Most Important Ecommerce Metrics to Track for Success

To succeed in ecommerce, you need to track the right metrics.

Conversion rate is a crucial metric to track, as it measures the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase. A high conversion rate indicates a well-designed website and effective marketing strategies.

Understanding your average order value (AOV) is also essential, as it can help you identify opportunities to increase revenue. For example, if your AOV is $50, you may consider offering upsells or bundling products to increase the average order value.

Tracking customer acquisition cost (CAC) is vital to ensure you're not overspending on marketing efforts. A high CAC can indicate that your marketing strategies need adjustment.

Conversion rate is a vital ecommerce metric to track, as it gives an excellent overview of website performance.

Breaking down conversion rate into macro and micro conversions helps e-commerce marketers identify areas that need improvement. Macro-conversion is when a customer completes a purchase by placing an order.

The sales funnel involves micro-conversions, such as when a user clicks on a product, adds an item to their shopping cart, or clicks through to checkout.

Tracking these specific metrics allows e-merchants to identify points where customers are dropping out along the sales cycle.

If an e-merchant is losing a lot of customers at the add-to-cart stage, they may want to look into why that is.

A simple on-page audit, followed by some testing, can identify what's putting users off, such as the quality of the image, the positioning of buttons, or the pricing that's causing problems.

E-merchants need to discover where their customers are dropping out and then make data-driven decisions to improve their website performance.

Website speed is a crucial aspect of website performance. Nearly 70% of consumers admit that a website's speed influences how likely they are to buy and return to the website.

Google's page experience update gives a bump up in search results to webpages that are faster than others. This means that a fast website can give you an edge in search engine rankings.

With MonsterInsights, you can access your speed report right from your WordPress dashboard, and see all the most important site speed metrics, along with tips for how to improve them.

Website speed is a crucial aspect of website performance. Nearly 70% of consumers admit that a website's speed influences how likely they are to buy and return to the website.

Google's page experience update gives a bump up in search results to webpages that are faster than others. This means that a fast website can actually give you an edge in search engine rankings.

You can access your speed report right from your WordPress dashboard with MonsterInsights. This tool provides all the most important site speed metrics, along with tips for how to improve them.

Google Analytics 4 does not include a site speed report, but you can find site speed details in Search Console.

Session Duration is a key metric to understand how users interact with your website. More time on site means more interest in what you have to offer.

The average session duration is a good indicator of user engagement, and it's calculated by subtracting the time the app or website was launched from the time the user leaves.

A longer session duration suggests that users are finding value in your content, and it's a good sign for your website's performance.

Traffic and engagement are two of the most important ecommerce metrics to track. You can find traffic source information in Google Analytics by viewing the top channels in the Acquisition panel.

Understanding your traffic source distribution is crucial, as it helps you improve your marketing and sales efforts. A good traffic source distribution is one that aligns with your business goals and results. If you notice that a particular channel is not performing well, you may want to redistribute your efforts.

You can track website traffic by subtracting the current month's number of site visits from the prior month, then dividing the result by the number of visits last month. This will give you a percentage increase or decrease in traffic.

Ecommerce site traffic covers three types of website visitors: total users, new users, and returning users. You can track user counts in Google Analytics > Acquisition panel. It's a good idea to start by tracking traffic on a weekly basis, as daily traffic can fluctuate widely.

A good engagement metric is one that shows a balance between impressions and reach. This can be achieved by promoting your brand and product continuously, rather than just focusing on one-off efforts.

Click-through rate (CTR) is a conversion rate optimization metric that measures the effectiveness of a call-to-action (CTA).

It's calculated by dividing the number of people who clicked by the number of people who saw the CTA, and then multiplying by 100. This gives you a percentage of how many people are actually clicking on your CTA.

A well-designed email can positively impact your email click-through rate, which is the number of email subscribers who clicked through to your site. This includes factors like mobile-friendly design, strong calls-to-action, and good subject lines.

You should cross-check your traffic source with your CTR to see if they're matching up. If you're investing a lot in social media but getting very little social traffic, you may want to redistribute your efforts.

Total users refer to the overall number of people visiting your site in a given period. You can track user counts in Google Analytics under the Acquisition panel.

New users are first-time visitors to your website, and returning users are people who've visited your site before. It's essential to track both new and returning users to understand your site's engagement and conversion rates.

To find total, new, and returning users, start by tracking user counts in Google Analytics under the Acquisition panel. Daily traffic fluctuates widely, so it's recommended to track traffic on a weekly basis to avoid unnecessary stress.

Here are the three types of website visitors:

By tracking these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into your site's engagement and conversion rates, helping you make data-driven decisions to improve your online marketing efforts.

Email sign-up is a crucial aspect of building a loyal customer base. According to Sumo's analysis of over 3.2 billion sessions, the average email opt-in rate is a mere 1.95%.

To boost your email opt-in rate, consider offering an incentive, like a discount on a future purchase. This can be a game-changer for driving conversions.

Providing something valuable for free, like a guide on a topic related to your ecommerce products, can also increase sign-ups. I've seen it work wonders for businesses that offer high-quality content.

Here are some tips to make your email sign-up process more effective:

By following these tips, you can significantly improve your email opt-in rate and build a loyal customer base that will drive repeat business and boost sales.

Engagement is the intersection of your impressions and your reach, revealing how many of your followers and subscribers engage with your content. This can include acquisition-related activities like click-through, but also non-acquisition-related activities such as likes and shares.

To boost engagement, focus on promoting your brand and product continuously, rather than making one-off efforts. This approach is more like farming, where you tend to your efforts over time, rather than hunting for a quick fix.

Engagement metrics, such as click-through rate, can help you understand what's working and what's not. For example, email click-through rate measures how many of your email subscribers clicked through to your site, and you can positively impact this by creating well-designed emails with strong calls-to-action and good subject lines.

By analyzing engagement metrics and optimizing your content and marketing efforts, you can attract the right audience and improve your online store's user experience.

Conversion and sales are the lifeblood of any e-commerce business. Understanding your sales conversion rates is critical to determining how much traffic is required to generate your target sales. This number is a key metric to track.

To get a clear picture, you need to dissect your conversion rate metric in more granular ways, such as setting conversion rates by channel, category of products, and campaign.

Here are some key ways to do this:

Your eCommerce revenue is the most important metric for your store, reflecting the overall health of your store.

Conversion Rate (CVR) is a crucial metric for any online store. It's the percentage of site visitors who make a purchase, indicating how well you're attracting the right buyers.

To calculate conversion rate, you need to divide the number of people who purchase by the number of people who visited your website, then multiply by 100. This will give you the percentage of visitors who convert into customers.

A drop in conversion rate can flag a campaign targeting the wrong audience or a UX issue in your checkout process. It's essential to monitor your conversion rate regularly to identify areas for improvement.

Here are some key ways to dissect your conversion rate metric:

By understanding your conversion rate more granularly, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your sales conversion rates and maximize growth for your campaigns.

Creating an index to summarize your ecommerce performance can be a game-changer. It helps you track your progress across multiple marketing channels at once.

You can select a few key metrics, like sales, website traffic, or social media engagement, and determine the KPIs for each. For example, if two of your metrics are performing at 90% of your goal, and the other two are at 100%, your index would be .95.

This index can give you a clear picture of your overall performance, even if some areas are doing better than others.

Customer satisfaction is a crucial metric to track in ecommerce. Measuring customer satisfaction can be done with a customer satisfaction survey that asks customers to rate their satisfaction on a 5-point scale, or with a binary yes/no or through a live feedback widget.

A good customer satisfaction score varies by industry and scale used, but a positive score of 75% or higher is considered good. To calculate CSAT, you divide the total number of positive scores by the number of respondents and multiply by 100.

Here's a quick breakdown of how to calculate CSAT: CSAT = (Total positive scores / Number of respondents) x 100.

Having a clear refund and return policy is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction. A high refund rate can have a huge impact on overall profit, with estimates suggesting that for every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer incurs $165 million in merchandise returns.

Returns can be a powerful driver to entice potential customers to hit 'buy now', especially if a customer knows your store offers free returns or exchanges. This can alleviate worries about buyer's remorse.

To calculate your refund rate, divide the total number of purchases later returned or refunded by the total number of purchases made. This will give you a percentage that indicates the number of customers who are taking advantage of your refund policy.

It's essential to balance your refund policy with the need to protect your business from excessive returns. If you have a high return rate, investigate your quality control measures, product descriptions, and product detail pages to ensure they are accurate and set the right expectations for customers.

Here are some potential reasons for a high return rate and possible solutions:

By understanding and addressing the root causes of high returns, you can create a refund and return policy that benefits both your customers and your business.

Email Opt-in is a crucial step in building a loyal customer base. Having access to customers' email addresses lets you reach out in the future and stay top of mind.

The average email opt-in rate is a mere 1.95%, according to Sumo's analysis of over 3.2 billion sessions.

To boost your email opt-in rate, consider offering an incentive, like a discount on a future purchase, or providing something valuable for free, like a guide on a topic related to your products.

By making your subscribe forms easily visible to site visitors, you can increase the chances of getting people to sign up.

Here are some effective ways to make your subscribe forms more visible:

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a key metric for measuring customer satisfaction. It's based on a simple two-question survey.

You'll ask customers how likely they are to recommend your business to a friend or colleague, on a scale of 1-10. Then, you'll ask them to explain their score. The responses are then categorized into three groups: detractors, passives, and promoters.

Detractors are customers who give a score of 0-6, while passives give a score of 7-8. Promoters, on the other hand, give a score of 9-10. This categorization helps you understand the reasons behind each score.

To calculate your NPS, you'll subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. This score is automatically calculated and tracked over time if you're using Hotjar surveys.

Here's a quick rundown of the NPS categories:

Passives are an important source of information, as they're not dissatisfied, but not entirely satisfied either. Reviewing their qualitative responses can give you valuable insights into key product improvements.

Customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect of any business, and it's measured through a metric called CSAT, or Customer Satisfaction score. CSAT measures people's overall satisfaction with a product or service.

You can use CSAT right after someone makes a purchase, while they're browsing your website, or as a monthly pulse check. This helps you gauge how satisfied customers are with your product or service.

CSAT is calculated by dividing the total number of positive scores by the number of respondents, and then multiplying by 100. For example, if you have 100 respondents and 80 of them give a positive score, your CSAT would be 80%.

A good CSAT score varies by industry and scale used, but a positive score of 75% or higher is generally considered good.

To track your ecommerce performance, you need to know what metrics to focus on. The most important ecommerce metrics include ecommerce revenue, average order value, and customer lifetime value.

Tracking these metrics allows you to make informed decisions and gain insight into customer behavior. This helps you understand your inventory needs and strategize for future business growth.

You should track ecommerce metrics regularly to continually improve and adjust strategies. This is especially important for businesses with a digital presence and an ecommerce site, as you can collect data about customer behaviors and preferences in real time.

To track website traffic, you can subtract the current month's number of site visits from the prior month, then divide the result by the number of visits last month. This will give you a percentage increase or decrease in site traffic.

Some key ecommerce metrics to track include shopping cart abandonment, website speed, and advertising cost vs revenue. These metrics will help you identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Here are the top 9 ecommerce metrics to track:

By tracking these metrics, you can gain a competitive edge in the fast-paced ecommerce market and drive revenue and customer satisfaction.

Shopify, for example, has over 1 million active merchants, which is a testament to its popularity and user-friendly interface.

The average conversion rate for Shopify stores is around 1.5%, which is slightly lower than other platforms.

BigCommerce, on the other hand, boasts an average conversion rate of 2.5%.

WooCommerce, a popular plugin for WordPress, has over 4 million active installations, making it one of the most widely used ecommerce platforms.

The ease of use and flexibility of WooCommerce are major reasons why it's a favorite among online sellers.

Magento, an open-source ecommerce platform, has a conversion rate of around 2.2%, which is higher than many other platforms.

Overall, the choice of ecommerce platform depends on the specific needs and goals of the online seller.