eCommerce KPIs: Which Metrics to Track in 2025

“What should I measure?”

The question we get asked most often.

The answer: not everything. Focusing on too many metrics paralyses you. Focusing on the wrong metrics sends you in the wrong direction.

📌 What you’ll learn: The 11 KPIs that matter, how to calculate them, and what targets to aim for.

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💰 Sales Metrics

1. Revenue

What it is: Total sales amount.

Formula: Orders × AOV

💡 On its own it tells you nothing about profitability. What matters is the trend: is it growing month on month?

2. AOV (Average Order Value)

What it is: The average value of an order.

Formula: Revenue / Orders

RO benchmark: 150-300 RON (varies by niche)

How to grow it:

• ✓ Upsell (a more expensive product)
• ✓ Cross-sell (complementary products)
• ✓ Bundling (packages)
• ✓ Free delivery from X RON

3. CVR (Conversion Rate)

What it is: % of visitors who buy.

Formula: (Orders / Sessions) × 100

Industry	Average CVR	Good CVR
Fashion	1.5%	2.5%+
Beauty	2%	3%+
Home	1.8%	2.8%+
Electronics	1.2%	2%+
Food	2.5%	4%+

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📊 Acquisition Metrics

4. CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

What it is: How much it costs to acquire a new customer.

Formula: Marketing spend / New customers

🎯 The golden rule: CAC < 1/3 of the value of the first order.

5. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

What it is: The revenue-to-spend ratio on ads.

Formula: Revenue from ads / Ad cost

Gross margin	Minimum break-even ROAS
30%	3.3x
40%	2.5x
50%	2x
60%	1.7x

⚠️ The ROAS reported in Meta/Google is overstated by 20-50% (attribution issues).

6. MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)

What it is: TOTAL revenue / TOTAL marketing spend

Why it’s better than ROAS:

• ✓ Includes ALL revenue (organic too)
• ✓ Doesn’t depend on attribution
• ✓ Shows overall efficiency

MER target: 5-8x for healthy profitability

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👤 Customer Value Metrics

7. LTV (Lifetime Value)

What it is: The total value a customer generates.

Formula: AOV × Frequency × Relationship duration

Example:
AOV: 200 RON
Frequency: 3 orders/year
Duration: 2 years
LTV: 200 × 3 × 2 = 1,200 RON

8. LTV:CAC Ratio

What it is: The ratio of customer value to acquisition cost.

Ratio	What it means
< 1:1	❌ You’re losing money
1:1 - 3:1	⚠️ Risky
3:1 - 5:1	✅ Healthy
> 5:1	🤔 You’re underinvesting in growth

Ideal target: 3:1 - 4:1

9. Repeat Customer Rate

What it is: % of customers who buy more than once.

Benchmark: 20-30% (general), 40%+ (consumables)

💡 Existing customers are 5-7x cheaper to convert than new ones.

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⚙️ Operational Metrics

10. Cart Abandonment Rate

What it is: % of abandoned carts.

Benchmark: 60-80% (yes, it’s normal for it to be high)

How to reduce it:

• ✓ A checkout with fewer steps
• ✓ Guest checkout
• ✓ More payment methods
• ✓ Abandoned-cart reminder emails

11. Return Rate

What it is: % of products returned.

Category	Typical return rate
Fashion	20-30%
Footwear	15-25%
Electronics	5-10%
Beauty	3-8%

⚠️ ROAS 4x + a 30% return rate = a real ROAS that’s much lower.

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📱 Dashboard: What to Track and When

Daily (5 min)

• Revenue
• ROAS by channel
• Ad spend
• Anomalies

Weekly (30 min)

• CVR trend
• AOV trend
• Top products
• Top ads
• Cart abandonment

Monthly (2 hours)

• LTV calculations
• CAC by channel
• MER
• Cohort analysis
• Full P&L

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🧮 Profitability Calculator

1. Profit per order = AOV × Margin - Variable costs
   E.g.: 200 × 50% - 20 (shipping) = 80 RON

2. Profit per customer = Profit × Orders (LTV)
   E.g.: 80 × 2.5 = 200 RON

3. Profitability = Profit per customer - CAC
   E.g.: 200 - 100 = 100 RON profit/customer

4. ROI = (Profit / CAC) × 100
   E.g.: (200 / 100) × 100 = 200% ROI

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⚠️ Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
You look only at ROAS	Calculate the net contribution
You ignore attribution	Use MER + incrementality
You compare yourself with others	Compare yourself with yourself a month ago
You optimise for CTR, not ROAS	Optimise for net profit

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⚡ TL;DR - The 5 Essential Metrics

If you can only track 5:

#	Metric	Why
1	MER	Overall efficiency
2	CAC	Acquisition cost
3	LTV	Long-term value
4	CVR	Conversion rate
5	Contribution Margin	Real profit

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Want us to set up a KPI dashboard for you?

→ Book a free consultation and we’ll help you identify the metrics that matter for your business.