculated by dividing lost consumers by the total number of customers.
• RPC is the total revenue earned from a customer. Customers/revenue = RPC.
• Average revenue per user (ARPU). You divide total income by total users to determine ARPU.
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
• Annual recurring revenue (ARR)

Product Analytics

Product analytics provides a product’s performance insights.

Product analytics metrics include:

• Acquisition: Number of users on all stages of the funnel
• User engagement: This is the product usage. It also determines the relationship between marketing strategies and customer reaction.
• Feature adoption: Percentage of people who use a feature. You divide the number of users who used the feature by the total users to calculate feature adoption.
• User flow: This is the path product users navigate visualized as a flow chart or heat map.
• Customer Satisfaction: How much customer is satisfied with product.

Marketing Analytics

Marketing analytics reveals the performance of a campaign.

Marketing analytics metrics include:

• Click-through rate (CTR): Determines how many people click a link or ad. CTR is calculated by dividing clicks by impressions.
• CPC: The cost of each ad click. Dividing an advertisement’s total cost by clicks yields CPC.
• Customer acquisition cost (CPA). CPA is calculated by dividing the cost of an ad by the number of clients it acquires.

Best Charts to Create a SaaS Analytics Dashboard

Without visualizing your data it is hard toget best insights. Below are few visualizations mentioned which can help you to create outstanding dashboards.

● Sankey Chart

A Sankey Chart is a flow chart that visualizes data flow from one state to another. It is useful for tracking user flows, such as sign-ups, log-ins, and product usage.

Let’s create a visual representation of the movement of visitors in an e-commerce store.

Starting Point	Platforms	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Cart Status	Ending Point	Traffic
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	25226
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	4359
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		8776
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	22141
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	11019
External Ad	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		7566
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	28490
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	25229
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		4719
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	20291
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	27583
External Link	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		16634
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	2732
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	18698
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		24449
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	15449
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	20791
Direct Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		7104
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	27416
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	7044
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		20647
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	5910
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	9991
Organic Search	Mobile App	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		4237
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	21774
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	16768
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		17472
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	17385
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	24458
External Ad	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		25470
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	10366
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	10545
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		19777
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	14721
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	12544
External Link	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		5493
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	17644
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	19516
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		18032
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	23120
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	7557
Direct Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		6221
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Exit	17938
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Exit	20273
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		13466
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Clear Cart	Purchase	8732
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Checkout	Purchase	22547
Organic Search	Official Website	View product & details	Read Reviews	Add to Cart	Click on another product		24823

The above complex data is when transformed to Sankey diagram. It provides information about customer flow at first look with distinct colors and distinct stages.

● Sentiment Trend Chart

A sentiment Trend Chart is a bar chart which can also show trend on it with line. This chart is specially designed to analyze sentiment data but you can also use it for non-sentiment data as well.

Months	Positive	Negative
Jan	3220	1590
Feb	3730	1800
Mar	2850	2650
Apr	3380	1700
May	3380	1600
Jun	3490	1990
Jul	3510	1450
Aug	3080	2420
Sep	3290	1040
Oct	2850	1050
Nov	2910	2310
Dec	3280	1350

Above data table when transformed to visualization it will give you below visualization.

● Likert Scale Chart

A Likert Scale Chart is a bar chart you can use to visualize user feedback. It is essential for identifying user trends and optimizing products.

Let’s assess customers’ thoughts using this data from a software company.

Questions	Scale	Responses
Was the checkout process easy?	1	138
Was the checkout process easy?	2	186
Was the checkout process easy?	3	176
Was the checkout process easy?	4	230
Was the checkout process easy?	5	270
Did the software solve your needs?	1	0
Did the software solve your needs?	2	138
Did the software solve your needs?	3	186
Did the software solve your needs?	4	176
Did the software solve your needs?	5	500
Are you happy with your purchase?	1	5
Are you happy with your purchase?	2	100
Are you happy with your purchase?	3	146
Are you happy with your purchase?	4	116
Are you happy with your purchase?	5	420

Above survey feedback data when mapped to visualization, it will give you below look.

● Radar Chart

A Radar Chart, or spider chart, is a type of data visualization that shows multiple variables and categories along a circular axis, instead of a linear one.

Let’s see sample data below which shows number of orders of different products in different months.

Month	TV	Smart Phones	Computers
Jan	80	100	50
Feb	65	60	55
Mar	75	95	51
Apr	80	75	40
May	90	100	45
Jun	85	60	30
Jul	65	95	39
Aug	70	75	45
Sep	80	109	56
Oct	93	80	39
Nov	99	109	48
Dec	80	75	44

When this data is mapped to visualization it provides below final look by using radar chart.

● Pareto Chart

A Pareto Chart is a type of bar chart that you can use to visualize data cumulatively. It actually help you to identify the top 20% good or worst which are affecting the rest by applying Pareto Principle.

City	Current Period	Previous Period
New York	540	510
Chicago	550	545
San Francisco	415	399
Los Angeles	572	533
Seattle	193	185
Boston	188	163
Phoenix	497	485
Atlanta	215	180
Philadelphia	489	470
Miami	387	267
Dallas	7	5
Houston	5	3
St Louis	7	4
Columbus	1	1
Fresno	6	3
Mesa	2	2
Oakland	3	1
San Antonio	1	2
San Diego	1	1
San Jose	2	3
Austin	5	3
Jacksonville	3	2
Fort Worth	3	3
Charlotte	2	1
Indianapolis	1	2
Denver	4	3
Washington	5	2
El Paso	7	5
Nashville	5	3
Detroit	3	2
Oklahoma City	2	1
Portland	2	3
Las Vegas	3	2
Memphis	3	1
Louisville	4	1
Baltimore	5	3
Milwaukee	1	1
Albuquerque	2	1
Tucson	1	1
Sacramento	4	3
Kansas City	2	1
Colorado Springs	4	3
Omaha	2	1
Raleigh	4	3
Long Beach	2	1
Tulsa	4	3
Tampa	2	1
Arlington	4	3
New Orleans	2	1
Wichita	4	3
Bakersfield	2	1
Aurora	1	2
Anaheim	3	2
Honolulu	1	3
Santa Ana	3	2
Riverside	1	5
Corpus Christi	3	2
Lexington	1	1
Henderson	3	2
Stockton	1	1
Saint Paul	3	2
Pittsburgh	1	2
Lincoln	3	2
Anchorage	1	1
Plano	3	2
Orlando	1	2
Irvine	3	2
Newark	7	3
Durham	5	1
Chula Vista	2	2
Toledo	5	1
Fort Wayne	2	1
Lubbock	5	2
Jersey City	2	2
Scottsdale	5	3
Reno	2	3
Glendale	5	3
Norfolk	2	1
Irving	5	2
Garland	1	2
Hialeah	4	1
Richmond	1	3
Boise	5	2
Tacoma	1	1
Fontana	5	1
Birmingham	1	1
Frisco	2	1
Augusta	1	1
Tempe	2	1
Little Rock	1	1
Overland Park	2	1
Grand Prairie	1	1
Ontario	2	1
Brownsville	1	1
Santa Rosa	2	1
Eugene	1	1
Lancaster	2	1
Palmdale	1	1
Joliet	2	1
Midland	1	1

How to Analyze SaaS Data in Excel?

Excel is a good tool to handle data and providing you visualization on data. But still there are certain data which needs very relevant visualization and these are not available by default in Excel. For that purpose you can install ChartExpo add-in.

ChartExpo itself is an example of SaaS and it is a powerful tool for analyzing data for SaaS businesses as well.

With ChartExpo, you can create detailed visualizations o/on/with your data to understand trends and patterns. The software is designed to be user-friendly, allowing you to visualize and analyze your data quickly. Whether a small business or a large enterprise, ChartExpo is the perfect tool for your analytics needs.

How to Install ChartExpo in Excel?

1. Open Excel.
2. Once it is running, select the “Insert” tab, then click to open “My Add-ins.”
3. In the Office Add-ins window, search for ChartExpo in the App Store.
4. Click the “Add” button to install it in Excel.

Both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel support ChartExpo library. To start creating stunning visualizations with just a few clicks, please follow the appropriate call-to-action (CTA) to install this visualization library in your preferred tool.

Let’s visualize the flow of traffic from the e-commerce data provided above.

1. After installing the ChartExpo plug-in, open the Insert tab on Excel, then select “My Add-ins.”

2. Choose ChartExpo for Excel from the “My Add-ins” list and open it.

3. Once the ChartExpo add-in loads, it will display a range of charts where you can select the Sankey Chart.

4. Pick the data from the spreadsheet, then hit the “Create Chart from Selection” button.

5. It will generate a chart, as seen below.

6. To add color to the nodes, click the pencil icon at the top of the specified node and click “Node.” Add your preferred color and make changes, like adding a heading, then click “Save Changes.”

7. The modified chart below illustrates traffic flow from one end to another.

Insights 

• Most website traffic comes from External Ads, which comprise 26.52% of the total visits.
• The least traffic source is Direct Search, which makes up 23.67%.
• 52% of users are accessing the official website, while 48% are using the mobile app.
• All users view the product and detail pages and read the review page.
• However, only 34% of users follow through when checking out.
• 29% move on to another product page, and the remaining 37% clear the cart.

How to Analyze SaaS Data in Google Sheets?

To analyze SaaS with Google Sheets, first, install the ChartExpo add-on in your Google Sheets.

How to Install ChartExpo in Google Sheets?

1. To install ChartExpo in Google Sheets, first open the application.
2. Navigate to the “Extensions” menu.
3. Select “Add-ons,” then search for ChartExpo from the Google Workspace Marketplace.
4. Click on the “ChartExpo” add-on to install it into your Google Sheets.

As already mentioned before, you can access ChartExpo charts on both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. You can install it directly in your preferred tool by clicking on the below link.

Let’s analyze survey data from a software company that needs to understand the interaction of customers with its product.

Questions	Scale	Responses
Was the checkout process easy?	1	138
Was the checkout process easy?	2	186
Was the checkout process easy?	3	176
Was the checkout process easy?	4	230
Was the checkout process easy?	5	270
Did the software solve your needs?	1	0
Did the software solve your needs?	2	138
Did the software solve your needs?	3	186
Did the software solve your needs?	4	176
Did the software solve your needs?	5	500
Are you happy with your purchase?	1	5
Are you happy with your purchase?	2	100
Are you happy with your purchase?	3	146
Are you happy with your purchase?	4	116
Are you happy with your purchase?	5	420

1. Launch Google Sheets and select the “Extensions” tab.

2. Locate the “Charts, Graphs & Visualizations by CharExpo” option, then click the “Open” button.

3. Click on “Add new chart.” To see ChartExpo visualization list.

4. Pick the “Likert Scale Chart” from the chart list.

5. Put your data in the sheet, and now in ChartExpo window, choose the Sheet name, and click on “Add new metric” to pick the column with numerical values, in this case select “Responses”

6. Next, click “Add new dimension” to opt for the “Questions” column, and click “Add new dimension” to include the “Scale” column.

7. Finally, click “Create chart” to generate the final chart as shown below.

ChartExpo charts are fully customizable. You can edit the chart and change colors, text and other properties easily and create final visualization according to your need.

FAQs:

What is SaaS analytics?

SaaS analytics concentrates on how software-as-a-service products are used. It entails gathering, processing, and displaying data about the usage of SaaS applications. It provides companies with crucial information about how customers use their SaaS products.

What’s the meaning of SaaS?

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model. Vendors or service providers host applications and avail them to customers over a network. Customers rent access to these applications rather than buying and installing them on their devices.

How can I analyze SaaS data in Excel?

You can analyze SaaS data in Excel with the help of ChartExpo. First, determine what kind of data you are dealing with. Then you can begin to analyze it by creating charts and graphs in Excel with ChartExpo.

What are the benefits of using SaaS analytics?

Scalability is the main advantage of SaaS analytics. Businesses embracing the cloud can swiftly adjust their analytics capabilities as their needs change. Businesses can also readily implement SaaS analytics into their current procedures and systems.

Wrap Up:

We’ve looked at SaaS data analytics and how to analyze SaaS data in Excel and Google Sheets as well. We’ve also discussed the different types of SaaS analytics metrics and why you should use SaaS analytics.

Regardless of a business’s size, investing in SaaS analytics is worthwhile. Businesses can better understand their current standing by analyzing SaaS data. Thus, identify areas where improvements could yield maximum benefits.

Are you looking for a way to take your business to the next level? SaaS analytics is the way to go. With the help of SaaS analytics and ChartExpo, you can better understand your customers. Furthermore, you can optimize your processes and unlock new growth opportunities.