Analytics / New feature

Use metaobject fields to
group and filter Analytics reports

Fields from metaobjects linked to products, variants, customers, and orders through metafields, such as designer country, warranty period, or loyalty tier, can now be used in reports just like custom metafields.

On this page
  1. What's changing? (30-second overview)
  2. How it works: how data reaches your reports
  3. What you can now do
  4. What stays the same
  5. Default on/off (merchant-created vs. app-created)
  6. How to use it: setup in 3 steps
  7. 5 key points for developers
  8. 3 business use cases
  9. One-line summary for proposals

1What's changing?

Until now, reports could only be sliced by custom metafields .
Now you can also group and filter by the contents (fields) of metaobjects referenced by metafields.

Before: metafields only

Custom metafields and category metafields are available in reports. This update adds support for fields inside metaobjects.

After: down into metaobjects

Example: Use a "Designer" metaobject's "Country", "Warranty period", or "Loyalty tier" fields as report dimensions or filters.

2How it works: how data reaches your reports

Supported resources Products Variants Customers Orders Metafield Metaobject referenced (attached) Metaobjects Designer → Country Warranty period Loyalty tier Analytics Grouping Filter (single value) Query editor Use them just like custom metafields
The key is that they're linked "through a metafield" . If a product, variant, customer, or order metafield references a metaobject, the referenced metaobject's fields appear as options in reports.

3What you can do

Pick fields
Metaobjects → Resource → Definition → Field
Filter by a single value
e.g., Italian designers
Query editor
Same fields available
Toggle on/off per definition
Settings > Metafields and metaobjects
Picker hierarchy (example) Metaobjects Resource (e.g., Product) Definition: Designer Field: Country

4What stays the same

No change

The data itself

Metaobjects and the metafields that reference them are not changed in any way.

No change

Existing metafield options

Custom metafields and category metafields still appear in the picker (each in its own group).

Off by default

App-created metaobjects

Stay off until the merchant or the app turns on Analytics for that definition.

5Default on/off (merchant-created vs. app-created)

ItemMerchant-owned metaobjectsApp-created metaobjects
Default state ON Already enabled OFF Unavailable until enabled
Who can toggle it ON/OFF Merchant (turn OFF per definition if you don't want it in reports) Merchant or app
Scope of change Per metaobject definition Per metaobject definition
Pricing / eligible plans Not stated
The article doesn't say which plans or regions are eligible, or which field types have limits (that is, which types can be used for grouping and filtering). Check in the actual admin whether the definitions and fields you want appear in the picker.

6How to use / setup (3 steps)

1

(If needed) Check whether the definition is ON or OFF

Go to Settings > Metafields and metaobjects, open the target metaobject, and toggle "Filter or group data in Analytics".

2

Open a report and select a field

Select Metaobjects → resource → definition → field, in that order (e.g., Designer → Country).

3

Group or filter

Filter by a single value (e.g., Italian designers). The same fields are also available in the query editor.

Merchant-owned metaobjects are already ON. They're available in the report picker with no extra setup. Just turn OFF any definitions you don't want to show.

75 key points for developers

1. It builds on metafield → metaobject references

This covers metaobjects referenced from product, variant, customer, and order metafields. The more your data model relies on reference types, the more ways you can slice your reports.

2. Schema and data are untouched

Metaobjects and reference metafields aren't modified. According to the article, existing Liquid and API integrations are unaffected.

APP

3. App-created definitions are OFF by default

Metaobjects created by apps don't appear until the merchant or the app turns them ON. The article doesn't specify the API an app would use to enable them.

4. Also available in the query editor

The same fields can be referenced in the query editor, not just the GUI picker. The article doesn't describe the query syntax (how to write field names).

5. Visibility is controlled by a per-definition toggle

Whether a definition appears in reports is controlled by the "Filter or group data in Analytics" setting on each metaobject definition.If some definitions shouldn't be visible to report viewers, agree on a practice of explicitly turning them OFFin advance.

83 business use cases

USE CASE 1

Sales analysis by brand / designer attributes

Challenge
Products were linked to a "Designer" metaobject, but viewing sales by designer attributes such as country meant exporting the data and aggregating it by hand.
Approach
In a report, select Metaobjects → Product → Designer → Country and group by country. Filter to a specific country (e.g., Italy).
Impact
You can see sales by designer's home country right in the admin, which helps inform purchasing and featured-collection decisions.
Tech notes
Merchant-owned definitions are ON by default. Instead of writing attributes directly to product metafields, store them as metaobject references and they become report dimensions as-is.
USE CASE 2

Visualize sales mix by warranty period

Challenge
Warranty terms are managed per product and variant with metaobjects, but it's hard to see how well products with each warranty period are selling.
Approach
Group reports by the "warranty period" field of the warranty metaobject and compare by product or variant.
Impact
See how warranty terms relate to sales, and use it to revisit warranty plans and prioritize messaging.
Tech note
Metaobject references from variants are also supported. The same steps work even if warranties differ by size or model number.
USE CASE 3

Customer and order analysis by loyalty tier

Challenge
Even when customers had loyalty tiers, purchasing trends by tier couldn't be viewed directly in reports.
Approach
Group by fields of the tier metaobject referenced by a customer metafield. Use the same dimension in the query editor for deeper analysis.
Impact
Reveals differences in sales and orders by tier, giving a starting point for measuring the impact of membership programs.
Tech note
Metaobjects created by a loyalty app are OFF by default. The merchant or the app must turn on Analytics.

9One-line summary for proposals

"Metaobject attributes linked to products, variants, customers, and orders become Analytics dimensions as-is.
Data is unchanged, merchant-created definitions are ON by default, and each definition can be toggled ON/OFF.
The more you structure attributes with metaobjects, the more ways you can slice your reports."