Funnels

A funnel is a behavioral reporting tool that allows you to measure how many visitors move through a defined series of steps in your app. Funnels can provide a high level of clarity as to where your visitors "drop off" when following these steps.

From there, you can use a path report to learn where visitors go from that drop-off point and better understand how visitors use your product. Once you understand the path they take in your app, you can then leverage our guides to redirect your visitors through each step of the ideal route and improve the funnel completion rate.

Understand funnels

Funnels track a known sequence of steps through your app, like completing a specific task, to help you understand where visitors drop off in this flow. For example, if you want a visitor to start at your homepage, then select feature A, followed by feature B, a funnel can tell you if a visitor followed this route.

Funnel analysis options

There are two different ways to analyze funnels in Pendo: Unique Visitors and Total Attempts.

To understand which type of funnel analysis to choose, consider the main differences outlined in the table below.

	Unique Visitors	Total Attempts
Recommended use case	Understand whether or not users know how to complete a task	Understand completion times for users who are familiar with a task
Questions answered	How many users are able to complete a specific task? What's the conversion rate of users completing a specific task?	How long does it take users to complete a reoccurring task? What's the completion rate of a specific task?
Timeout period	Measured by Date Range selection (up to 90 days)	Measured by Funnel Timeout field in the Analyze by section (60 minutes by default)
Multiple funnel entries	Each completed step is only counted once. The funnel shows the first time the visitor triggers each event within the defined order.	If a visitor enters the funnel multiple times, each visit counts as a separate attempt. Revisiting the entry event resets a visitor to the beginning of the funnel.

If you're unsure which type of funnel analysis to use, consider running both options and comparing the results. While Unique Visitors can tell you whether a visitor completed a funnel and the conversion rate, Total Attempts can tell you the number of times a visitor entered the funnel and the completion rate.

How funnel completion is measured

Funnels ignore intermediate events between the defined steps. For example, imagine you have a series of funnel steps defined as A → B → C → D.

• If a visitor takes steps A → B → E → C → F → D, this counts as a completed funnel as long as it's completed within the specified timeout period.
• If a visitor performs A → B → C → E without performing D, they drop off after the third step as an incomplete funnel attempt.
• If a visitor performs A → B → D without performing C, they drop off after the second step as an incomplete funnel attempt.

Let's also consider how a specific funnel could show different results depending on the type of analysis you choose.

• On day 1, a visitor performs steps A and B.
• On day 3, that visitor performs step C.
• On day 5, that visitor performs steps C and D.

If analyzing the above scenario by Unique Visitors over a date range of 7 days, the funnel would show that it took this visitor 5 days to complete the funnel.

If analyzing the above scenario by Total Attempts with a timeout of 1,440 minutes (the equivalent of one day) in the same date range, the funnel would show that the visitor dropped out of the funnel after the second step since they didn't reach the third step within the defined timeout period.

Group by metadata

Much like the Group by option in Data Explorer, you can apply groupings to your funnels using metadata. These groupings let you break down funnel data by specific metadata values. This helps you analyze conversion rates among different groups of users and identify which groups are completing the funnel at a higher or lower rate.

If you see lower conversion rates in specific user groups within a key funnel, consider using a Pendo guide to improve conversions among those groups.

Create a funnel

1. To create a new funnel, navigate to Behavior > Funnels in Pendo Engage. Alternatively, you can select Create Report > Funnel if you’re already on the Saved Reports page.
2. Select the appropriate event type, app, and event from the relevant dropdown menus. This is the starting point of your funnel.
   
3. Select Add funnel step, then make the appropriate selections from the dropdown menus. Repeat as needed for up to 20 steps. If you need to adjust the ordering of your funnel steps, you can drag and drop them to the correct placement.
4. If needed, select a specific Date Range and Segment from the dropdown menus. By default, these values are Last 30 Days and Everyone. Custom date ranges are limited to 90 days.
5. If you want to view the funnel separated by different metadata groups, you can do so with the Group by section. From the dropdown menus, select Visitor Metadata or Account Metadata, then select a metadata field.
6. Choose whether you want to analyze your data by Unique Visitors or Total Attempts.
7. If you selected Total Attempts, update the default funnel timeout of 60 minutes if needed. For Unique Visitors, the date range is used as the timeout period.
8. Select Save & Run to open the Save Report dialog.
   
9. Enter a Report Name, then update the Visibility to Everyone if you want other users in your subscription to view and edit the funnel.
10. Select Save Report to create the funnel. Once saved, you can access the funnel through Behavior > Saved Reports.
    

Interpret your funnel

Once you create a funnel, it can take several minutes to load the bar chart visualization and table breakdown. Each funnel component is explained in detail below.

Analyze the chart

At the top of the Funnel section, you can find two metrics:

• Total conversion rate. This shows the percentage of visitors who completed the funnel steps within the specified date range. It also notes the completed attempts and total attempts from all visitors. For Total Attempts funnels, this includes repeated attempts.
• Average completion time. This shows the average amount of time it took visitors to complete all combined steps within the funnel. For Unique Visitors funnels, this metric excludes visitors who didn't complete the funnel.

Even with a grouping applied, these metrics represent the overall conversion rate and average completion time for all groups within the funnel.

The funnel is represented by a bar chart located below the metrics, and each step added to the funnel is included in this chart. If you select multiple apps, the legend colors above the chart help you correlate your events with the relevant apps.

The dark-colored area of each bar shows the number of visitors who continued to that step of the funnel, while the light-colored area shows the number of visitors who dropped off at that step.

If you don't have a grouping applied, you can hover over the bar chart to view more information about a specific step:

• The total number and percentage of visitors who started, continued, completed, or dropped off the funnel. For Total Attempts funnels, this includes all attempts from all visitors.
• The average amount of time it takes for visitors to go to the next step or come from the previous step.
• The selected segment and date range.

You can also use < Tab > on your keyboard to activate this hover state and the arrow keys to navigate between steps.

Below is the same example chart as above with a grouping applied. Groups are ordered in descending order based on the number of visitors who completed the funnel. If you have a grouping applied, you must view step metrics and app information in the breakdown table by selecting a group in the chart.

If you have more groups than can fit on the page, you can scroll through them in the chart using a trackpad or by using < Tab > and the arrow keys on your keyboard. If using your keyboard, you can use < Enter > to select a group and then use the arrow keys and < Enter > again to select a specific step. To reset the group selection, use < Shift + Tab > then < Enter > once All Groups is highlighted.

Tip: You can easily understand the event type associated with a step by looking at the icon that precedes the event name on the X-axis. The folded paper indicates a Page, the mouse cursor indicates a Feature, and the lightning bolt indicates a Track Event.

View the breakdown

The Funnel Breakdown section contains a table that summarizes the data shown in the chart. There are three main table views that vary depending on your selection.

The first view that shows by default is the Funnel Breakdown Summary. In this view, the table includes the total conversion rate of users, the total number of unique visitors or total attempts by all visitors (depending on your selected analysis option), the total number of visitors or attempts completed, the average completion time, and the median completion time amongst all visitors. With a group applied, the table shows a summary for each group.

The second view is the Funnel Breakdown by Step, which you can view by selecting the Summary dropdown in the table title and selecting Step. When grouping, the table groups all steps together so that you can easily view the conversion rates for each group.

In this view, the table breaks down each row by step and provides the total number of unique visitors or total attempts by all visitors (depending on your selected analysis option), the conversion rate for each step, and the average time it took all visitors to continue to each step from the previous step.

If you have a grouping applied, you can select a group from the chart to view the breakdown for a specific group.

The third view is a Step Breakdown, which you can access by selecting a step in the bar chart. Once selected, the step in the chart is highlighted a darker color and the event name populates in the table title.

• If you select the dark-colored portion of the step, the table shows data for Visitors who continued, which lists the visitors who continued to that particular step, the date and time each visitor reached that funnel step, and the time it took them to proceed to the next step. If a visitor didn't make it to this step of the funnel, their Time to Next Step value shows as --.
• If you select the light-colored portion of the step, the table shows data for Visitors who dropped, which lists the visitors who dropped off at that step of the funnel.

To change your view from Visitors who continued or Visitors who dropped, select a different part of the bar chart or select the dropdown menu in the table title. 

To exit the Step Breakdown view and return to the Funnel Breakdown Summary, select Reset view or All Groups (depending on if you have a grouping applied), or unselect the selected step in the bar chart. When grouping by account metadata, the table also shows the Account ID associated with each visitor.

Note: The table view is limited to 10,000 rows per step. However, you might see more than 10,000 visitors because those who continued to the next step don't count toward the limit of the previous step. If you need to view visitor data for every event in the funnel, consider adjusting your segment to a smaller cohort of visitors. You could also consider updating your steps to follow a more specific route and avoid primary navigation buttons.

If you want to export the breakdown view as a CSV file, select the Download icon in the top-right corner of the table section. This export option includes the data that's currently shown in your table.

If you want to instead export a list of all visitors who entered the funnel, regardless of completion, use the Download icon at the top-right of the page. This export option includes the Visitor ID, number of steps each visitor completed, and relevant timestamps for each event.

Share your funnel

As long as you choose the Everyone visibility at the time you save the funnel, all Pendo users in your subscription can access the report through Behavior > Saved Reports.

If you need to update the visibility, simply select your report from the Saved Reports page, ensure Visibility is set to Everyone using the Share icon at the top of the report, then share the URL found in the address bar in your web browser or let them know it's available to view on the Saved Reports page.