---
title: Getting Started with Deep Insights for WooCommerce
description: Deep Insights for WooCommerce (formerly Woo Insights) adds an analytics dashboard to WooCommerce. It shows revenue, products, customers, retention, profitability, subscriptions, inventory, shipping, discounts and refunds, plus automatic insights about what changed. Everything runs on your own site. There are…
url: "https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-getting-started/"
updated: "2026-11-13"
category: Deep Insights for WooCommerce
---

# Getting Started with Deep Insights for WooCommerce

Deep Insights for WooCommerce (formerly Woo Insights) adds an analytics dashboard to WooCommerce. It shows revenue, products, customers, retention, profitability, subscriptions, inventory, shipping, discounts and refunds, plus automatic insights about what changed.

Everything runs on your own site. There are no accounts, API keys or external services, and no store or customer data leaves your server.

Table of Contents

 [Toggle](#)

- [What you need](#What_you_need)
- [Install the plugin](#Install_the_plugin)
- [The first import](#The_first_import)
- [Open the dashboard](#Open_the_dashboard)
- [Who can see it](#Who_can_see_it)
- [Your WooCommerce data is never changed](#Your_WooCommerce_data_is_never_changed)
- [Next steps](#Next_steps)

## What you need

- WordPress 6.4 or newer
- WooCommerce 8.2 or newer
- PHP 7.4 or newer
- MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+

Deep Insights works with both WooCommerce order storage modes: High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) and the legacy posts storage.

Optional:

- **WooCommerce Subscriptions** unlocks the Subscriptions report.
- **WooCommerce Cost of Goods Sold** (WooCommerce 9.5+) unlocks the Profitability report.

## Install the plugin

1. Download the Deep Insights for WooCommerce zip file from wpruby.com.
2. In WordPress, go to **Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin**.
3. Choose the zip file and click **Install Now**.
4. Click **Activate**.

Upgrading from Woo Insights? See [Upgrading from Woo Insights](https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-upgrading-from-woo-insights/).

Deep Insights is free. It does not need a license key, and updates arrive through the normal WordPress update screen.

After activation, the plugin row has links to the dashboard, settings, documentation and support.

[![The Deep Insights for WooCommerce row on the Plugins screen with Dashboard and Settings links](https://cdn.wpruby.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/13142822/deep-insights-docs-plugins-row.png)](https://cdn.wpruby.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/13142822/deep-insights-docs-plugins-row.png)

## The first import

When you activate the plugin, it creates its own analytics tables and starts importing your order history in the background. You don't need to keep the page open.

While the import runs, the dashboard shows a progress bar and reports are marked as incomplete. Large stores can take a while; see [Importing your order history](https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-importing-order-history/) for details.

## Open the dashboard

Go to **WooCommerce → Deep Insights**.

[![The Deep Insights Overview page](https://cdn.wpruby.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/13142823/deep-insights-docs-overview.png)](https://cdn.wpruby.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/13142823/deep-insights-docs-overview.png)

The sidebar lists every report:

- **Overview**: key figures and the revenue trend at a glance.
- **Revenue**: gross to net, taxes, shipping and where revenue comes from.
- **Products**: product, variation and category performance, products bought together, and lifecycle.
- **Customers**: new vs returning, RFM segments, lifetime revenue, geography and acquisition.
- **Retention & Cohorts**: do customers come back after their first order?
- **Profitability**: gross profit from recorded product costs.
- **Subscriptions**: recurring revenue, churn and renewals.
- **Inventory**: stock levels, sales velocity and estimated sell-out dates.
- **Shipping**: shipping revenue, methods and destinations.
- **Discounts & Refunds**: coupon performance and refund analysis.
- **Insights**: notable changes, explained.
- **Settings**: reporting rules, data import and integrations.

## Who can see it

Anyone with the **View WooCommerce reports** capability can open the dashboard. By default that is Administrators and Shop Managers.

Settings, imports and customer-level exports need the **Manage WooCommerce** capability.

## Your WooCommerce data is never changed

Deep Insights only reads orders. It never modifies orders, payments, products, customers, refunds, subscriptions or stock.

## Next steps

- [Dates, comparisons and filters](https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-dates-comparisons-and-filters/)
- [Settings reference](https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-settings/)
- [Why numbers can differ from WooCommerce Analytics](https://wpruby.com/knowledgebase/deep-insights-numbers-vs-woocommerce-analytics/)