Ecommerce metrics starter pack

A reference set for an ecommerce or direct-to-consumer business. Adopt what applies, rename anything your team already calls something else, and drop unused rows. Metric names use the lowercase, underscore-separated format the flat file expects.

This is a starting point, not a mandate. Definitions here follow common industry usage, cited below, but your business gets the final call on inclusions and exclusions, recorded in your data dictionary.

Acquisition and delivery

What you spent, and what it bought in impressions and clicks. These are stored inputs, pulled directly from each ad platform.

Metric name	Definition	Unit	Typical source
`ad_spend`	Amount spent on paid media	currency	Each ad platform
`impressions`	Number of times an ad was shown	count	Each ad platform
`clicks`	Number of clicks on an ad	count	Each ad platform
`cpm`	Cost per 1,000 impressions: `ad_spend / impressions × 1000`	currency	Calculated
`cpc`	Cost per click: `ad_spend / clicks`	currency	Calculated
`ctr`	Click-through rate: `clicks / impressions × 100`	percent	Calculated

Funnel

The path from click to purchase. Store each stage’s count; derive every rate between stages.

Metric name	Definition	Unit	Typical source
`add_to_carts`	Times a product was added to a cart	count	Ecommerce platform
`checkouts_initiated`	Checkouts started	count	Ecommerce platform
`purchases`	Completed orders	count	Ecommerce platform
`conversion_rate`	`purchases / clicks × 100`	percent	Calculated
`atc_to_purchase_rate`	`purchases / add_to_carts × 100`	percent	Calculated
`checkout_abandonment_rate`	`(checkouts_initiated − purchases) / checkouts_initiated × 100`	percent	Calculated

Revenue and efficiency

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a per-channel, attributed metric. Marketing efficiency ratio (MER) is a blended, business-level metric that avoids attribution disputes entirely, since neither side of the calculation is attributed to a channel. Keep both; they answer different questions.

Metric name	Definition	Formula	Unit
`conversion_value`	Revenue attributed to a channel by your attribution model	Stored input	currency
`total_revenue`	Net revenue for the whole business, from your source of truth	Stored input	currency
`roas`	Return on ad spend, per channel	`conversion_value / ad_spend`	ratio
`mer`	Marketing efficiency ratio, blended	`total_revenue / total_marketing_spend`	ratio
`aov`	Average order value	`total_revenue / purchases`	currency
`break_even_roas`	The ROAS below which a campaign loses money	`1 / margin % before ad spend`	ratio

Common 2026 benchmark ranges cited across ecommerce analytics vendors put blended DTC ROAS around 3x to 5x depending on margin structure, though a headline ROAS in that range can still mean thin or negative profit once every cost is counted, which is exactly what contribution margin below is for.

Customer acquisition cost and lifetime value

Metric name	Definition	Formula	Unit
`new_customers`	First-ever purchasers in the period	Stored input	count
`blended_cac`	Total marketing spend per new customer	`total_marketing_spend / new_customers`	currency
`ltv`	Expected value from a customer over a stated period	`aov × purchase_frequency × customer_lifespan`	currency
`ltv_to_cac`	Return on each acquired customer over their lifetime	`ltv / blended_cac`	ratio
`cac_payback_months`	Months to recover acquisition cost	`blended_cac / monthly_margin_per_customer`	days
`repeat_rate`	Share of customers who purchase again within a stated window	`repeat_customers / total_customers × 100`	percent

A widely cited healthy benchmark for ecommerce is an LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or better, typically measured over a 24-month customer lifetime; state your own window explicitly in the data dictionary, since a shorter or longer window changes the number substantially.

Profitability

Contribution margin is the metric most ecommerce reporting frameworks converge on as the north star candidate, since it’s the hardest of these metrics to improve by doing something that quietly damages the business.

Metric name	Definition	Formula	Unit
`cogs`	Cost of goods sold	Stored input	currency
`shipping_cost`	Fulfilment cost per order or period	Stored input	currency
`payment_fees`	Payment processor fees	Stored input	currency
`discounts`	Discounts applied	Stored input	currency
`contribution_margin`	What’s left after every cost that scales with an order	`total_revenue − cogs − shipping_cost − payment_fees − discounts − total_marketing_spend`	currency
`contribution_margin_pct`	Contribution margin as a share of revenue	`contribution_margin / total_revenue × 100`	percent

Sources

Definitions and formulas above follow common usage from the following, current as of 2026:

Shopify: Ecommerce customer acquisition: customer acquisition cost formula and components.
Shopify: LTV: lifetime value formula and the CAC-against-contribution-margin relationship.
Fairview: D2C metrics: contribution margin definition and the acquisition/retention/profitability grouping.
Conjura: Ecommerce KPIs 2026: the core seven-metric framework this pack’s grouping is based on.

Benchmark figures (ROAS ranges, LTV:CAC targets, payback windows) are directional and change with market conditions; treat them as a reference point for a first target, not a fixed standard, and replace them with your own once you have a few months of real data.

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Ecommerce metrics starter pack

Acquisition and delivery

Funnel

Revenue and efficiency

Customer acquisition cost and lifetime value

Profitability

Sources

​Acquisition and delivery

​Funnel

​Revenue and efficiency

​Customer acquisition cost and lifetime value

​Profitability

​Sources

​Related resources

Acquisition and delivery

Funnel

Revenue and efficiency

Customer acquisition cost and lifetime value

Profitability

Sources

Related resources