MARKETING METRICS THAT MATTER

Data is everywhere. With more connected things, more integrations, and more devices than ever before the amount of data we have access to is growing by the minute. But what kind of data you do really need?

You need data that’s useful and insightful. You need to know where to find it, what to do with it and how it can help you to grow a successful eCommerce business.

So, we’ve rounded up the most important metrics to maximize your eCommerce store. It’s essential to have eCommerce Tracking enabled on your Google Analytics. This is specifically designed to give you a clearer picture of your business, and drilling into the data certainly pays off. It makes keeping an eye on your business, understanding your customers and growing your potential all possible.

YOUR HIGH-PERFORMERS

Take a look at the products that sell the best. You can start maximizing just from this basic information by targeting your advertising and increasing production. But look a little deeper and you can take it further. Are there any that can be grouped into categories. Can you use that information to create a more honed campaign? This information is also great for weeding out any low-performers that you may be promoting to no avail, or are just taking up space. Focus on the things your customers want.

In Google Analytics go to: Conversions >> eCommerce >> Product performance

RETURNING CUSTOMERS

Returning custom is crucial for growth, so if you’re predominantly getting one-time buyers, it’s worth spending some time on retention. Make sure your customer service and user journey is up-to-scratch, and then head to your data and see which items are getting you repeat custom? When a customer has a great experience, it encourages them to return and buy more (and not necessarily the same product). You may be surprised by the products that support retention. The products that keep customers coming back are the ones inspiring brand trust – and these are priceless.

In Google Analytics go to: Audience >> Behaviour >> New and returning users

CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE

That brings us to Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Customer acquisition can munch through your finances at a rate of knots if you’re not careful, and the real value lies in retention. You want your customers to come to you, always, for the products you offer. CLV is how much you earn from that buyer over the course of their buying lifecycle. You can increase their lifetime value and see real growth when you successfully upsell to your existing audience.

In Google Analytics got to: Audience >> Lifetime value

WEBSITE TRAFFIC

High traffic means high sales, right? Wrong. Traffic doesn’t guarantee sales. You want to see where your traffic sources are and then analyze your website traffic in line with your conversion rate (see below). Are you directing too much energy to new customers and page views without focusing on the customer journey and building brand trust. Or perhaps you have a high conversion rate but relatively low traffic. In which case use your data. Identify where your conversions are and put a little finance behind a well-targeted campaign.

In Google Analytics go to: Acquisition >> All Traffic >> Source/Medium

SALES CONVERSION RATE

You might have the flashiest website out there; you may get millions of views a day, but it’s all for nothing if you aren’t converting. You know that there are multiple steps (or touchpoints) along the customer journey. Every step along the way could lose them. Your sales conversion rate is how good you are at turning a ‘view’ into a sale.

Calculate it: The total number of sales divided by the total number of site visits (the traffic). Multiply that figure 100 to get your conversion rate.

To give you some context, the average conversion rate for eCommerce sites sits around 2.35%. Calculate SCR for specific channels (like a social media campaign) and work out which is performing better.

SUPPORT FOR SALES 

Do your customers need a lot of hand-holding and support before they reach the checkout? Are you supporting more than selling? If so, you may want to look at how you present information to your customers. Support can be a good thing. It means that your customers are reaching out to you (and that’s a good time to build up brand trust and be as helpful as possible).

Feedback can be a positive step to growth. But if you are overwhelmed by support, and it outways your sales, take look closer at your customer journey.

CART ABANDONMENT

On average around 68% of shoppers abandon their cart. Ouch. But you can harness your cart abandonment metrics to do some serious business optimization. For a start, you can see where your customers are leaving their carts. If it’s at the checkout, make sure that you have enough payment methods, that it simple and easy to complete (even on mobile) and that don’t have hidden costs (such as shipping) to put customers off at the last minute. If it’s at the beginning, it could be an account set-up. Build in the option to checkout as a guest, and reduce the number of steps it takes to get your customer from basket to billing.

In Google Analytics go to: Conversions >> eCommerce >> Shopping behavior

Optimizing your eCommerce site can be as simple as reading the right data.

There’s now multiple ways of getting the right data for your business. If you need some expert eyes on your marketing metrics and KPIs get in touch with Orange Collar.