Clarifying Your Insight Report Setup for Product Detail Page Visits | Mixpanel Community

Clarifying Your Insight Report Setup for Product Detail Page Visits

I want to understand how frequently users visited the product detail page over a specific time period in an Insight report. Here's how I set it up, but I'm not entirely sure what it means. Can you help clarify?

I selected the detail page event as the metric and added "First Time Ever".
Then, in the breakdown, I used "Aggregate property per user – distinct count per interval" with filters < 4 and >= 4.

What exactly does this setup represent?

41 comments

kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Hi Alex, Please stand by as I search the Mixpanel knowledge base for an AI-powered answer. I normally take about 15 seconds or so. In case AI cannot answer your question, feel free to reach out to Mixpanel support at mixpanel.com/get-support. If you have follow-up questions for this thread, please tag me again with your question: @kapa.ai <follow-up question> 👋
Feel free to ask a follow-up question once I've answered by mentioning me with @kapa.ai
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Certainly! Let’s break down what your setup in the Mixpanel Insights report means, based on the available documentation:
1. Metric: Detail Page Event with "First Time Ever"
By selecting the detail page event and applying the "First Time Ever" filter, you are instructing Mixpanel to only consider the very first time each user visits the product detail page. This means your metric is counting only those events where it was the user's first visit to the detail page, not subsequent visits. If a user visits the detail page multiple times, only their first visit is included in this metric. Note that if a user has multiple "first" events with the same timestamp (e.g., due to rapid repeated actions), all those events will be counted as "first time" for that user Analyzing First Time Users.
2. Breakdown: Aggregate Property per User – Distinct Count per Interval
You then break down the metric using "Aggregate property per user – distinct count per interval." This means, for each user, Mixpanel calculates the number of distinct values of a chosen property (often the event itself or a property like product ID) within each time interval (e.g., day, week, or month, depending on your chart settings). The "distinct count" per user is then aggregated across all users for each interval. You can further aggregate this data using options like average, distribution, median, percentiles, minimum, and maximum Aggregate Property per User.
3. Filters: < 4 and > = 4
You applied filters to segment users based on their distinct count per interval: - < 4: Users who visited fewer than 4 distinct product detail pages in the interval. - > = 4: Users who visited 4 or more distinct product detail pages in the interval.
What Does This Setup Represent?
- You are analyzing, for each time interval, the first time users visit the product detail page. - For those first-time visits, you are segmenting users based on how many distinct product detail pages they viewed in that interval (e.g., how many unique products they saw on their first visit). - The breakdown shows you, per interval, how many users fall into each segment: those who viewed fewer than 4 unique product detail pages and those who viewed 4 or more, but only considering their first-ever visit(s) to the detail page.In summary: Your report tells you, for each time interval, how many users—on their first-ever visit to any product detail page—viewed fewer than 4 versus 4 or more unique product detail pages. This helps you understand the distribution of first-time user engagement with product detail pages, segmented by the breadth of their exploration during their initial session.If you want to analyze all visits (not just first-time), you should remove the "First Time Ever" filter. If you want to see frequency over time (e.g., how often users return), consider using "Frequency per User" instead Aggregate Property per User, Analyzing First Time Users.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai If a customer visits one product detail page on their first visit, and then views a different detail page the next day, does that mean they viewed 2 distinct product detail pages after their first visit? Or is only the first day considered in the "first visit" analysis?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Based on the knowledge sources, when you use the "First Time Ever" filter in Mixpanel, only the first instance of the event performed by a user is considered. This means that if a customer visits one product detail page on their first visit, only that first event (and any others with the exact same timestamp, in case of a tie) is included in the "first visit" analysis. Any subsequent visits to other product detail pages on later days are not counted in this analysis.So, in your example: - Day 1: User views Product A (first-ever detail page visit) → counted. - Day 2: User views Product B (second detail page visit) → not counted in the "First Time Ever" analysis.Only the first day (and the first event(s)) is considered in the "first visit" analysis. Later visits are excluded from this specific filter Analyzing First Time Users.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai How can I segment users based on whether they have performed the event at least once or never performed it at all?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
You can segment users in Mixpanel based on whether they have performed an event at least once or never performed it by creating a cohort using the cohort builder. In the cohort builder, you can define conditions such as: - Users who did <event> at least once (e.g., "Users who did 'View Product Detail' at least 1 time") - Users who never did <event> (e.g., "Users who did 'View Product Detail' 0 times")This allows you to group users into those who have performed the event and those who have not. You can then use these cohorts in your analyses and reports to compare behaviors or outcomes between these groups Creating Cohorts.Additionally, you can create these cohorts directly from report visualizations by selecting a group of users (e.g., those who did or did not perform an event) and saving them as a cohort for further analysis Group users by demographic and behavior.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai I want to segment users into two groups:
1.
Users who have triggered a specific event for the first time ever within a given date range (like what "First Time Ever" captures).
2.
Users who have not triggered that event for the first time ever in that range (either triggered it earlier or never at all).
How can I build these two user groups for comparison? Can this be done using cohorts or filters?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
To segment users as described:
1. Users who triggered the event for the first time ever within a given date range
You can create a cohort using the cohort builder with a condition like: - "Users who did <event> for the first time ever between [start date] and [end date]".Mixpanel allows you to filter to only the first time an event is performed by a user, using the "First Time Ever" filter. This filter can be applied in reports and cohort definitions to capture users whose first occurrence of the event falls within your specified date range Analyzing First Time Users, Creating Cohorts.
2. Users who have not triggered that event for the first time ever in that range
This group includes: - Users who triggered the event for the first time before the date range, and - Users who have never triggered the event.To create this group, you can define a cohort with a NOT condition: - "Users who did NOT do <event> for the first time ever between [start date] and [end date]".This can be set up in the cohort builder by inverting the first cohort’s condition (using the NOT operator or by excluding the first cohort from the total user base) Creating Cohorts.
How to Use These Cohorts
- You can use these cohorts as filters or breakdowns in your reports to compare behaviors, retention, or other metrics between the two groups Using Cohorts in Analysis.Summary: Yes, this segmentation can be done using cohorts in Mixpanel. Define one cohort for users whose first-ever event falls within your date range, and another cohort for users who do not meet that criterion (either by using NOT or by excluding the first cohort from all users).If you need to create a cohort based on a list of user IDs (for example, exported from a report), you can also use the CSV import method Creating Cohorts.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai To create a cohort of users who did not perform a specific event for the first time ever within a given date range, is it correct to use this condition? “Did not do {event name} after [specific date], for the first time ever” Would this correctly capture users who either performed the event before that date or never performed it at all?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Your proposed condition—“Did not do {event name} after [specific date], for the first time ever”—is logically intended to capture users who either: - Performed the event for the first time before the specified date, or - Never performed the event at all.Based on Mixpanel’s documentation, when you use the "First Time Ever" filter, Mixpanel identifies the first occurrence of the event for each user. If you then filter for users who did not do the event for the first time after a certain date, you are excluding users whose first-ever event falls after that date. This leaves you with users whose first-ever event was before that date, or who never performed the event (and thus have no first time at all).This approach aligns with how Mixpanel computes first-time events and how cohort conditions can be defined using the cohort builder Analyzing First Time Users, Creating Cohorts.In summary: Yes, using the condition “Did not do {event name} after [specific date], for the first time ever” will correctly capture users who either performed the event for the first time before that date or never performed it at all.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai I'm using the "Compare to previous 30 days" feature in my analysis, but when I apply a cohort condition like "Did not do {event} after [specific date], for the first time ever", I notice that the comparison group doesn't show any data before that date. Is this expected behavior? Does using a cohort with a date-specific "first time ever" condition limit the ability to compare across earlier time ranges?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Based on the available documentation, when you create a cohort in Mixpanel with a condition like "Did not do {event} after [specific date], for the first time ever," the cohort is dynamically computed at the time you run your query. This means the cohort always reflects the set of users who meet the condition as of "right now," not as of a previous point in time.As a result, when you use this cohort in a report and apply a "Compare to previous 30 days" feature, the comparison group will only include users who are in the cohort at the time of the query. It does not retroactively compute who would have been in the cohort in the past. Therefore, if your cohort is defined by a date-specific "first time ever" condition, you may not see data for earlier time ranges in the comparison group—this is expected behavior due to how cohorts are computed in Mixpanel.> "Cohorts are computed dynamically at the time that you use them in a query... it means that the set of users who are in the cohort are users that are in the cohort as of right now; it’s not a rolling window of users that have ever been in the cohort." How Cohorts are ComputedIn summary: Yes, using a cohort with a date-specific "first time ever" condition limits your ability to compare across earlier time ranges, because the cohort always reflects the current set of users matching the condition, not the set as it would have been in the past. This is expected behavior in Mixpanel.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai Can you explain the difference between "First Seen" and "First Time Ever" in Mixpanel? For example, does "First Seen" refer to the first time a user was identified in the system, while "First Time Ever" applies to the first time a specific event was triggered? I'd like to understand when to use each.
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Certainly! Here’s the difference between "First Seen" and "First Time Ever" in Mixpanel, based on the available documentation: First Seen - "First Seen" refers to the time when a user (or group) was first identified in your Mixpanel project. - This is tracked by the reserved property $mp_first_event_time, which represents the timestamp of the user’s (or group’s) very first event in Mixpanel. - You can use this property to filter or segment reports by users who were “new” in a particular timeframe, regardless of which event they performed (Reserved Properties).First Time Ever - "First Time Ever" is a filter or condition you can apply to a specific event in Mixpanel. - It restricts your analysis to only the first instance when a user performed a particular event. For example, if you want to know when users made their first purchase, you would use the "First Time Ever" filter on the "Purchase" event. - This is useful for answering questions like: “How many users completed this event for the first time in a given period?” or “What happened after a user’s first time doing this event?” (Analyzing First Time Users).When to use each: - Use First Seen when you want to analyze or segment users based on when they were first identified in your system, regardless of the event. - Use First Time Ever when you want to analyze or segment users based on when they performed a specific event for the first time.In summary: - First Seen = first time a user was identified in Mixpanel (any event). - First Time Ever = first time a user performed a specific event.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai
If I set up a funnel with "Product Detail Page View" and "Click Purchase" as the steps, and then apply First Seen as a breakdown, would that give me the same effect as adding "First Time Ever" on the Product Detail Page event in the funnel metric? In other words, does breaking down the funnel by First Seen show only users who viewed the product detail page for the first time?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
No, breaking down the funnel by First Seen does not have the same effect as applying "First Time Ever" to the "Product Detail Page View" event in the funnel metric.- "First Seen" refers to the first time a user was identified in your Mixpanel project, regardless of which event they performed. If you use "First Seen" as a breakdown, you are segmenting users by when they were first seen in your system, not by when they first performed the "Product Detail Page View" event (Reserved Properties).- "First Time Ever" on the "Product Detail Page View" event restricts the funnel to only include the first time each user performed that specific event. This means only users' first-ever "Product Detail Page View" events are considered for entering the funnel (Analyzing First Time Users).In summary: Breaking down by "First Seen" does not filter the funnel to only users' first product detail page view. To analyze only users' first time viewing the product detail page, you should use the "First Time Ever" filter on that event in your funnel setup.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai
I’m currently viewing funnel conversion rates over time and comparing them to the previous 30 days. How can I segment or filter the funnel to separately analyze: users who performed the event for the first time ever, and users who did not perform it for the first time during that period? I want to understand how first-time users convert compared to returning users in the funnel over time.
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
To analyze funnel conversion rates over time for first-time ever event performers versus those who did not perform the event for the first time during a period, you can use Mixpanel’s cohort and filtering features:
1. Segmenting First-Time Ever Event Performers
- Create a cohort of users who performed the event for the first time ever within your desired date range. This can be done using the cohort builder with a condition like: "Did {event} for the first time ever between [start date] and [end date]" Creating Cohorts, Analyzing First Time Users.
2. Segmenting Users Who Did Not Perform the Event for the First Time During That Period
- Create a second cohort with the inverse condition: "Did not do {event} for the first time ever between [start date] and [end date]". This will include users who either performed the event for the first time before the period or never performed it at all Creating Cohorts.
3. Applying Cohorts to the Funnel
- In your funnel report, apply these cohorts as filters or breakdowns. This allows you to view and compare conversion rates for first-time event performers versus returning users (those who did not perform the event for the first time in the period) How to conduct cohort analysis.
4. Comparing Over Time
- When using the "compare to previous 30 days" feature, be aware that cohorts in Mixpanel are computed based on the current set of users matching the condition, not as they would have been in the past. This means your comparison will always reflect the present cohort membership, which may limit historical comparisons How Cohorts are Computed.---Summary: - Use cohorts to segment first-time and non-first-time event performers. - Apply these cohorts as filters or breakdowns in your funnel report. - This setup lets you compare conversion rates for first-time users versus returning users over time, but note the limitation that cohort membership is always based on the current state, not historical membership.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai When analyzing a funnel in Mixpanel, if I apply "First Time Ever" to the Product Detail Page View event, and set the conversion criteria to "within 15 days", how should I interpret the results? Does it mean I'm only looking at users who viewed the product detail page for the first time and then converted within 15 days? Or does the "within 15 days" apply to all users regardless of their first-time behavior?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
If you apply "First Time Ever" to the Product Detail Page View event in your funnel, and set the conversion criteria to "within 15 days," you are specifically analyzing users whose first-ever Product Detail Page View occurred within your selected date range. The funnel will then measure how many of these users went on to complete the next funnel step (e.g., "Click Purchase") within 15 days of their first-ever Product Detail Page View.In other words, the "within 15 days" conversion window applies starting from the user's first-ever Product Detail Page View (not from any subsequent views or from all users regardless of first-time behavior). Only users whose first Product Detail Page View falls within your analysis window are included, and only their conversion within 15 days of that first event is counted Analyzing First Time Users, Funnels Advanced Concepts – Conversion Window.Summary: You are looking at users who viewed the product detail page for the first time, and then converted within 15 days of that first-ever view. The "within 15 days" window is anchored to the first-time event for each user, not to all users or all event occurrences.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai
n funnel analysis, if I compare the total number of users and conversions before applying "First Time Ever", with the numbers after applying "First Time Ever" to the first step, would the difference represent existing (returning) users who are not first-time performers of that event? In other words, does subtracting the "First Time Ever" cohort from the total give me the returning user group in the funnel?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
If you compare the total number of users and conversions in a funnel before applying "First Time Ever" to the first step, with the numbers after applying "First Time Ever," the difference does generally represent users who are not first-time performers of that event—i.e., returning users.- When you apply "First Time Ever" to the first step, Mixpanel only includes users whose first-ever occurrence of the event happens within the funnel's date range. - Without "First Time Ever," all occurrences of the event (including both first-time and returning users) are included.Therefore, subtracting the "First Time Ever" group from the total group gives you users who performed the event in the funnel but were not first-time performers during that period—these are your returning users.This interpretation is supported by Mixpanel's documentation, which states that the "First Time Ever" filter restricts analysis to only the first instance of the event performed by a user, and that subsequent occurrences (i.e., by returning users) are excluded from this filtered view Analyzing First Time Users.In summary: Yes, subtracting the "First Time Ever" cohort from the total gives you the group of returning users in the funnel for that event and period.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai n a funnel analysis, how can I measure how long users who dropped off stayed on the page before dropping off? I want to understand the time spent on the page by users who did not complete the funnel.
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
I'm sorry, but the knowledge sources do not contain explicit information on how to directly measure the time spent on a page specifically by users who dropped off in a funnel in Mixpanel. While Mixpanel allows you to analyze funnel drop-offs and session durations, there is no documented method in the provided sources for isolating and reporting the time spent on a page by users who did not complete the funnel.You may be able to approximate this by analyzing session or event properties (such as "Session Duration (seconds)") and filtering for users who dropped off, but the exact steps for this analysis are not detailed in the available documentation. If you need more precise guidance, I recommend consulting Mixpanel’s support or community resources for advanced funnel and session analysis techniques.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai
n a funnel from Product Detail Page View → Click Purchase, if I add "Exclude: Product Detail Page View" between the two steps, does that let me see users who went from viewing one product detail page directly to clicking purchase, without viewing any other product detail pages in between? In other words, does the "Exclude" step filter out users who viewed a second product detail page before clicking purchase?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Yes, adding an "Exclude: Product Detail Page View" step between Product Detail Page View and Click Purchase in your funnel will filter out users who viewed another product detail page between those two steps. This means your funnel will only include users who went directly from viewing a product detail page to clicking purchase, without viewing any other product detail pages in between. If a user views a second product detail page before clicking purchase, they will be excluded from the funnel at that point.As described in the documentation: > "An exclusion step can be placed between any steps in the funnel... To answer this question, you could create a funnel with three steps... You can exclude users who did another 'Browse Product' event between Step 2 and Step 3 to see how that affects your funnel’s conversion rate."
"A user will qualify for each step in the funnel until they track the exclusion step. This means users who tracked the exclusion step are still able to enter the funnel and convert through steps."
Exclusion Steps (Exclude users who did…)So, in your scenario, the "Exclude" step does filter out users who viewed a second product detail page before clicking purchase.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.
Alex
·
·
kapa.ai How can I identify users who landed on a product detail page and clicked purchase without visiting any other pages or performing other events in between, without using an "Exclude" step? Is there a way to filter for users who went directly from product view to purchase with no intermediate activity?
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Let me check the knowledge base for you again. One moment! 📚
kapa.ai
APP
·
·
Based on the available knowledge sources, there is no explicit documentation describing a way to filter for users who went directly from a product detail page view to a purchase—with no intermediate events—without using an "Exclude" step in Mixpanel funnels. The documentation covers exclusion steps as the primary method for filtering out users who perform specific events between funnel steps Exclusion Steps (Exclude users who did…).There is no mention of a built-in filter or funnel setting that restricts analysis to users who performed two events consecutively with no other events in between, aside from using exclusion steps.In summary: I'm sorry, but the knowledge sources do not describe a way to achieve this in Mixpanel funnels without using an "Exclude" step.
kapa.ai is still learning and improving, please let me know how I did by reacting below.
ℹ️ Tip: Mention @kapa.ai in the thread for follow-ups or DM the app for 1-to-1 help.

41 comments

1. Metric: Detail Page Event with "First Time Ever"

2. Breakdown: Aggregate Property per User – Distinct Count per Interval

3. Filters: < 4 and > = 4

What Does This Setup Represent?

1. Users who triggered the event for the first time ever within a given date range

2. Users who have not triggered that event for the first time ever in that range

How to Use These Cohorts

1. Segmenting First-Time Ever Event Performers

2. Segmenting Users Who Did Not Perform the Event for the First Time During That Period

3. Applying Cohorts to the Funnel

4. Comparing Over Time

3. Filters: `< 4` and `> = 4`