Traffic source

Every visit to a store arrives from somewhere. Analytics tools group these into traffic sources, also called channels. The usual groups are:

• Direct, when someone types the address or uses a bookmark
• Organic search, from unpaid search results
• Paid search and paid social, from ads
• Social, from unpaid posts and profiles
• Email and SMS, from campaigns and automated flows
• Referral, from links on other sites

The mix tells you how a store grows. A store with mostly paid social traffic depends on ads and will feel every rise in ad costs. A store with strong direct and search traffic has a brand people look for, which tends to mean steadier sales.

RivalSonar shows an estimated traffic source mix for each store as part of traffic research. Combine it with the store's detected tracking pixels and its ads in the ad library to see the full picture. For example, a store with high estimated social traffic and a TikTok Pixel, but no TikTok ads in the library, may be growing through creators or organic posts instead of paid ads.