How has business been lately on the eCommerce front? Good? Bad? Steady? Regardless of whether quotas and goals have been met, there is always room for improvement, and systematic ways to ensure the dream to get better results becomes a reality. In some cases, you may need special software to keep track metrics, but if that becomes a hard sell, you can always manually create a spreadsheet to past numbers with present, and determine what the future numbers should be.
Okay, so let’s say you just opened Microsoft Excel, or Apple Numbers, or Google Sheets. Now what? What are the metrics worth keeping track of? Whether you sell merchandise to other businesses, or to consumers directly, the following metrics will assist with goal-setting, so long as you keep it as simple as possible.
- Average Order Size: You can calculate the average order size by taking the total amount in sales, and dividing it by the number of orders in a given time period. This could help you reevaluate things, as there will be instances where there will be an increase in traffic and conversion rates, but a decrease in order sizes. You may want to get your marketing team involved in any discussions that come out of this.
- Revenue: We advise you keep track of this on a monthly basis, though there are many brands who choose to go the weekly route. Again, all about simplicity. There may be multiple subcategories under revenue, including online/offline and after-market.
- Revenue by Channel: This is basic know-how for anyone who works with Google Analytics. Track revenue by channel, such as paid search, organic search, email, and direct. You can also track traffic and conversion rate by channel.
- Conversions by Device: Keep track of conversion rates on desktop, mobile, and tablets. You would be surprised to see how mobile commerce fares in comparison to desktop. Due to the increase in mobile phone usage, customers who make purchases on mobile tend to spend more.
- Ship Time: When it comes to order placement and fulfillment, the quicker the turnaround, the happier the customer. Monitor your ship time and see what can be done to reduce it. You may be able to turn it into a competitive advantage.
- Purchase Frequency: You can calculate this by taking the number of orders placed online over a given time divided by the number of unique customers for the same period. This metric provides insight into the lifetime value of customers
- Operating Income: This is revenue minus the cost of goods sold minus operating expenses.
Keeping track of these metrics will help you set goals and create a plan to reach them. In some cases, that may require some difficult changes in terms of processes, or even look into new innovations. As tempting as it may be, don’t focus on a single metric and lose sight of the overall picture. After all, greater revenue won’t necessarily translate to greater profits. Good luck in measuring your progress!