Growth Metrics Checklist for E-Commerce

Aggregate ad spend from Meta, Google, and TikTok and divide by total store revenue to watch CAC and marketing efficiency ratio (MER). Set a stoplight rule - if MER drops below target for 3 days, freeze scale and diagnose channel mix or creative performance.

Run geo-split or PSA tests to estimate true lift from paid social and search instead of relying only on platform ROAS. Use matched-market testing for at least 2 weeks to account for seasonality and inventory effects.

Enforce lowercase utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign with creative and audience IDs appended for traceability. Use a template or Elevar/Segment to auto-append UTMs and reject untagged links in QA.

Flag first purchases in Shopify or GA4 and calculate the percentage of revenue from new customers for each channel. Prioritize channels that drive higher new-to-brand share when CAC payback is acceptable.

Calculate days to recover CAC based on gross profit from the first order and follow-on orders within 30-60-90 days. Use this to set scale limits for media budgets and to guide pricing and shipping offers.

Monitor video thumbstop rate, outbound CTR, and cost per add-to-cart in Meta and TikTok. Rotate or refresh creatives when these drop 20% from 7-day peak to prevent MER erosion.

Track code and link redemptions in Shopify, attributing sales to influencer posts and affiliate placements. Evaluate CAC, new-to-brand share, and refund rate to rebalance budgets toward the most profitable partners.

Enable GA4 Enhanced Ecommerce or Shopify analytics to track PDP views to add-to-cart conversion across mobile and desktop. Fix low-performing templates with improved image compression, badges, and clearer variant options.

Track each checkout step and payment success rate with your PSP (Shopify Payments, Stripe, Adyen). Investigate 3DS prompts, AVS mismatch, and risk settings that suppress authorization rate and rewrite friction points.

Deploy email and SMS automations in Klaviyo for browse and cart abandonment with dynamic product blocks and time-bound incentives. Report recovered revenue as a share of abandoned carts to justify offer costs.

A/B test thresholds to find a breakpoint that lifts AOV without crushing contribution margin. Use price-based shipping rules and check the mix shift toward heavier SKUs that may increase fulfillment cost.

Report the percent of orders with discounts, average discount rate, and instances of stackable codes. Implement server-side validation to prevent browser extensions from injecting unauthorized codes.

Audit LCP, CLS, and TBT using Lighthouse and WebPageTest on homepage, collection, PDP, and cart. Remove unused apps, lazy-load below-the-fold content, and compress images to lift conversion on mobile.

Measure attach rates and incremental revenue from cart cross-sells and post-purchase offers using tools like Rebuy or OneClickUpsell. Ensure offers do not slow checkout or reduce payment authorization rate.

Cohort customers by acquisition source and first-purchased product to see where early LTV is strongest. Shift budget toward channels and hero SKUs that show faster payback and higher repeat propensity.

Report the share of orders from returning customers and the median days between orders. Use this to time replenishment campaigns and to refine email cadence by category and product lifecycle.

In Recharge or Skio, track active subscriber count, voluntary vs involuntary churn, and payment failure recovery. Add pre-shipment reminders, swap options, and one-click delay to reduce preventable churn.

Use Amplitude or Mixpanel to chart the percent of first-time buyers who purchase again within 60 days. Test winback sequences and replenishment bundles to lift this metric by cohort.

Track revenue attributed to flows vs campaigns in Klaviyo alongside open rate, click rate, and spam complaints. Warm domains, authenticate with SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and prune inactive subscribers to protect inbox placement.

Create recency, frequency, and monetary tiers to target VIPs, at-risk, and dormant customers with tailored incentives. Report conversion and margin impact by segment to avoid over-discounting.

Use Okendo or Yotpo to monitor average rating, percent with photos/video, and PDP placement click-through. Pipe high-quality UGC into paid social to improve CTR and reduce prospecting CAC.

Report sell-through and weeks of supply at current velocity to prevent cash tied in slow movers. Adjust purchasing and markdown cadence based on ABC classification and seasonal demand curves.

Quantify sessions to out-of-stock PDPs and estimate revenue loss using conversion rate baselines. Enable back-in-stock alerts and waitlists to capture demand and inform reordering priorities.

Track click-to-delivered time by carrier and service level in ShipBob or your 3PL WMS. Surface delays by warehouse or lane and adjust promised delivery dates and shipping methods accordingly.

Report mis-picks, damages, and reships per 1,000 orders and the cost of remediation. Implement barcode scanning and bin audits to reduce error rates and protect contribution margin.

Use Loop Returns to capture structured reason codes and tie them to product variants and marketing channels. Attack size and quality issues with clearer PDP sizing guides or supplier QA changes.

Calculate the percent of orders shipped in multiple boxes and the incremental fulfillment expense. Adjust inventory placement, bundle rules, or threshold logic to cut splits without hurting conversion.

Report pre-order conversion, cancellation, and refund rates to validate messaging and ship date promises. Use transparent ETAs and proactive notifications to minimize customer support tickets.

Calculate CM2 or CM3 per order by subtracting COGS, payment fees, pick-pack, shipping, and ad spend from net revenue. Use it as the governing metric for budget scale decisions.

Include freight, tariffs, and packaging in SKU-level costs and sync with your ERP or accounting system. Update cost changes quickly to avoid overstated margins in your dashboards.

Divide gross profit by sessions and users to connect traffic quality with profitability. Use GPPS to prioritize channels and campaigns that deliver profitable traffic, not just clicks.

Translate 60- or 90-day LTV into maximum allowable CAC by channel and enforce during media planning. Pause or throttle campaigns that exceed caps for two consecutive weeks.

Track refunds and chargebacks by payment method and use Signifyd or Stripe Radar to reduce fraud losses. Investigate spikes tied to specific campaigns, SKUs, or geographies.

Compare contribution margin for Amazon, Etsy, and wholesale orders against DTC. Shift assortment and pricing to channels with higher net margin while keeping customer acquisition goals in view.

Model bundle attach rate, incremental units, and fulfillment costs to ensure bundles increase CM2. Test good-better-best offers and volume discounts for profitable AOV gains.