Hotjar is one of the best free website analytics apps for ecommerce merchants in 2025. It offers unlimited heatmaps, session recordings, basic surveys, and dashboards completely free. Many store owners report significant improvements in conversion rates after using Hotjar to identify user behavior patterns and friction points on their websites.
Setting up Hotjar heatmaps is simple: First, create a Hotjar account and add your website domain. Install the tracking code by copying it into your website's header or using a plugin like Shopify's Hotjar app. Once installed, Hotjar automatically starts collecting data and generating heatmaps within 24-48 hours, showing you exactly where customers click, scroll, and spend time on your product pages.
Yes, Hotjar is excellent for reducing cart abandonment. Use session recordings to watch customers abandon their carts and identify the exact point where they drop off. Set up feedback surveys to ask why they're leaving, and use heatmaps to see if your checkout process has usability issues. Many merchants report 15-30% reductions in abandonment after implementing Hotjar insights.
Hotjar's Basic plan is free forever with 35 daily sessions, unlimited heatmaps, and basic features. The Plus plan ($32/month) includes 100 daily sessions, advanced filtering options, Events API for custom tracking, page view filters, and enhanced integrations. Plus plans are ideal for growing stores with more traffic and need deeper analytics capabilities.
Hotjar surveys help improve product page conversions by gathering direct feedback on what customers think about your products. Set up targeted surveys asking about product clarity, pricing concerns, or missing information. Use the AI-powered survey generator to create questions quickly, then analyze responses to identify and fix conversion blockers on your product pages.