---
title: "E-Commerce Metrics: The 15 KPIs You Need to Track and Their Calculation Formulas"
description: "What are e-commerce metrics? This guide covers the formula, a worked example and the tracking frequency of 15 KPIs, including conversion rate, average cart value, CAC, ROAS, CLV and return rate."
url: https://www.faprika.com/en/blog/e-commerce-metrics
language: en
site: Faprika
---

# E-Commerce Metrics: The 15 KPIs You Need to Track and Their Calculation Formulas

> What are e-commerce metrics? This guide covers the formula, a worked example and the tracking frequency of 15 KPIs, including conversion rate, average cart value, CAC, ROAS, CLV and return rate.

Dozens of numbers flow through an e-commerce site every day: visitor count, order count, revenue, ad spend, returns, stock. For a manager who does not know which to look at, the sheer number of figures is noise, not information. Revenue rising while profit melts away, ad budgets growing while new customers shrink, or visitors increasing while orders stand still are often the result of looking at the wrong number.

The right **e-commerce metrics** turn this noise into decisions. In this guide we group the 15 core performance indicators (KPIs) to track in e-commerce into five groups: we explain what each one tells you, how it is calculated and how to improve it; then we walk through calculations on a sample store, the relationships between metrics and how often to check each one.

Key Takeaway

“Three levers grow revenue: visitors, conversion and average cart value. Three levers protect profit: margin, customer acquisition cost and repeat purchase. A good manager watches all six at once.”

## What Are E-Commerce Metrics?

E-commerce metrics are numerical indicators that measure an online store's traffic, sales performance, profitability, customer behavior and operations. Visitor count, conversion rate, average cart value, customer acquisition cost and return rate are among the most commonly used e-commerce metrics.

Not every metric is a KPI. A **KPI (key performance indicator)** is a metric that is directly tied to the business's goal and is tracked regularly to make decisions. For example, page view count is a metric; but if your goal is sales, your real KPIs are conversion rate and profit per order. The 15 indicators in this guide are the ones worth tracking as KPIs for almost every e-commerce business.

## Why Are E-Commerce Metrics Important?

E-commerce metrics show where the problem is, guide where the budget should go, and measure whether a change worked. Every improvement made without metric tracking is a guess.

- **You find the problem where it is:** When sales drop, you see whether the cause is traffic, conversion or average cart value.
- **You put the budget in the right channel:** You separate the ad channels that bring profitable customers from those that only bring clicks.
- **You protect profit:** While revenue grows, you notice early when returns, shipping or ad costs are eating into profit.
- **You align the team around the same goal:** When marketing, sales and operations teams look at the same indicators, priorities become clear.
- **You measure change:** After a new campaign, product page layout or shipping rule, you see in numbers what changed.

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## Which Metrics Make Up E-Commerce Revenue?

E-commerce revenue is the product of three metrics: **Revenue = Number of visitors (sessions) × Conversion rate × Average cart value.** To grow revenue, at least one of these three levers must grow; profit, in turn, is determined within that revenue by margin, returns and marketing cost.

*Görsel: E-commerce metric tree: revenue is the product of sessions, conversion rate and average cart value; profit is made up of revenue, gross margin, returns and marketing cost (Metric tree: three levers grow revenue, margin and costs determine profit.)*

This tree shows where to look when sales change. For example, if revenue has fallen, first check whether sessions, conversion rate or average cart value has dropped. If sessions dropped, the problem is in marketing or search engine visibility; if conversion dropped, it is on the site, price or stock side; if average cart value dropped, it is on the campaign and product mix side.

## The 15 E-Commerce KPIs You Need to Track

The 15 e-commerce KPIs to track fall into five groups: traffic (number of sessions, mobile share), conversion (conversion rate, add-to-cart rate, cart abandonment rate), revenue and profitability (net sales, average cart value, gross profit margin, contribution profit per order), customer and marketing (customer acquisition cost, ROAS, repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value) and operations (return rate, inventory turnover).

*Görsel: 15 e-commerce KPIs in five groups: traffic, conversion, revenue and profitability, customer and marketing, operations (The 15 core e-commerce KPIs and the five groups they belong to.)*

### Traffic Metrics

**1. Number of sessions (visits) and traffic sources:** The number of visits to your site in a given period. It should be tracked not on its own but broken down by source: organic search, paid ads, social media, email, direct visits. Which source is growing and which is shrinking is the basis of marketing decisions.

**2. Mobile share:** The share of sessions and orders that come from phones. *Formula: Mobile sessions ÷ Total sessions × 100.* If the mobile session share is high but the mobile order share is low, there is a problem in the phone experience: slow pages, a difficult payment step or small buttons.

### Conversion Metrics

**3. Conversion rate:** The share of visits that result in an order. *Formula: Number of orders ÷ Number of sessions × 100.* It is the most watched metric in e-commerce, but it should not be interpreted without breaking it down by channel, device and category. Ad traffic, email traffic and organic traffic convert at very different rates.

**4. Add-to-cart rate:** The share of visits in which at least one product is added to the cart. *Formula: Sessions with an add-to-cart ÷ Total sessions × 100.* If this rate is low, the problem is on the product page: image, price, description, stock or trust information.

**5. Cart abandonment rate:** The share of sessions in which items were added to the cart but the order was not completed. *Formula: (1 − Orders ÷ Sessions with a cart) × 100.* A high cart abandonment rate points to checkout problems such as surprise shipping fees, mandatory registration, a long payment form or too few payment options.

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### Revenue and Profitability Metrics

**6. Net sales:** The sales amount that remains after returns, cancellations and discounts are deducted from gross sales. *Formula: Gross sales − Returns − Cancellations − Discounts.* Tracking revenue on a gross sales basis hides the impact of returns and cancellations.

**7. Average order value:** The average spend per order. *Formula: Net sales ÷ Number of orders.* [Complementary product](https://www.faprika.com/en/blog/bundle-sales) recommendations, a free shipping threshold tied to the cart amount and bundled products are the most common ways to raise the average order value.

**8. Gross profit margin:** The share of the sale that remains after the product cost is deducted. *Formula: (Net sales − Cost of goods sold) ÷ Net sales × 100.* It shows how discount campaigns and the product mix affect profitability.

**9. Contribution profit per order:** The amount left from an order after product cost, shipping, packaging, payment commission and marketing expense are deducted. *Formula: (Gross profit − Shipping and packaging − Payment commission − Marketing expense) ÷ Number of orders.* It is the metric that exposes a store that sells a lot but earns little.

Tip

Decide by contribution profit, not revenue

The campaign that increases revenue the most is not always the most profitable one. When evaluating a campaign, an advertising channel or a product group, look at the contribution profit per order; if contribution profit falls while revenue rises, growth is costing you money.

### Customer and Marketing Metrics

**10. Customer acquisition cost (CAC):** The average marketing spend needed to win a new customer. *Formula: Marketing and advertising spend ÷ Number of new customers.* When calculated per channel, it shows which channel brings in customers more cheaply.

**11. Return on ad spend (ROAS):** The amount of sales generated by each lira spent on advertising. *Formula: Sales from advertising ÷ Ad spend.* ROAS looks at sales, not profit; even a ROAS that looks high can mean a loss on low-margin products. That is why the ROAS target should be set according to the gross profit margin.

**12. Repeat purchase rate:** The share of customers who shop a second time. *Formula: Customers with more than one order ÷ Total customers × 100.* Because a returning customer requires no ad spend, profitability rises as this rate rises.

**13. Customer lifetime value (CLV):** The total profit a customer brings over the time they stay with you. *Simple formula: Average order value × Annual order frequency × Customer retention period (years) × Gross profit margin.* The ratio of CLV to CAC shows whether marketing spend is sustainable: if winning a customer costs more than the profit they will bring, growth produces a loss.

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### Operations Metrics

**14. Return rate:** The share of sold products or orders that are returned. *Formula: Returned orders ÷ Delivered orders × 100.* When tracked by category and product, causes such as a wrong size chart, a misleading image or a packaging problem come to light.

**15. Inventory turnover:** How many times stock is sold and replenished in a year. *Formula: Annual cost of goods sold ÷ Average inventory value.* A low turnover points to products sitting on the shelf and tying up capital, while a very high turnover points to the risk of running out of stock.

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## 15 E-Commerce KPIs and Formulas: Summary Table

| KPI | Formula | What does it show? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Number of sessions | Total visits in the period (by source) | The interest marketing has driven |
| Mobile share | Mobile sessions ÷ Total sessions × 100 | The importance of the phone experience |
| Conversion rate | Orders ÷ Sessions × 100 | The site's power to turn visitors into sales |
| Add-to-cart rate | Sessions with an add to cart ÷ Sessions × 100 | How persuasive the product page is |
| Cart abandonment rate | (1 − Orders ÷ Sessions with a cart) × 100 | Loss at the checkout step |
| Net sales | Gross sales − Returns − Cancellations − Discounts | Realized sales |
| Average Order Value | Net sales ÷ Orders | Spend per order |
| Gross profit margin | (Net sales − Product cost) ÷ Net sales × 100 | Product and pricing profitability |
| Contribution profit per order | (Gross profit − Shipping − Commission − Marketing) ÷ Orders | What an order really earns |
| Customer acquisition cost (CAC) | Marketing spend ÷ New customers | The cost of a new customer |
| ROAS | Sales from advertising ÷ Ad spend | The sales return of advertising |
| Repeat purchase rate | Customers with 2+ orders ÷ Total customers × 100 | Customer loyalty |
| Customer lifetime value (CLV) | Avg. order value × Annual orders × Retention period × Gross margin | A customer's long-term profit value |
| Return rate | Returns ÷ Delivered orders × 100 | Fit between product and expectation |
| Inventory turnover | Annual cost of goods sold ÷ Average inventory value | Inventory efficiency |

## Sample Calculation: A Store's Monthly KPI Table

The example below belongs to a hypothetical store, prepared to show how the metrics connect to each other; the figures are not industry averages, only a calculation example.

*Görsel: E-commerce KPI dashboard example: tiles for sessions, conversion rate, average cart value, net sales, gross profit margin, customer acquisition cost, ROAS and return rate (The example store's monthly KPI dashboard; the figures are only a calculation example.)*

| Data (monthly, sample) | Value | Calculated KPI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Session | 20.000 | — |
| Sessions with an add to cart | 1.400 | Add-to-cart rate: 7% |
| Order | 360 | Conversion rate: 1.8% · Cart abandonment rate: 74.3% |
| Net sales | 432,000 TL | Average order value: 1,200 TL |
| Cost of goods sold | 237,600 TL | Gross profit: 194,400 TL · Gross profit margin: 45% |
| Shipping, packaging and payment commission | 45,360 TL | — |
| Ad spend | 54,000 TL | Contribution profit: 95,040 TL · Per order: 264 TL |
| Sales from advertising | 216,000 TL | ROAS: 4 |
| New customers | 240 | Customer acquisition cost: 225 TL |
| Returned orders | 18 | Return rate: 5% |

For a manager, this table says the following: most carts are abandoned before reaching payment; a small improvement at the checkout step is a cheaper source of growth than increasing the ad budget. Also, in this example, if we assume the customer places 1.6 orders a year on average and stays for two years, CLV ≈ 1,200 × 1.6 × 2 × 45% = 1,728 TL; this shows that the 225 TL customer acquisition cost is comfortably covered.

## How Often Should Each Metric Be Checked?

It is enough to check fast-changing metrics such as sales, orders and ad spend daily; conversion rate, average order value and cart abandonment rate weekly; profit margin, customer acquisition cost, return rate and inventory turnover monthly; and customer lifetime value and repeat purchase rate quarterly. Looking at every metric every day leads you to mistake noise for signal.

*Görsel: Measurement rhythm for e-commerce metrics: metrics to check daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly (Measurement rhythm: each metric is checked at a different frequency.)*

| Frequency | Metrics | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Daily | Net sales, number of orders, ad spend, best sellers that are out of stock | Catching instant problems (payment errors, stock running out, budget overruns) |
| Weekly | Sessions and sources, conversion rate, add to cart and cart abandonment rate, average order value, ROAS | Seeing the effect of campaigns and site changes |
| Monthly | Gross profit margin, contribution profit per order, customer acquisition cost, return rate, mobile share | Assessing profitability and channel efficiency |
| Quarterly | Repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value, inventory turnover | Reviewing the sustainability of growth and the inventory strategy |

Tip

Compare yourself with yourself

Figures circulating online, such as the "average conversion rate", vary widely by industry, product price and traffic source; they are not a meaningful benchmark for your store. The healthiest comparison is with your own history: last week, last month and the same period last year.

## How Do You Set a KPI Target?

A KPI target is set by measuring the current situation, breaking the business goal down into these metrics, and setting an achievable, time-bound target for each metric. "Let's increase sales" is not a target; "raise the mobile conversion rate from today's level within three months" is.

1. **Measure the starting point:** Record the average of the last three months and the same period last year.
2. **Break the business goal down into a metric tree:** If you have a revenue growth target, determine how much of it will come from traffic, how much from conversion and how much from a higher average order value.
3. **Assign an owner and an action to each target:** For example, a checkout improvement for conversion rate, complementary product recommendations for average order value, a content and advertising plan for traffic.
4. **Set limits that protect profit:** Alongside growth targets, define limits such as the lowest gross margin and the highest customer acquisition cost.
5. **Review regularly:** Follow the targets according to the measurement rhythm; if a target is not met, look for the reason in the metric tree.

## 7 Common Mistakes in E-Commerce Metrics

1. **Looking only at revenue:** When revenue rises while profit falls, it goes unnoticed.
2. **Trusting averages:** While the conversion rate of the whole site looks good, a serious problem can hide on mobile or in a single category. Split metrics by channel, device and category.
3. **Mistaking ROAS for profit:** A high ROAS can hide a loss on low-margin products. Set the ROAS target according to the gross margin.
4. **Not deducting returns and cancellations from sales:** Calculations made with gross sales make every metric look better than it is.
5. **Mixing campaign periods with normal periods:** Comparing the figures of special-occasion weeks with ordinary weeks gives wrong conclusions; compare with the same period last year.
6. **Tracking too many metrics:** Whoever tracks everything cannot focus on anything. Start with these 15 indicators first and add more as needed.
7. **Measuring without taking action:** At the end of every report there should be an answer to the question "what are we changing this week?"

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## Tracking E-Commerce Metrics with Faprika

In the Faprika e-commerce infrastructure, the reports needed to calculate most of these metrics are ready in the admin panel; the following reports are included in all Professional plans:

- **Daily, weekly and monthly summary:** A periodic view of sales and orders.
- **Revenue / net sales and profit / loss report:** For calculating net sales, gross profit and profit margin.
- **Product, model and category sales reports:** To see which product and category contribute to sales and profit.
- **Stock, variant and product sales / remaining reports:** For inventory turnover and best sellers that run out.
- **Order status and payment type report:** For the distribution of cancellations, returns and payment methods.
- **Country and city sales reports, brand and supplier sales report:** For performance by region and brand.
- **Desktop / mobile comparison:** For mobile share and sales by device.
- **Campaign discount report:** To see how much discount and sales campaigns bring.
- **Membership / login and product rating / review reports:** For tracking customer and product satisfaction.

With the Elite plan you can track active users, view guest and customer carts, and access back-in-stock notification, favorites and price tracking reports. The Enterprise plan includes reporting and decision-support screens. The tag and conversion integrations of analytics and advertising tools are available in all plans. You can see which plan each report starts in on the comparison table of the [e-commerce plans](https://www.faprika.com/en/pricing) page.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**What are e-commerce metrics?**

E-commerce metrics are indicators that measure an online store's traffic, sales, profitability, customer behavior and operations. The most important are the number of sessions, conversion rate, cart abandonment rate, average order value, gross profit margin, customer acquisition cost, ROAS, repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value and return rate.

**How is the conversion rate calculated in e-commerce?**

Conversion rate is calculated by dividing the number of orders by the number of sessions (visits) and multiplying by 100. For example, with 20,000 sessions and 360 orders in a month, the conversion rate is 1.8%. The rate should be tracked separately by channel, device and category.

**How is average cart value calculated?**

Average cart value is calculated by dividing net sales by the number of orders. For example, with 432,000 TL in net sales and 360 orders, the average cart value is 1,200 TL. Complementary product suggestions, a free shipping threshold and bundles raise the average cart value.

**What is ROAS and how is it calculated?**

ROAS is the return on ad spend, calculated by dividing the sales generated by ads by the ad spend. If 54,000 TL in ad spend produced 216,000 TL in sales, ROAS is 4. Because ROAS looks at sales, whether it is profitable should be assessed together with the gross profit margin.

**How is customer lifetime value (CLV) calculated?**

With the simple method, CLV is the product of average cart value, annual order frequency, the customer's average retention period and gross profit margin. A CLV clearly higher than customer acquisition cost shows that marketing spend is sustainable.

**How often should e-commerce metrics be checked?**

It is enough to check sales, orders and ad spend daily; conversion rate, cart abandonment rate and average cart value weekly; profit margin, customer acquisition cost and return rate monthly; and customer lifetime value, repeat purchase rate and inventory turnover once a quarter.

Your numbers in one panel, your decisions made clear

Monitor your store's health from a single panel with revenue, profit / loss, category, payment type, city and campaign reports. Compare the plans to see which report is in which plan.

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