Summary
By consistently tracking metrics such as sales conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, average order value, and customer lifetime value, you gain valuable insights into the performance of various aspects of your online store. These metrics help you identify trends, uncover potential issues, and assess the effectiveness of your marketing and sales strategies.
When running an online store, it's essential to monitor the performance to understand how well your business is doing. eCommerce metrics play a crucial role in this process.
These measurable data points provide insights into various aspects of your business, such as the average order size, the frequency of purchases by visitors, and the cost associated with acquiring new customers.
These metrics allow you to identify top-selling products, analyze purchasing frequency, spot potential issues in the checkout process that may prevent conversions and much more.
Now, we’ll cover the top 20 metrics every eCommerce store should track to improve their business.
Table of Contents
20 Important eCommerce Metrics To Track
eCommerce metrics help you measure things like the number of customers you’re attracting, how frequently customers return, and whether people are abandoning items in their carts, and more.
By tracking essential eCommerce KPIs, you can uncover valuable information about your business. While the specific metrics may vary based on a company’s priorities, there are 20 key metrics that all eCommerce brands should monitor.
1. Sales Conversion Rate
While there’s no particular order to these metrics, the conversion rate is definitely one of the most critical to track. This is tracked using a sales conversion tracking formula -
The formula is:
CVR = (Number of Purchases / Number of Sessions) x 100
Multiplying by 100 gives the actual percentage. You can also view the full conversion funnel, which shows how many visitors add items to their cart compared to how many proceed to checkout and complete their purchases. This helps you identify if issues, like a complicated checkout process, hinder conversions. It’s important that your conversion rate stays steady or improves over time, and any sudden drop might be a sign that something on your website needs attention.
2. Average Order Value
The average order value (AOV) helps you track revenue and set realistic customer acquisition goals. For instance, if your AOV is $45 and you aim to make $10,000 in a month, you’ll know you need at least 222 customers to meet your goal.
3. Customer Lifetime Value
Customer lifetime value, also known as CLTV or CLV, is the amount of money you may anticipate making from a client for the duration of that client's association with your company.
The formula is:
CLV = Average Value of a Purchase x Number of Purchases per Year x Average Length of Relationship (in Years)
For example, if a candle shop’s customers buy an average of 15 $20 candles a year for 10 years, their CLV would be $3,000. This metric helps determine how much you can spend on customer acquisition and which products drive the most long-term value.
4. Customer Acquisition Costs
The expense of acquiring a new customer is indicated by customer acquisition costs, or CAC. You must account for marketing costs while calculating this measure.
The formula is:
CAC = Total Marketing Spend / Number of New Customers
Your cost-per-acquisition (CAPC) would be $10 if, for example, you invested $1,000 in an advertising campaign and acquired 100 new clients. Monitoring CAC on a regular basis helps to prevent it from approaching or surpassing your CLV, which would reduce your profit margins.
5. Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate
The term "shopping cart abandonment" describes the practice of shoppers adding items to their carts but not checking out. It is not abnormal to have a high abandonment rate, but if it is 95% or over, there can be problems with your checkout process that need to be fixed.
6. Returning Customer Rate
The returning customer rate measures how many customers make repeat purchases from your store.
Here’s how to calculate the returning customer rate -
Returning Customer Rate = (Number of Returning Customers / Total Customers) x 100
If you’re struggling to increase this rate, it may be time to review the overall customer experience to see how it can be improved.
7. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who land on your website and leave without taking any further action. It’s a critical metric for all websites, not just eCommerce.
You can track bounce rates in Google Analytics, and reducing them involves ensuring your site is easy to navigate and immediately communicates what you sell.
8. Impressions
Whether or not a person interacts with an advertisement or piece of information, impressions indicate how frequently it is shown to them. Although interactions and sales are not guaranteed, high impressions are helpful for brand visibility.
9. Reach
Reach measures the number of unique users who have seen your content. Unlike impressions, reach only counts each user once, making it a valuable indicator of how well you’re reaching a broad audience.
10. Engagement
Engagement tracks how people interact with your content, including clicks, likes, shares, and comments. Higher engagement typically correlates with effective content strategies and strong audience connections.
11. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score asks customers how likely they are to suggest your company to others, which gauges customer loyalty and satisfaction. Responses are divided into detractors (6 or lower), passives (7–8), and promoters (9–10).
The equation is:
NPS = % of Promoters - % of Detractors
A high NPS indicates strong customer loyalty.
12. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures how often people click on a link in an email, ad, or social media post.
The formula is:
CTR = (Number of Clicks / Number of Impressions) x 100
It’s a key indicator of how well your campaigns drive traffic to your website.
13. Store Sessions by Traffic Source
This metric shows the number of visitors to your website and how they found you, such as through search engines, direct visits, social media, or email. It helps identify which marketing channels are most effective.
To track Store Sessions by Traffic Source, you can use the following methods depending on the platform you're using:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides detailed insights into how visitors are arriving at your website from various traffic sources. To track traffic sources:
14. Store Sessions by Device Type
This report shows which devices visitors are using to access your site, such as mobile, desktop, or tablet. It helps ensure your website is optimized for the most commonly used devices.
15. Store Sessions by Location
This metric shows where your customers are located, allowing you to tailor marketing strategies and product offerings to key regions.
16. Top Products by Units Sold
Tracking your best-selling products allows you to prepare for demand and adjust your inventory accordingly.
17. Month-End Inventory Snapshot
You may determine the overall value of your stock by using this report, which displays your remaining inventory at the end of each month.
18. Average Inventory Sold Per Day
This indicator can help you manage stock more effectively by showing you the average number of units sold each day by product variant.
19. Refund and Return Rate
You can detect possible problems with product quality or consumer expectations by keeping an eye on the percentage of products that customers return.
20. Churn Rate
Churn rate indicates how many customers cease using your service over a certain period. Businesses that rely on subscriptions must monitor client retention and take care of any problems that result in cancellations.
How Often Should I Check My eCommerce Metrics?
The frequency of your eCommerce metrics checks will mostly depend on the size of your company and the goals you have set. There is no hard and fast rule for this. However, the following general schedule can guide you:
Daily Monitoring
Checking metrics daily allows you to quickly spot issues or capitalize on opportunities. For example, a sudden drop in traffic could indicate a technical issue, while a spike in conversions might suggest a successful marketing campaign. It's especially crucial to track daily during seasonal events like Black Friday.
Website traffic, sales conversion rates, cart abandonment rates, and the effectiveness of ad expenditure are important indicators to track on a daily basis to analyze daily performance.
Weekly Monitoring
A weekly review helps you evaluate short-term trends and assess the success of recent marketing efforts. For instance, if customer acquisition costs (CAC) are gradually increasing, it may indicate your ads are becoming less effective, prompting a need for strategy adjustments.
Metrics commonly reviewed weekly include:
Monthly Monitoring
Monthly analysis provides a broader view of your business, allowing you to spot long-term trends and assess overall business health. Tracking metrics like revenue growth can help determine if your business is expanding or facing challenges.
Key monthly metrics include:
Quarterly/Annual Monitoring
Quarterly and annual evaluations provide a comprehensive view of your business performance. With the aid of these assessments, you may better understand how outside variables, such as competitors or market trends, are affecting your company and modify your strategy as necessary.
⇨ Why eCommerce Metrics Matter
Tracking your eCommerce metrics regularly is critical for three main reasons: monitoring business growth and performance, forecasting inventory needs, and measuring customer engagement.
1. Understand Performance
Reviewing your eCommerce metrics gives you insight into your business's overall growth and performance. This goes beyond just tracking daily sales—it's about identifying trends and whether those numbers are increasing or decreasing. For example, metrics like total sales, store visits, and revenue over time provide a clearer picture of your business’s trajectory. If performance is improving, you’re on the right track. If not, you may need to refine your marketing strategy, improve your checkout process, or update your site design to enhance the user experience.
2. Improve Forecasting
Analyzing metrics helps you identify popular products and shopping trends, enabling better forecasting. By understanding what sells and when, you can prepare for high-demand periods and plan sales promotions during slower seasons. Additionally, it aids in income prediction, enabling you to plan staffing and inventory levels with knowledge.
3. Gauge Website Engagement
eCommerce metrics also reveal how customers interact with your online store. You can track conversion rates, identify which product pages are popular, and assess overall website traffic. By reviewing these analytics, you can determine if your site's navigation and user experience are effective, or if adjustments are needed to improve customer flow and satisfaction.
