Ecommerce Metrics & KPIs: Ways to Monitor your Success in 2025

What is one thing that lets you make informed decisions to improve the bottom line for your business? 

Analytics and metrics!

No matter whether you want to boost your engagement or drive conversions, numbers are something that gives you a clear idea of how well your efforts have been going and the areas where you can make further improvements. 

Every kind of business, regardless of the mode of operations, needs solid analytics backing its growth. These analytics ensure that your decisions are based on solid numbers and not guesswork. This fact is true for all kinds of businesses and an e-commerce one is no exception. 

How many new visitors came to your website, the number of messages you sent that got delivered, and how many of the engaged leads were converted into customers, knowing all these things is crucial for deploying a successful e-commerce marketing strategy.

However, knowing these metrics (or other important ones) and using them to make the right decisions is at the core of effective e-commerce processes. That is why, in this blog, I will explore some of the most valuable e-commerce metrics and KPIs you should track to maximize the returns on your investment. Let’s dive into it!

What’s the difference between a metric and a KPI for an e-commerce business?

In business and marketing, metrics and KPIs are used interchangeably. However, they both define different aspects. A metric is a number that measures how well a sales process is performing but a KPI is a value that directly impacts your business goals and success. 

For example, metrics include website traffic, email open rates, or customer retention rate while the KPIs comprise customer acquisition cost, revenue growth rate, and churn rate.

Now that you have understood the difference between a metric and a KPI in the context of e-commerce, comes the question of how often you should track these numbers. 

The answer to that question depends on your e-commerce business and the goal you are trying to achieve. Based on this aspect, there are metrics that have to be monitored every week, month, quarter, or half-yearly. 

Common traffic trends and customer engagement metrics need to be tracked on a weekly basis while the average order value, cost per acquisition, and abandoned cart rates can be monitored each month to gain meaningful information. 

In contrast to that, metrics that require a large sample size and involve pattern analysis, have to be kept an eye on a bi-monthly or quarterly basis. Email opening rates, omnichannel engagement efficiency, click-through rates, and customer lifetime value are examples of some of the metrics that you need to monitor to get an idea of how well your business is going in the long term.

Key e-commerce metrics and KPIs you should track

Before you can begin tracking your e-commerce metrics, you need to identify the right ones that can provide you with information that can help you optimize your e-commerce processes.

One of the ways to find out the right metrics for your business is to divide your goals based on the stages of the customer journey. Every stage of this journey involves different activities which serve to achieve different goals. 

For example, the top of the funnel is all about building brand awareness while the bottom stage involves conversion-focused tactics. This goes to show that the metrics revolving around each stage greatly vary from one another. 

Having said that, let’s start looking into these e-commerce metrics according to the stages of the customer journey and how you can utilize them to enhance the efficiency of your online business. 

E-commerce metrics as per the stages of the sales funnel

Customers perform their due diligence before they make a purchase. You cannot expect them to buy your offerings before learning more about your business or the product. 

The entry stages of the sales funnel or top of the funnel require building awareness for your e-commerce brand to showcase the benefits of your products. Here, promotional campaigns and brand-building initiatives are the most common activities performed in these stages. So, your metrics should also revolve around these tasks. 

Awareness stage

Below are some of the e-commerce metrics you should monitor at this stage:

Business reach

How well your store is known and the market segments you have tapped. It includes your entire audience base, consisting of your subscribers and users. It essentially consists of all the people who are aware of your business or interact with your outreach. 

Having a large number of user base allows you to promote your offerings across various platforms and countries. This fact increases the chances of getting more conversions to boost your business success. 

Customer engagement

Engagement metrics give you an idea of how well your audience is interacting with your marketing efforts. Likes, shares, reposts, and comments are a few of the examples of metrics you need to track. By leveraging this data and using the right customer engagement strategies, you can increase the likelihood of driving potential customers to your platform. 

Impressions

Impressions are secondary metrics that help you track how many times your advertisements or posts have been seen by your target audience. Increasing the impressions lets you enhance the probability of users clicking on them, resulting in them completing the desired action.

Consideration stage

After the leads are informed about your offerings, now is the time to nurture them with constant, relevant messaging. Here, since the focus is on lead nurturing, the metrics in this stage are all related to delivery and engagement. 

Click-through rate

The click-through rate indicates how many users have clicked on the CTA within your messages. If a user has not clicked on the actionable button, there is a good chance that they are not ready for a purchase or the message is irrelevant to them. 

Inherently, different channels offer varying click-through rates. For example, traditional channels like email and SMS offer an average of 2 to 5% and 19 to 46% respectively. In contrast, WhatsApp offers a click-through rate of 45 to 60%. 

To calculate the click-through rate for your marketing campaigns, you can use the following formula: 

Click-Through Rate = (Clicks / Total Messages Sent) x 100

If you see that you have a low CTR, then modifying your content, designs, and themes can help you boost it to a desirable level. You can also conduct A/B testing with different templates, email subject lines, and call-to-actions to enhance effectiveness.

Acquisition rate (organic & paid)

How well your organic and paid marketing campaigns are performing is also crucial to maximize your ROI. That being said, the acquisition rate allows you to stay on top of your outreach efforts. 

Having a high acquisition rate signals that you are able to convert prospects more easily and without requiring much resources. On the other hand, a low acquisition rate indicates the opposite. Here is a formula to know your acquisition rate: 

Acquisition rate = (New customers acquired in a particular period/ Total prospects within the same period) x 100

Add to cart rate

Since this is a consideration stage, many users add items to their carts. This indicates the level of purchase intent and how well your product pages are convincing users to take the next step. Below is a formula to calculate your add-to-cart rate: 

Add to cart rate = (Number of sessions when an item is added to a Cart/ Total sessions​) x 100

A high add-to-cart rate suggests strong interest and effective product presentation. While a low rate may signify issues with your marketing or sales processes.

Conversion stage

After you have successfully nurtured a lead and they are ready to buy your product, you need to see how well you can convert prospects. Here are a few of the metrics to keep track of your conversion and optimize your checkout process. 

Cost per acquisition

How much money do you spend to acquire a customer? 

The answer to this question lies in the cost per acquisition (CPA) metric. If you are running an e-commerce store, then knowing the CPA can help you determine how you can enhance your conversion efforts. 

Formula: 

CPA = Total cost of acquiring new customers /Number of new customers acquired

Your CPA rate can be a sign to tell you that you have to focus on improving your outreach. E-commerce personalization can be a great way to encourage leads to take action quickly, thereby reducing the resources you need to convert them.

Checkout abandonment

Nothing hurts more than nurturing leads all the way through the sales funnel just to lose them at the checkout. So, to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you, you need to sharply monitor the checkout abandonment rate and take the necessary steps to streamline your checkout process. 

The formula to find it out is: 

Checkout abandonment = [1 - (Completed checkouts/ Total initiated checkouts)] x 100

So, for example, if the completed checkouts are 50 and the total initiated checkouts are 100, then your checkout abandonment rate would be [1 - (50/100)] x 100 equalling 50%. 

A high checkout rate has to be rectified immediately with seamless checkout practices like one-click checkout, multiple payment options, or saved payment details.

Cart abandonment rate

Abandoned carts are common in the e-commerce industry. In fact, the average cart abandonment rate in the e-commerce space is around 70%.

Measuring your cart abandonment and knowing how many users have left your website without finishing buying the product allows you to run targeted outreach campaigns to convert these users. 

Cart abandonment rate = (Number of abandoned carts/ Total number of carts) x 100

Customer retention stage 

Once a customer has completed the purchase, you have to think about post-purchase engagement to ensure they keep coming back for repeat purchases. Concentrating on these customer retention metrics will give you a good headstart in this direction.

Customer retention rate

As implied by the name, the customer retention rate enables you to measure how many customers have returned to your store for a repeat purchase within a specified time period. A higher retention rate showcases that customers are happy with your business and are sticking with your product or service. 

To calculate your retention rate, you can use the following formula: 

Customer retention rate: [(E-N)/S] x 100

E = Number of customers at the end of a specific period.

N = Number of new customers acquired within the same period.

S = Number of customers at the beginning of the same time period. 

Customer retention rate tells how well you are retaining your current customers. It has nothing to do with how quickly you are acquiring them or how long they have been with you. 

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLV) provides you with an estimate of how much value you can earn from a customer throughout their stay with your business. It is a metric that gives you a peek into the future of your business. 

A high CLV value signifies that your product is well-received by your audience, demonstrating a good match between your offerings and the requirements of your customers. Calculating the CLV value is a bit more difficult compared to the other metrics mentioned above. 

It requires you to figure out the average purchase value, average purchase frequency, and retention time period. Using these you can find out the lifetime value by:

Lifetime value (LV) = Average purchase value x Average purchase frequency x Customer value

After you have the LV, you can calculate the CLV by: 

CLV = LV x gross profit margin

Refund rate

High refund and return rates can be a significant challenge for your online store. No matter how much revenue you are generating, you can still struggle if your return rates become excessive. Monitoring these figures is crucial for maintaining a solid revenue stream without worrying about ever going in the red. 

Refund rate = (Number of refunds/ Total products sold) x 100

Although refunds are considered negative metrics, they can also serve as a compelling incentive for hesitant buyers. By implementing a free return policy, you can address the common sales objection that most shoppers have, “Will I be stuck with this product if I don’t like it?”

Instead of viewing returns as a liability, leverage them as an opportunity to build trust and encourage sales. However, if you are seeing a pattern in your returns or a large number of customers are asking for a refund, then you have to figure out the reason associated with it. 

Churn rate

The churn rate measures how many customers stop purchasing from your store over a given timeframe. It provides insight into customer retention and loyalty. Based on the type of product and customer journey, the resources invested in nurturing each customer may vary. 

Churn rate = [(Customers at the start of a period - Customers at the end of a period)/ Customers at the start of a period] x 100

Churn rate is a crucial metric to track as it can have a long-lasting negative impact on your e-commerce business. Getting lost customers to come back can require serious efforts with no guarantee that they will ever return. So, it is always better to keep the churn rate under control from the get-go.

Leverage these e-commerce metrics & KPIs to scale your business

Running a thriving e-commerce business demands focus across multiple areas, from designing your store and establishing your name for yourself. 

Understanding the key e-commerce metrics and KPIs outlined in this blog post will provide valuable insights into your store's performance. These metrics will help pinpoint strengths, and reveal opportunities for optimization to allow you to refine your sales strategies and enhance both your overall success and profitability.

If you are searching for an e-commerce marketing solution to make the most of your initiatives, then Zixflow is the platform designed for you. With its advanced automation capabilities and multichannel engagement, it lets you streamline your outreach from a single platform. See the platform in action with its 7-day free trial.