8 Ecommerce Metrics to Track for Black Friday and Through the Holidays | Geckoboard blog
It’s nearly the most wonderful time of the year! This means ecommerce businesses everywhere are revving up for their busiest (and hopefully most profitable) season - the Christmas holidays. To aid in your preparation for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the shopping days leading up to Christmas, we’ve put together a list of essential metrics for every ecommerce company to track.
These metrics will keep you and your team informed on overall performance, potential opportunities, and trouble spots so you can take action immediately. Give your customers the best experience and grow your company by tracking these eight key ecommerce metrics throughout the holiday season.
1. Website Uptime
What is it?
Website Uptime measures your website’s performance and reliability. It highlights whenever the site crashes or underperforms due to high volumes of traffic.
Why track this metric throughout the holiday season?
Website Uptime is critical because if your site is down, you can’t generate revenue. Time is money, especially on Cyber Monday. Ecommerce sites are more prone to crash throughout the holiday season due to significantly increased traffic from special promotions and discounts. By tracking Website Uptime, you can monitor and quickly fix any issues that may arise.
“To prevent Cyber Monday-inflicted disasters, your current hosting platform needs to handle periods of high demand and implement the right tools, so visiting and shopping on your site is a great experience for customers.”
How to calculate it
The best way to monitor Website Uptime is to use a site monitoring service (like Pingdom or something similar). For a DIY option, you can use Google Sheets and Google Analytics to track uptime.
2. Page Load Time
What is it?
The Page Load Time is the amount of time it takes for your website to load for a visitor.
Why track this metric over the holiday season?
Having a short Page Load Time is a fundamental expectation for online shoppers. Tracking this metric ensures you can fix any issues immediately before losing traffic, and ultimately, revenue. This is particularly essential for high-traffic days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If your site is down or loading slowly for just 30 minutes, you could lose a significant amount of revenue.
“A 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions... 79% of web shoppers who have trouble with website performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again.”
How to calculate it
In order to track Page Load Time, you’ll need to use an analytics tool (such as Google Analytics or something like Pingdom). See here and here for more detailed information on how to track this.
3. On-site Search Terms
What is it?
On-site Search Terms are the words or phrases that visitors or customers type into your site search. These terms are an indication of what customers are looking for or perhaps what they can’t easily find on your site.
Why track this metric over the holiday season?
Tracking On-site Search Terms can help you increase your conversion rate. It gives you incredible data on what your customers want and what products might perform well in a social or email campaign during the holiday season. It also helps you refine your website copy and improve your search feature to show more relevant products.
“Website visitors that engage with on-site search are more likely to convert because they know what they are looking for.”
How to calculate it
Similar to Page Load Time, you’ll need to use an analytics tool (such as Google Analytics or something similar) to track the On-site Search Terms. See here and here for step-by-step instructions on how to set this up.
4. Total Revenue
What is it?
Total Revenue is simply the dollar amount of all completed purchases on your site.
Why track this metric throughout the holiday season?
This metric is an obvious no-brainer. Total Revenue is generally the number one focus for every ecommerce business throughout the holiday season. This metric is particularly motivating when everyone can see it update live throughout the day, showing current revenue compared to your daily or weekly goal.
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