eCommerce Metrics: The Ultimate Guide for Your eCommerce Site

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Luckily, online sales make almost everything measurable. A high street shop can't tell how many people walked past, or what they did inside. You can.

The trick is picking what to track. Too much data is as unhelpful as too little. So here is a simple guide to the metrics that matter, stage by stage.

TL;DR

• Split your metrics by funnel stage: awareness, interest and conversion.

• Awareness metrics show who finds your store. Interest metrics show what they do. Conversion metrics show who buys.

• Return on sales shows how much of your revenue turns into profit.

• Start with the money metrics, then dig into the funnel to find leaks.

What eCommerce metrics should you measure on your website?

Start with the ones that match each stage of the buyer journey. Here is the full list we cover:

• Awareness. Clicks, impressions, click-through rate, average position, sessions and new users.

• Interest. Bounce rate, pages per session, average session time and product page views.

• Conversion. Revenue, conversion rate, transactions, average order value, cart-to-detail rate and buy-to-detail rate.

• Profitability. Return on sales.

What is the eCommerce sales funnel?

It is a way to split your metrics into the stages of a buyer's journey. First, shoppers become aware of your store. Then they get interested in your products. Finally, they buy. Looking at each stage on its own helps you see where you are losing people.

Which awareness metrics should you track?

Track how many relevant people find your store. If shoppers don't know about your products, they can't buy them. Awareness starts before they reach your site, when your link shows up in search results.

The best free tool for this is the Performance report in Google Search Console. It shows four top-level numbers:

• Total clicks. How many people clicked a link to your site.

• Impressions. How often people saw your link in search results.

• Click-through rate. The share of impressions that led to a click.

• Average position. Where your site usually appears in results.

You can filter by search term, page, country, device and date. Your analytics landing page report adds more. It shows sessions, new users and the percentage of first-time visits. Add the traffic source, and you can see which marketing channels work best.

Which interest metrics should you track?

Track what visitors do once they arrive. This is the middle of the funnel, where you need to persuade them to buy. Your landing page report shows three key numbers:

• Bounce rate. The share of visits where someone left after one page. A low rate means an engaged audience.

• Pages per session. How many pages the average visitor views.

• Average session time. How long the average visit lasts.

Also look at your product pages. Some pages matter more than others. A thousand people on a product page, with "add to cart" one click away, is worth more than a thousand people reading a blog post. A behavior flow report then shows how visitors move through your site and where they drop off.

Which conversion metrics should you track?

Track how many visitors buy, and where the others fall away. This is the most rewarding stage, and the most frustrating. Measure it constantly. That way you know if you have a problem, and you can fix it early.

With eCommerce tracking set up, your analytics tool shows these numbers:

• Revenue. Total income from sales. It may include tax and shipping, depending on your setup.

• Conversion rate. The percentage of sessions that end in a purchase.

• Transactions. The number of completed purchases.

• Average order value. The average value of each purchase.

Four reports help you find leaks:

• Shopping behavior. It shows how many people go from a visit to the cart, then to checkout, then to a purchase.

• Checkout behavior. It zooms in on how customers move through checkout.

• Product performance. It shows which products sell and how much each adds. Two handy numbers are cart-to-detail rate (adds to cart divided by product views) and buy-to-detail rate (purchases divided by product views).

• Product list performance. It lets you group products by category, search term or "customers also bought" blocks, and compare how each group does.

How do you measure profitability with return on sales?

Use return on sales. It shows how much of your revenue you actually keep as profit. Sales can look great while profit stays thin, and this metric catches that.

What is return on sales?

Return on sales (ROS), also called operating profit margin, shows how much of your revenue becomes profit after your running costs. A high ROS means you keep much of what you earn. A low ROS means most of it goes on costs. It helps new sellers avoid a common trap: high revenue with no profit.

Here is the formula:

• Net profit = net revenue minus operating expenses

• Return on sales = net profit divided by net revenue, times 100

How do you calculate return on sales?

Pick a period, like a month or quarter. Add up your net revenue across every channel. Add up your operating expenses, like product costs, staff wages and warehouse rent. Leave out tax, interest and currency exchange, because they vary outside your control. Then run the formula.

For example, say a pet supplies store makes $100,000 in sales and has $85,000 in operating expenses.

• Net profit = $100,000 minus $85,000 = $15,000

• Return on sales = $15,000 divided by $100,000, times 100 = 15%

So the store keeps 15 cents of every dollar it earns.

What is a good return on sales for an online store?

It depends. There is no single target, because ROS varies a lot by store. Your eCommerce niche and products matter. So does your business model, since high-volume, low-margin stores naturally have a lower ROS. The age of your business matters too, because new stores often reinvest their profit. A good plan is to compare with similar stores in your niche, and aim to improve your own ROS a little each month or quarter.

To raise your ROS, grow revenue or cut expenses. On the revenue side, try SEO, PPC, email and other eCommerce marketing techniques. You can also ask for reviews with a tool like eDesk Feedback, and sell higher-value items. On the cost side, renegotiate your logistics costs, use tools that save time, and look for waste. Don't cut anything that would hurt your long-term profit.

Which eCommerce metrics should you track first?

Start with the money. Track conversion rate, average order value and return on sales. Then use your awareness and interest metrics to find where the funnel leaks. Used well, metrics warn you about problems and show you where a product could sell more.

Ready to track your support numbers too? Book a Free Demo to see how eDesk reports on response times and customer satisfaction across all your sales channels.

Frequently asked questions

1. What are the most important eCommerce metrics?

Conversion rate, average order value and return on sales are good starting points, because they tie straight to revenue and profit. Awareness and interest metrics then help you find leaks in your funnel.

2. What is return on sales?

It is the share of your revenue that turns into profit after operating expenses. It is also called operating profit margin.

3. How do I calculate return on sales?

Subtract operating expenses from net revenue to get net profit. Then divide net profit by net revenue and multiply by 100.

4. What is the eCommerce sales funnel?

It splits the buyer journey into awareness, interest and conversion. Each stage has its own metrics, so you can see where you lose shoppers.

5. How do I raise my return on sales?

Increase revenue, cut expenses, or both. Better marketing, more reviews and higher-value items grow revenue. Lower shipping costs and time-saving tools cut expenses. Keep any cuts from hurting long-term profit.