eCommerce Dashboards & KPIs for Fast Data-Driven Growth

eCommerce Dashboards & KPIs for Fast Data-Driven Growth

As eCommerce becomes an increasingly important part of the global economy, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a strong grasp on their key performance indicators (KPIs).

By tracking these KPIs, business owners and eCommerce managers can make data-driven decisions that will help them grow and succeed with their eCommerce business.

At WebLime, we’re going to show you how to build a fully fleshed-out eCommerce KPI dashboard that every business should use. We’ll also provide examples of eCommerce dashboards for each KPI, so you can get a better understanding of how to track and visualize your data.

Let’s get started!

What are eCommerce KPIs?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are measurable, quantitative values that help you understand how your ecommerce business is performing. They are not just numbers, but also a means to an end. They help you answer important questions about the current state of your business so you can make informed decisions. For example, a KPI could tell you if your ad campaigns are sending traffic to your website. You can then use this information to make adjustments and improve results.

A good KPI should have the following attributes:

  • Measurable. If the value is not measurable, it’s difficult to analyze and compare it with other metrics. For example, “readership” is not a KPI because there’s no obvious way to measure it. On the other hand, “number of social shares of published posts” is a good KPI because anyone can count the number of shares on Facebook or Twitter and compare it with previous months or years.
  • Quantifiable.
  • Actionable. The metric should tell you how customers behave on your website, so you know what actions to take to increase sales. This means you need to track key metrics across all channels—online and offline—to get a complete picture of what’s happening in your business.

Why KPIs matter

Key performance indicators (KPIs) provide a way for you to measure the efficacy of your business practices, so that you can make necessary adjustments and hit your benchmarks. Rather than solely relying on instinct or gut feelings, KPIs are derived only through data and analytics. That means they offer an objective way to guide all of your eCommerce initiatives.

There are three types of KPIs: leading, lagging, and operational. Leading KPIs tell you where you’re going; lagging KPIs tell you how well you’re doing; operational KPIs show where there is room for improvement in terms of processes and procedures. By applying these categories to their eCommerce businesses, retailers have a better chance at improving performance overall.

Every business has unique KPIs to measure and track

There are a number of ecommerce metrics you should be tracking in order to monitor the health of your business. However, every business is unique and has its own unique set of KPIs that it needs to measure and track.

What are the most important aspects of your business that you need to measure? What do you need to know as a baseline in order to identify areas for improvement or optimization?

A data-driven approach is key when it comes to understanding what’s working and not working for your business, so we highly recommend building out dashboards for the following three reasons:

  • They help maintain focus on the essential metrics in your business.
  • They eliminate guesswork by showing you exactly where things stand today.
  • They allow you to quickly spot red flags and opportunities within your business so that you can take action right away.

Let’s have a look at eCommerce dashboards below!

What is an eCommerce dashboard?

A dashboard in eCommerce is a collection of key performance indicators (KPIs) that allow business owners and managers to track the progress of their online stores. By having access to this data, they can make informed decisions about what changes need to be made in order to improve their business.

There are many different KPIs that could be tracked on an eCommerce dashboard, but the most important ones vary depending on the type of business. We’ll cover the most common types in the following section.

How to set up your eCommerce dashboard on Google Analytics

Creating your eCommerce dashboard is relatively straightforward – just make sure that you have administrative permissions to collaborate, edit, and manage the Google Analytics (GA) account.

Once that’s ensured, open GA and select Dashboards under Customization on the left-side menu.

Google Anlaytics  ecommerce dashboards

Then, you’ll want to press the red button labeled CREATE.

eCommerce dashboard create button

From there, you’ll have two options to either start with a Blank Canvas or a Starter Dashboard with some preset KPI widgets. We’re also going to cover some templates in a later section, but for now, let’s select a blank canvas.

eCommerce blank or starter dashboard selection

You’ll be met with options to add six types of widgets to your dashboard:

After that, it’s about choosing your KPI metrics. We dive deeper into the most important eCommerce dashboard KPIs in the next section.

eCommerce add widget to dashboard screen

Which KPIs & metrics should my eCommerce dashboard include? (+ example widgets)

Sales metrics

These are bread and butter metrics for any eCommerce business. You can use these numbers to set objectives or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for your company and team as a whole. Ecommerce sales data show you the effectiveness of your online presence, web content, product pages, and product offers.

What are we talking about exactly? Check it out:

  • Total revenue. This macro metric lets you keep track of your annual sales goals. If you see that you’re not exactly on track, you may want to inform stakeholders, reevaluate your pricing, or change your marketing strategy. We’d recommend tracking your total revenue against your total costs for a better idea of your overall performance (doubling revenue doesn’t mean much if you doubled costs for example).
Total revenue dashboard - KPI dashboard
  • Average conversion rate. This metric tells you how many people are taking your desired action (typically, making a purchase). If this number is low, it could mean that you need to work on your website’s design, your marketing strategy, or the relevancy of your products. Clearly, what you have going on isn’t working for the masses.
  • Shopping cart abandonment rate. Did you know that the average cart abandonment rate is 69.82%? It’s one of the most common hurdles for eCommerce managers. This metric will tell you how well you’re closing customers in the last steps of the buying process. If your abandonment rate is absurdly high, that could indicate a buggy checkout process, lack of information (return policy, payment options, shipping details), or poor/non-existent remarketing efforts.
  • Number of transactions. This metric is a good proxy for customer engagement. If you see that this number is dropping, it could be an indication that customers are finding your site less engaging, or that you need to work on your user experience (UX).
Dashboard for number of transactions from unique visitors
  • Average order value (AOV). How much money are people spending on average when they make a purchase on your site? Generally, you want to keep this number consistent or increase gradually. If you see that this number is dropping, it could be an indication that you need to offer more expensive items or increase the perceived value of your products.

Digital Marketing metrics

If you’re running a digital marketing campaign (e.g. PPC, social media, email/SMS marketing), it’s important to track the results of those campaigns using eCommerce KPIs.

This will help you determine whether or not the money you’re spending on marketing is worth it, and whether you need to restrategize your approach.

  • Total traffic (users). This metric tells you how many people are visiting your website. If this number is dropping, it could mean that you’re not reaching your target audience, or that your marketing campaigns aren’t effective (e.g. CTAs need work or targeting is off).
  • If your traffic is rather high, then it’s time to compare it against your conversions to see if you’re making the most out of your traffic – you may find that you need to conversion-optimize your web pages. On Google Analytics, you can use the geomap widget for a clear display of your total page views.
Geomap widget for page views - KPI
Geomap widget for page views
  • Traffic sources. You can drill down further into the traffic metric and see which channels are driving the most traffic (organic search, paid search, social media, etc.). By doing so, you can double down on what’s working and identify the reasons behind your weak-performing channels (e.g. maybe your target market isn’t active on Instagram, so you should allocate more resources elsewhere).
Widget for traffic sources from unique visitors
  • Bounce rate. If a high percentage of your website visitors are leaving immediately, that’s known as a bounce rate. This metric tells you how engaged (or not) people are with your site. You want to aim for a low bounce rate, as it usually means that people are finding what they’re looking for on your site and don’t need to look any further. But if you have a high one, you may need to take a hard look at your website and identify what’s turning off users (slow load times, poor UX design, unclear copy, etc.)
  • Number of top organic keywords. This metric tells you which keywords are driving the most traffic to your website so you can optimize for them further. If a certain keyword isn’t performing well, you can add it to your list of negative keywords in your PPC campaigns or update your SEO strategy.
  • Customer acquisition cost for paid traffic. How much are you spending to acquire a customer through paid channels? This metric will help you determine whether or not the money you’re spending is worth it. Ideally, you want this number to be lower than your lifetime customer value (LTV).
  • Customer lifetime value (CLV). This metric tells you how much a customer is worth to you over the entire duration that they’re a customer. It’s important to track this number so you can make sure that your marketing campaigns are profitable in the long run. For example, if you’re spending $10 to acquire a customer but their CLV is only $5, then you’re losing money with each customer that you acquire.

Customer satisfaction metrics

  • Number of repeat customers. This tells you how many of your customers are returning to make another purchase. If this number is low, it could mean that you need to work on your branding or customer service in order to keep people coming back.
  • Customer satisfaction rating. This metric gives you an idea of how happy your customers are with your products and services. A high rating is obviously a good thing, but you may also want to compare it against your customer retention rate to see if there’s a discrepancy.
  • Net promoter score (NPS). This metric measures how likely customers are to recommend your products or services to others. A high NPS indicates that you have a lot of happy and loyal customers, while a low score could mean that you need to work on your customer service.

So there you have it – some key eCommerce KPIs that will help you drive data-driven growth in your business. Keep an eye on these metrics and make sure to track them on your dashboard over time so you can see how your efforts are impacting your bottom line.

5 great eCommerce dashboard templates that you can use for your online store

Before exploring this section, remember that eCommerce dashboards vary from business to business. But the following eCommerce Google Analytics dashboards are a solid place to begin your construction.

1. eCommerce Dashboard

Dashboard showing how eCommerce customers are acquired

The eCommerce reporting dashboard above shows how eCommerce customers are acquired. It examines mobile users’ purchasing habits and different sources of referrals. You can better understand your best-selling products and double down on what’s working.

This eCommerce dashboard will help you answer:

  • What devices are visitors using to make purchases?
  • How much product do visitors usually purchase?
  • Which referrals result in sales?
  • What can I do to make each visit more profitable?

2. The Traffic Growth Dashboard

Traffic growth dashboard showing various metrics

With this dashboard, you can see which types of visitors are digging deeper into your site. When you look at the bounce rate and sessions, you can get a good insight into where the quality visitors come from.

This eCommerce dashboard will help you answer:

  • How does your mobile site perform in terms of visitor retention?
  • Who are your visitors? Where do they come from?
  • What are the top websites that refer traffic to your domain?
  • What are the best social networks for quality visitors?

3. The Audience Snapshot (Digital Marketing Dashboard)

eCommerce marketing dashboard showing key statistics about visitors

In this eCommerce marketing dashboard, you can see all the key statistics about the visitors to your site. When you consider demographics, devices, and locations, you get a complete picture of how visitors learn about your product.

This eCommerce dashboard will help you answer:

  • Who are your most frequent visitors (demographic)?
  • How many people visit your site more than once?
  • What is the average length of time visitors spend on your site?
  • Which mobile devices do your visitors prefer?
  • How many unique visitors are you acquiring?

4. Google Analytics SEO Dashboard

Google Analytics SEO Dashboard

Prioritizing your SEO efforts means knowing which existing pages drive quality visitors. From the search query to the goal completion, the dashboard examines the entire process. The report reveals which organic keywords are driving quality traffic.

This eCommerce dashboard will help you answer:

  • Which landing pages attract good organic traffic?
  • What keywords bring visitors to your site?
  • What are your most popular pages in organic search?
  • Are there any landing pages with absurdly-high bounce rates?

5. Site Performance Dashboard

eCommerce dashboard showing a comprehensive view of a site's performance

This eCommerce dashboard example provides a comprehensive view of your site’s performance, displaying your site’s average load time on both web and mobile, as well as load time by browser and for individual pages.

Site speed is incredibly important. In fact, a mere 1-second delay reduces customer satisfaction by 16%. If you want to reduce bounce rates and increase the chance of conversion, this is definitely something you’ll want to keep an eye on.

This eCommerce dashboard will help you answer:

  • What is the loading speed of my website when I do a web search?
  • Are any pages on my site taking too long to load?
  • Does my website load slower in different countries?
  • Is my website loading quickly on mobile devices?
  • Is my website loading too slowly in any specific browser?

Need help building your eCommerce dashboard? Get help from WebLime.

Congrats! You made it. Hopefully, by now you have a solid idea of what an eCommerce dashboard is, what goes into it, and how to read the data.

But we understand that fleshing out a personalized eCommerce dashboard for your online store from the ground up can be confusing. Your friends at WebLime are happy to assist with pro tips and guidance to create a comprehensive KPI dashboard that helps you make data-driven decisions. Get in touch today.

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