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Key metrics of an online store: what to watch daily, weekly and monthly

| Article: 6 min read | Analytics

An online store's key metrics are a small set of indicators that let the owner see whether the store is selling, whether it earns on every order, and whether there will be enough money to grow. They are best arranged by rhythm: every day you look at what can be fixed today, every week at the efficiency of channels and the funnel, every month at money and customers.

A store has hundreds of metrics. You need 10–15 that you really check. Look at the rest when you're searching for the cause of a deviation.

The principle: from fast to slow

Rhythm

Question

What we look at

Daily

Is everything working, and are we not wasting money?

Orders, revenue, sessions, ad spend, payment errors, product availability

Weekly

Which channels and funnel steps work?

Conversion by step, average order value, CAC and ROAS by channel, cart abandonment, unclaimed orders, site speed

Monthly

Are we making money, and are customers coming back?

Margin per order, profit after variable costs, repeat purchases, LTV, returns, acquisition payback

Daily: the store's pulse (5 minutes)

  1. Number of orders and revenue compared with the same day last week (not with yesterday: behavior differs on weekdays and weekends). It's better to look at orders separately: new, confirmed, canceled.
  2. Sessions by source. A sharp drop in organic or paid traffic is a signal of a technical problem or stopped advertising.
  3. Ad spend for yesterday and the number of orders from it. This protects against a "burned" budget.
  4. Checkout and payment errors. According to Baymard, 17% of shoppers abandon a cart because of site crashes, and 10% because of a declined card (Baymard, updated 22.09.2025). A payment failure on a Friday evening costs more than a weaker week of conversion.
  5. Availability and stock of the best-selling products. Advertising a product that isn't in stock is a direct loss.

Where to get the data. In its "Ecommerce purchases" report, Google Analytics shows revenue by product (price × quantity, excluding shipping and taxes), and the number of views, add-to-carts and purchases, but only if the site sends the events `view_item`, `add_to_cart` and `purchase` (Google Analytics Help). Check the figures against your order management system: analytics almost always differs a little from actual sales.

Weekly: funnel and channels (30 minutes)

Conversion and the funnel

Conversion rate = orders ÷ sessions × 100%. Look not at a single number but at the steps: product view → add to cart → checkout start → purchase. If many add to cart but few buy, the problem is between the cart and checkout (cart abandonment, checkout). Look at mobile and desktop sessions separately.

For reference: the average cart abandonment rate, according to Baymard's roundup of 50 studies, is 70.22%, and the reasons given are: extra costs 40%, slow delivery 20%, forced registration 18%, long checkout 17%, unclear total cost upfront 12% (apart from those who were "just browsing", 42%) (Baymard). This is a worldwide average: compare yourself first of all with yourself last month, not with it.

Average order value

AOV = revenue ÷ number of orders. It grows with upsells (upsell and cross-sell) and a free shipping threshold (threshold), but by itself it says nothing about profit.

CAC and ROAS by channel

  • CAC = acquisition costs ÷ new customers.
  • ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ the cost of the ads.
  • Count them by channel, not "on average". ROAS that ignores margin is misleading: a 400% ROAS with a 20% margin and 10% unclaimed orders can be a loss.

Example (hypothetical). Advertising brought 100 orders worth 130,000 UAH at a cost of 26,000 UAH. ROAS = 5 (500%), CAC per order = 260 UAH. The margin before advertising is 30% (39,000 UAH). After advertising 13,000 UAH is left, and after 8% unclaimed orders and delivery, much less may remain. So the calculation always needs to be carried through to margin per order.

Unclaimed orders and cancellations

For stores with cash on delivery, this is a separate metric: the share of orders that weren't picked up from the branch (cash on delivery). Count it by payment method and by region, because it carries the cost of two-way delivery. Nova Poshta's rates went up from 13.04.2026, for example a parcel up to 2 kg within Ukraine is now 90 UAH instead of 80 (Liga.net): unclaimed orders have become more expensive.

Site speed and stability

Google proposes three Core Web Vitals metrics with "good" thresholds: LCP up to 2.5 s, INP up to 200 ms, CLS up to 0.1, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads, separately for mobile and desktop (web.dev, page updated 31.10.2024). Check them in Search Console or PageSpeed Insights once a week, not daily: they are slow metrics.

Monthly: money and customers (1–2 hours)

Gross margin and margin after variable costs

Gross margin = (revenue − cost of goods) ÷ revenue. Add delivery, payment fees, packaging, returns and advertising, and you get the contribution margin: how much is left from an order to pay the fixed costs (salaries, rent, subscriptions). If the contribution from each order is negative, growth only increases the loss (unit economics).

Repeat purchases and retention

Repeat purchase rate and retention show whether the store lives on new customers or on returning ones. Look at them by cohorts (customers who first bought in the same month), not by the overall average. This shows whether the quality of new customers is getting worse.

LTV and payback

LTV is the sum of margin a customer will bring over a certain period. Compare it with CAC: if over 12 months LTV is less than CAC, the store pays more for acquisition than it gets back (payback). This is the first candidate for change if money is running out.

Returns

The share and reasons for returns (returns). The reasons usually lead to product pages (size guide, photos, description), not to logistics.

Ratings, reviews and support

Response time, customer ratings, the most frequent questions in chat. This gives material for product pages and trust.

How to choose your 10–15

  1. Write down the main goal of the quarter (for example, get to a positive contribution margin).
  2. Choose the metrics that measure this goal, and the ones you can influence yourself.
  3. For each metric, assign an owner and a day to check it.
  4. Define an "alarm" threshold: for example, daily revenue below 70% of the same day last week.
  5. Once a quarter, throw out the metrics nobody acted on.

Common mistakes

  • Looking only at revenue and sessions without comparing them with profit after variable costs.
  • Calculating averages across the whole store instead of by channel and cohort.
  • Comparing your conversion with other people's averages without accounting for category, price and source.
  • Trusting a single system: analytics, CRM and ads diverge, so once a month check them against accounting.
  • Reacting to weekly fluctuations with small numbers: 3 orders versus 5 is not a trend.

FAQ

Which online store metrics are the most important? To start with: orders, revenue, conversion, average order value, CAC, margin per order and the share of repeat purchases. The rest help you look for causes.

How often should I look at an online store's analytics? The pulse (orders, payment, advertising) daily, the funnel and channels once a week, money and customers once a month.

What conversion rate counts as good? There is no single figure: it depends on category, price and channel. There are no fresh Ukrainian benchmarks. Focus on your own store's trend and on a breakdown by device and source. For the calculation, see the article on conversion.

What cart abandonment rate is normal? According to Baymard's roundup, 70.22% on average. It is a worldwide figure, and not a benchmark.

Sources

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