Using Heatwave
Behaviour patterns
The 29 patterns Heatwave detects in every finished visit, and what to do about the important ones.
Raw clicks and scrolls are hard to read. So Heatwave checks every finished visit for 29 named behaviour patterns, such as a failed add to cart or a shopper bouncing straight back from a product. A visit counts as finished 30 minutes after the shopper leaves.
You’ll see patterns in many places: the Behaviour view on the Analytics page, the “Problems on this page type” card next to heatmaps, the “What happened” column and Timeline in recordings, and as evidence in AI recommendations.
Severity
Each pattern has a fixed severity:
- High: the shopper was likely blocked from buying. Look at these first.
- Medium: friction or doubt that may cost sales.
- Low: worth knowing, rarely urgent.
- Info: normal shopping behaviour that tells you about intent, not a problem in itself.
Purchase path
| Pattern | What it means | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Add to cart failed | Tried to add to cart and it did not work. | High |
| Checkout abandoned | Started checkout but did not complete it. | High |
| Cart abandoned | Added to cart but never started checkout. | Medium |
| Add-to-cart hesitation | Saw the Add to cart button, spent 30+ seconds active, never clicked it. | Medium |
| Add to cart never seen | Spent time on a product page but the Add to cart button never came into view. | Medium |
Friction
| Pattern | What it means | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Left after an error | Session ended within 30 seconds of an error or failed add-to-cart. | High |
| Angry repeated clicks | Rapid repeated clicks on the same spot. | High |
| Click caused an error | Something on the page broke right after a click. | High |
| Clicks that did nothing | Clicked something that looks clickable, more than once, with no reaction. | Medium |
| Repeated clicking | Clicked the same element three or more times within 10 seconds. | Medium |
| Form abandoned | Started a form and left without submitting. | Medium |
| Form struggle | Returned to the same form field three or more times. | Medium |
| Scrolling back and forth | Scrolled down and back up three or more times, looking for something. | Medium |
| Pinch-zoom | Zoomed in on mobile: text or images may be too small. | Medium |
Navigation
| Pattern | What it means | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Left within seconds | Left after one page in under 10 seconds. | Medium |
| Bounced back from product | Opened a product from a list and went straight back. | Medium |
| Search struggle | Searched three or more times, or left from search results. | Medium |
| Long browse, no add | Eight or more pages without adding to cart. | Medium |
| Quick back-click | Went back to the previous page within 5 seconds. | Low |
| Page loop | Viewed the same page three or more times. | Low |
Intent
| Pattern | What it means | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Variant indecision | Changed variant three or more times without adding. | Medium |
| Idle, then left | A minute or more without interaction before leaving. | Low |
| Comparison browsing | Viewed four or more products without adding any. | Info |
| Image exploration | Clicked product media four or more times. | Info |
| Looking for information | Clicked size guide, shipping, returns, reviews or similar. | Info |
| Comparing elsewhere | Left the product tab and came back twice or more. | Info |
| Copied text | Copied text from a product page (for example to compare). | Info |
Performance
| Pattern | What it means | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Slow page, then bounce | Left a slow-loading page within 10 seconds. | High |
| Slow page | The main content took more than 4 seconds to appear. | Medium |
What to do about the most important ones
Start by opening the pattern in the Behaviour view and clicking Watch sessions. Two or three recordings usually show the cause quickly.
- Add to cart failed. The most urgent pattern. The pattern’s details include the error your store showed, such as a sold-out message, or that the button did nothing. Check the product’s stock and variants, and test the button yourself on a phone. A theme or app script error is a common cause.
- Angry repeated clicks and Clicks that did nothing. Shoppers expect something to be clickable. The pattern names the element, often a product image, a badge or a heading. Make it do what shoppers expect, such as opening a zoom or linking somewhere, or make it look less like a button.
- Click caused an error and Left after an error. A script on the page is breaking. Note which element was clicked, then check recently added apps or theme changes.
- Add to cart never seen. The button is too far down on that device. See Fold analysis.
- Add-to-cart hesitation. Shoppers saw the button but weren’t convinced. Look for missing information close to the button: shipping costs, returns, sizing or reviews. “Looking for information” often shows what they were searching for.
- Slow page and Slow page, then bounce. Large images, video and too many apps are typical causes. Check the Speed card on the Analytics page and the Load time column in the Pages view.
- Checkout abandoned. Checkout itself isn’t recorded, but the visit before it is. Watch what shoppers did just before checkout, and check that shipping costs aren’t a surprise.