Bloomreach reports offer powerful capabilities but can also present challenges. This article highlights common reporting mistakes and how to avoid them, helping you improve analytics, boost efficiency, and drive better business outcomes.
Conflicting Date Filters
When a complex report doesn't return the desired results, it's important to understand that date filters can be set at multiple levels, and having them configured incorrectly can affect the entire report.
Be sure to review all date filters across these key areas:
- Metric definitions – such as in aggregates, expressions, or other components
- Within each metric:
- Customer filters and their events
- Date filter - applied to all events within the metric
- Within report filters:
- Customer filters and their events
- Event filter
- Report filter - applied to the entire report output
Careful setup of date filters leads to reliable results—taking a moment to confirm there are no conflicts makes a big difference.
Reporting on Customers with Timestamp Drilldown
When reporting on customers with timestamp drilldown, it is important to understand that the customer or customer attribute doesn't have a timestamp. Therefore, when you use the "Count of customers" in one of your metrics or formulas, the results may not be meaningful.
Consider using:
- Count of event metrics, First/Last, that ensures one counted event per customer.
- Running aggregates or expressions to define uniqueness (e.g., the first/last/unique event per customer within a given timeframe)
Report Limit Reached
When you receive a report limit reached error, it is important to review our Limitations documentation, which explains all limits and their potential solutions.
Event Attribute Drilldown with Two Event Types in the Report
It is not possible to drill down two distinct event types using a shared event attribute.
For example, if we are reporting on two different events that both have the attribute location, we would not be able to drill down by location across both events simultaneously.
There are 3 solutions, you can:
- Drill it down using a running aggregate that takes Last page_visit or session_start location, but these results won't be entirely reliable, as one location can count in both metrics.
- Use parameters and report on specific locations one by one:
- Export the report for each event separately and then connect them in your analysis tool.
Using Expired Data
Another reason for inaccurate data in your report could be that not all data is present in your project. Make sure all attributes and events are up to date and have not expired.
For more information about this feature, refer to the Data Expiration documentation.
Unexpected Grouping and Display Formatting
If a metric or drill-down appears to be missing, or if you notice unexpected grouping or formatting, check the Grouping, Format, and Show N/A settings. The data may still be present but hidden due to how these settings are configured.
You can read more information on these three features in our reports documentation.
Bonus Tip: How to Get Rid of 'Other'
When your report has more rows than are included in the grouped data, the extras may appear under (Other). To avoid this, simply apply aggregation, use "Show Values As," or choose a visualization - (Other) will then disappear automatically.