As big data and robust analytics information becomes more accessible and affordable thanks to platforms such as Google and Adobe Analytics, commerce marketing experts are becoming spoiled by choice. With so much information, it can be hard to determine which metrics are most important. To help you cut through the clutter, we recommend tracking these four B2C marketing metrics as the foundation of your true north to provide an insightful benchmark no matter what industry you’re in, or how mature your analytics team is.

Conversion rate

The single most important metric any business should focus on is conversion rate. This KPI is calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of visitors to your site. Regardless of industry, the average conversion rate on most websites is between one and two percent. This means that even small changes to your conversion rate can have a big impact on your bottom line. Work with your analytics team, or partner with a digital marketing agency like BIGEYE to track the fallout throughout your booking funnel so you can reduce friction and boost this critical KPI.

Average order value (AOV)

Understanding how much people spend on average when visiting your site will help you unlock information about your customers’ lifetime value and gross margins. This is an easy metric to calculate by referencing your revenue against the number of orders over a given period of time. Once you know your average order value, you can also determine whether your business would make more revenue with fewer, large sales, or have greater success with many small sales. Armed with this information, you can tailor your marketing experience to your customers’ and business’s needs accordingly.

Website traffic

While knowing how many people hit your site used to be an important KPI for success, total visitors has grown less popular as more nuanced tagging has become available. Instead of focusing on total traffic (although this figure can provide insight into whether you need to boost your search strategy or advertising dollars), we recommend digging one click deeper into your traffic metrics. Understand how long people are spending on your site, how many pages people view per visit, and whether you have more unique or returning visitors. These metrics will help inform your content strategy and highlight areas where your information architecture could use support.

Cart abandonment rate

Unexpected fees, shipping or services costs, buggy credit card processing, and confusing or cumbersome form fields are just a few of the reasons customers abandon a purchase. Track your cart abandonment rate to understand how your commerce systems are performing and preemptively tackle areas that may be pain points to your visitors. Regardless of how high your cart abandonment rate is today, it’s one of the easiest metrics to improve by streamlining the checkout process.

These four metrics are the anchors for every analytics strategy. So the next time you find yourself pondering, “what is commerce marketing,” or “how can I harness site data for my B2C marketing strategy,” come back to these KPIs. Learn more about how we can help you on this journey by contacting our team for an in-depth analytics consultation with our team.