When you first launch an ecommerce business, most of your time and resources will go into setting up the site and facilitating orders. Key performance indicators (KPIs) probably aren’t on your radar yet.
However, as you get more comfortable with running an ecommerce store, you’ll eventually want to start focusing on optimization and improvements — which is where ecommerce KPIs come into play.
Unlike brick-and-mortar stores, online businesses have access to a wealth of tools, data, and insights that can help business owners glean trends and measure performance.
These ecommerce KPIs can alert you to certain problems related to your website, products, and business model.
Whether you’re using Google Analytics, Hotjar, Coremetrics, or another analytics tool, the important part is that you’re implementing systems to help you assess and improve your ecommerce business.[AB1]
When considering what ecommerce KPIs to measure, don’t get distracted by vanity metrics that only serve to make your website look good. Focus on ecommerce KPIs that can drive your business forward and help you grow successfully.
Let’s take a look.
Average order value
The average order value (AOV) provides information on the typical amount of money that customers spend per visit.
The AOV for a coffee shop like Starbucks likely hovers around $7. The AOV for a jewelry store might be $400 or more, depending on the market.
AOV is an important ecommerce KPI to track because it can be influenced by your marketing efforts — a survey by the National Retail Federation found that 75% of consumers expect shipping to be free on orders below $50.
This means that shoppers might leave if they have to pay for shipping. By setting a free shipping threshold (e.g., $35, $50, or even $100 depending on your average order), you can encourage customers to spend more.
For example, if your average order is $85, you can set a free shipping threshold of $100, encouraging most customers to spend an extra $15 to save money on shipping. [AB2]
The coupons you develop, the customers you attract, and the products you promote will all impact your AOV, reflecting the success of your business.
Cart abandonment rate
The cart abandonment rate is an ecommerce KPI that tracks the percentage of people who add items to their carts without completing the purchase.
This number varies by website and industry, but the universal average for 2023 is 69.57%. This means that despite your efforts to bring people to your website and promote your products, 70% of people who add items aren’t going to buy them.
Cart abandonment can highlight issues in your ecommerce business, such as a long or complicated checkout process.
Most ecommerce experts suggest keeping the checkout process as streamlined as possible — including but not limited to allowing guest checkouts, automatically using the same address for billing and shipping, and adding one-click payment options like PayPal or Amazon Pay.
Once you know your cart abandonment rate, you can start making decisions to lower this number.
By improving the checkout process, providing better product information, and sending out abandoned cart notifications, you can encourage customers to complete their purchases. Small changes in this ecommerce KPI can add up and quickly grow your sales.
Conversion rate
This is an important metric for any online business, so it pays to develop a deeper understanding. Let’s dive into the details.
Defining conversion rate
Conversion rate (CR) can refer to various conversion events beyond purchases, such as account registrations or other desired actions.
Calculating conversion rate
CR is calculated by taking the number of conversions and dividing it by the number of total ad interactions tracked to a conversion during the same time period.
For example, if you had 50 conversions from 1,000 interactions, your conversion rate would be 5%, since 50 ÷ 1,000 = 5%.
If you’re tracking more than one conversion action, or you choose to count “Every” conversion, your conversion rate might be over 100% because more than one conversion can be counted for each interaction.
Setting ROI expectations
This percentage can set ROI expectations and guide strategic decisions when scaling marketing campaigns, incorporating industry benchmarks and vertical-specific conversion expectations.
Conversion rates provide insights such as whether you’re attracting the right audience, have technical issues with your site, or need to optimize your pages better.
Implementing conversion tracking
Implement robust conversion tracking tools to accurately measure and compare CR across different marketing channels, using multiple data sources like heatmaps and CRM data to inform optimization strategies and address UX issues.
You can analyze CR at a high level by looking at everyone who lands on your site or drill down to specific product pages.
Additionally, you can examine CR by department, AOV, and cart position. For example, if you find that customers who view lower-priced products are less likely to convert, you can try to change their behavior by improving product descriptions or lowering the shipping threshold.
CR is another ecommerce KPI where minor adjustments can significantly increase your profits.
Cost per acquisition
A successful ecommerce business balances sales with operational costs. The price of materials, manufacturing, and marketing efforts all impact the profits from your site.
At the very least, your team should track the cost per acquisition (CPA) ecommerce KPI to understand how much it costs to bring people to your business and get them to convert.
At a high level, divide your total marketing cost for the month by the number of sales over the same period.
For example, if your site spends $2,000 on marketing and attracts 100 customers, your CPA is $20. CPA is an ecommerce KPI that is often broken down by marketing channel.
If you are trying to determine whether Instagram or another platform is a better marketing investment, you would look at the CPA.
But multiple factors contribute to profitability. For instance, one platform may have a higher CPA because it attracts new customers who have a higher AOV.
With your CPA, you can assess the profitability of your marketing efforts. If your CPA is $20 and your AOV is $40, you are likely making money.
However, if your CPA is $38 and your AOV is $40, your total profits will be much smaller.
Customer lifetime value
Another ecommerce KPI to monitor as you grow your business is customer lifetime value (CLV). The simplest way to track this metric is to multiply your AOV by the number of customer visits per year and their average time spent with your company.
Using Starbucks as an example again, a $7 AOV from a customer who visits three times per week is $21.
Over the course of a year, that customer is worth $1,092 to the coffee shop. Over five years, they are worth $5,460.
Every company has its own CLV. Bookstores and clothing retailers might get visitors monthly, while car dealerships only see some customers once a decade.
CLV is useful when tracking your CPA. Initially, it might not seem profitable for a coffee shop to spend $30 to acquire a $7 customer.
But with enough loyalty, that $30 can pay off significantly when you consider the future value of that customer.
Develop a dashboard to track your KPIs
Once you have identified which ecommerce KPIs are most important for monitoring the health of your site, develop a process to check them regularly.
Some companies achieve this through Google Analytics reports or by developing their own reporting tools that provide insights into the information they need. Your report should not only be clear but also valuable.
For example, a costume retailer might not need to compare sales in October to those in November if Halloween is their biggest sales holiday.
Still, they would want to see how the AOV and CPA ecommerce KPIs have changed year-over-year. Test different views to maximize the value of your data. Remember, tracking and measuring ecommerce KPIs is just the first step — now you need to start setting goals.
