Running an eCommerce store without tracking the right metrics is like navigating without a compass. You might be generating revenue, but you have no way of knowing where the leaks are, which channels are actually profitable, or whether your growth is sustainable. At Born Digital, we help businesses across Malta and Europe set up analytics frameworks that go beyond vanity metrics and drive real decisions.
Revenue and Sales Metrics
These are the foundation of your eCommerce analytics. They tell you whether the business is healthy at the most fundamental level.
- Average Order Value (AOV): Total revenue divided by number of orders. Track this weekly and segment by channel, device, and customer type. Even a small increase in AOV can dramatically impact profitability.
- Revenue Per Visitor (RPV): This combines conversion rate and AOV into a single metric that captures overall store efficiency. It is the best single number for comparing performance across time periods.
- Gross Margin: Revenue minus cost of goods sold. Many stores focus exclusively on top-line revenue and overlook whether their products are actually profitable after fulfilment costs.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with your store. This metric should guide your acquisition spending — if you know a customer is worth EUR 300 over three years, spending EUR 50 to acquire them makes sense.
Conversion Funnel Metrics
Your conversion funnel tells the story of how visitors become customers. Tracking each stage reveals where people drop off and where to focus optimisation efforts.
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who complete a purchase. The average eCommerce conversion rate hovers around 2-3%, but this varies enormously by industry and traffic source.
- Cart Abandonment Rate: Typically 65-75% of carts are abandoned. Track where in the checkout process people leave. High abandonment at the shipping stage usually signals unexpected costs.
- Add-to-Cart Rate: The percentage of product page visitors who add an item to cart. If this is low, the issue is likely product pages — pricing, imagery, or descriptions are not compelling enough.
- Checkout Completion Rate: Of those who start checkout, how many finish? This metric isolates checkout UX issues from broader site problems.
Acquisition and Marketing Metrics
Understanding where your customers come from and what it costs to acquire them is essential for sustainable growth. Track Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) by channel — not just overall. You might find that your Instagram ads bring traffic but your Google Shopping campaigns actually drive profitable orders. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) tells you how much revenue you generate per euro spent on advertising. A ROAS below 3:1 on paid channels typically signals a problem, though thresholds vary by margin structure.
Organic traffic share is another metric worth monitoring closely. If more than 80% of your revenue comes from paid channels, your business is fragile. Building organic search traffic and email lists creates channels you own and do not have to pay for every time you want to reach customers.
Customer Behaviour and Retention
Repeat Purchase Rate measures the percentage of customers who come back and buy again. For most eCommerce businesses, profitability comes from repeat customers because acquisition costs are already covered. Track this alongside Purchase Frequency and Time Between Purchases to understand your customer lifecycle.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction metrics give you a leading indicator of retention. If NPS drops, churn will follow. Product Return Rate is another critical metric — high returns eat into margin and may indicate product quality issues, misleading descriptions, or sizing problems.
Building Your Analytics Dashboard
The biggest mistake we see is tracking too many metrics without acting on any of them. Start with five to seven KPIs that directly relate to your current business goals. If you are focused on growth, prioritise acquisition metrics and conversion rate. If profitability is the priority, focus on AOV, margin, and CLV. Review your dashboard weekly, set benchmarks, and run experiments to move specific numbers. A single metric improved by 10% can have a compounding effect on your bottom line.