The exponential growth of online stores is due in large part to the ease that technology offers. But it is not just about selling online, it is about creating a successful eCommerce. And for this it is essential to use tools that allow the collection of key metrics that facilitate the analysis of eCommerce performance.
In a publication made by SaleCycle, it is mentioned that the cart abandonment rate for 2023 is 79.53%. This is a warning sign for eCommerce leaders or owners, who must have tools and strategies to efficiently and timely analyze the behavior of their customers.
These strategies based on the business objectives will define the key management indicators and metrics to be considered, and with them the monitoring tools that best suit the eCommerce needs.
Next, we will analyze the metrics that allow an eCommerce performance analysis and which tools can support the management of these metrics.
Behavioral metrics
Organizations are currently orienting their business model to a customer-centric model. And in the case of e-commerce this is a reality that is increased by the level of competition and the high expectations of increasingly expert users.
As mentioned in a MailChimp publication:
“As the E-Commerce world grows and customers have more options to meet their shopping needs, the service has become simpler for those consumers to compare brands quickly and easily.”
Making it imperative to understand user behavior, to guide decision making aimed at personalizing service and increasing conversion rate.
Time on site
Measuring users’ time spent on the site provides a visual of the quality of the customer’s experience with eCommerce. With this, leaders can determine if the strategies implemented are generating results, or if changes need to be made.
Customers who spend more time on the site tend to identify more with the brand and are more likely to make one or more purchases. This determines whether the site’s performance facilitates customer interaction.
Pages per session
A session is considered when a user enters the online store site and visits a set of pages in a single visit. Therefore, the pages per session metric corresponds to the number of pages the user has visited in this path.
This metric combined with the time spent on each of the pages can determine if there is an interest in the content. This favors the organic positioning of the page in search engines. Or if, on the contrary, the user does not get what he/she is looking for, alerting the need for improvements.
Recurrent customer rate
This metric refers to the number of customers who buy more than once on the site, obtained by dividing the number of orders by the number of customers who have made at least one purchase. It allows you to determine the average number of orders per customer, and thus the number of loyal customers to the brand.
In case of a low value, strategies should be defined to encourage the customer to return, otherwise efforts can be directed to attract new customers. Everything will depend on the business objectives.
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Engagement metrics
Help determine how users are browsing or interacting with digital channels associated with the eCommerce brand, and the interest that these generate in them. At the same time, it determines the level of participation and trust in the brand.
Email open rate
Part of the sales strategies used in e-commerce stores consists of email marketing campaigns to promote products or communicate offers.
The open rate of these emails gives an insight into the interest generated by the information sent to customers. Specifically the subject line of the emails, which should be attractive and invite users to open the email.
Engagement in social networks
Engagement refers to the commitment that customers have with your brand. And from the point of view of eCommerce, it indicates the ability to attract and retain customers. This value is calculated using different parameters depending on the social network, for example, in the case of Instagram it is obtained by dividing the total number of interactions by the number of followers.
This is one of the main metrics of social networks, and serves to promote the brand through more dynamic content, and attract potential customers to the eCommerce site. It supports decision making aimed at increasing brand loyalty.
Product review rates
In a study conducted by Statista shows how by 2021 70% of online shoppers stated that they read between one to six reviews before making the final purchase decision. Highlighting the relevance of considering this metric, to determine strategies that invite to leave product reviews.
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eCommerce inventory metrics
As an eCommerce leader or owner, knowing the rate at which products are selling, the profitability or cost associated with them, is just as important as knowing user behavior. Both feed into the informed and timely decision making required to manage an online store.
Inventory turnover
The speed at which a product is depleted and replenished from inventory determines the effectiveness of the sales and inventory replenishment processes. This metric supports inventory management, optimizing stock management and allowing timely detection of storage or expiration problems.
As mentioned on the HubSpot portal, inventory turnover is:
“A key indicator of a company’s efficiency and profitability.”
Sales Rate
Sales rate applies only to e-commerce sites and helps determine the performance of a site and the level of revenue generated per visit. It is a type of conversion rate directly associated with sales, not just interactions or recurring visits.
Stock shortages and overstocks
Having a control of the stocks available in inventory, allows to determine if in a period variations were generated that may affect the availability of the product or the storage costs. Supporting projections and analysis for inventory management, and optimizing costs associated with storage and inventory replenishment, as well as mitigating the risks associated with product expiration.
Tools to Monitor E-commerce Metrics
The evolution of technology has supported the expansion of e-commerce sites and has also reinforced the need for tools to monitor the data and metrics they generate.
These tools are able to record e-commerce site activities and provide dashboards that support the monitoring of user behavior, and generate key metrics for informed decision making.
Google Analytics
One of the most popular tools among small and medium businesses, because it is free and linked to other Google tools such as Google ads and Google Search Console.
Among the advantages it offers are:
- Tracking of e-commerce metrics.
- Analysis panels with customized reports.
- Allows customer segmentation and definition of objectives.
Klaviyo or Mailchimp
It is a tool for email marketing and SMS automation, which allows obtaining relevant information about the performance of email campaigns. Additionally, it offers:
- More accurate information on conversions from email and SMS campaigns.
- Tracking of email open rates.
- Generation of reports that include inventory metrics, behavioral metrics and basic e-Commerce metrics.
Shopify Analytics or BigCommerce Insights
Specialized in eCommerce, unlike Google Analytics that obtains information from Web analysis, this tool allows to obtain more specific metrics of the performance of the online store.
- User-friendly interface, with the option to create customized reports and make comparisons with previous periods.
- Helps to identify opportunities for improvement, supporting the definition of strategies in a timely manner.
SEMrush o Ahrefs
It is a key tool for the SEO optimization of your e-commerce site, which allows the realization of:
- Web audits, identifying SEO problems that impact the performance of the site.
- Competitor analysis.
- Identification of keywords that help the positioning of the website.
Hotjar or Crazy Egg
Customer behavior analysis tool that provides a view of user interactions with the website, including:
- Heat maps and journey recordings, helping to determine problems in the sales funnel or pages that do not generate value to users.
- Obtaining customer feedback and comments.
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Advanced eCommerce Metrics and Tools – Conclusion
As an eCommerce owner or leader, you must have tools that allow you to monitor site performance and provide the information necessary to develop strategies and actions that lead to success.
The analysis based on behavioral and engagement metrics are key to determine bottlenecks, obsolete or low usability sites, changes in user behavior, trends, among others. While, those based on inventory metrics allow the optimization of warehouse and stock control processes. All fundamental for continuous improvement and informed decision making to improve eCommerce performance.
What tool do you use to manage your eCommerce?
At Nulogic we are specialists in implementing eCommerce platform solutions, and with access to reports and analytics that allow the monitoring of metrics to support informed decision making.