Metric definitions
Exactly how each headline number in analytics is worked out.
Every figure in analytics has one meaning, used everywhere. This page lists them. When two numbers do not match, one rule explains most cases:
Money counts completed orders only. Order counts usually count every status.
Who can do this: this is a reference page. Anyone who can see analytics can use it.
Sales#
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Net sales | Gross sales less discounts, plus tax and shipping. Completed orders only. |
| Gross sales | What the goods sold for, before discounts, tax and shipping. Completed orders only. |
| Transactions | How many completed orders were taken in the period. |
| Average sale | Net sales divided by the number of completed orders. A dash when no order was completed. |
| Discounts | What came off the price of completed orders. The change pill is reversed: more discounting shows red. |
| Tax | Tax charged on completed orders. |
Orders#
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Total orders | Every order placed in the period, whatever became of it. Counted by the date placed, not completed. |
| Completed / Cancelled | Orders placed in the period that ended in each state. The rest are still pending, confirmed or processing. |
| Cancellation rate | Cancelled orders as a share of every order placed in the period. |
| Average order value | Net sales divided by the number of completed orders. |
Returns#
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Returns raised | Returns opened in the period, whatever state they reached. |
| Completed returns | Returns whose goods actually came back. |
| Value returned | What the returned goods were sold for. Completed returns only. |
| Refunded | Money that actually went back out. Completed refunds only. A store credit counts here when the refund settles, not when the customer spends it. |
| Dispositions | Counted per returned item. A return handled two ways appears under both. |
Inventory#
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Units on hand | Stock across the linked products, as it stands now. The date range does not apply. |
| Stock valuation | What the stock on hand cost, at each batch's own cost price. As it stands now. |
| Low stock items | Products at or below their own low stock level, as it stands now. |
| Sell-through rate | Units sold divided by (units sold plus units still on hand), times 100, over the period. |
| Days of inventory | Units on hand divided by the period's average daily sales. A dash when nothing sold, because there is no rate to go on. |
| Shrinkage | Units written off to damage, loss, expiry or theft, read from the stock history. This is why the right adjustment reason matters. |
| ABC classification | Products graded by what they contributed: A are the products making the top 80% of sales, B the next 15%, C the rest. By units when currencies are mixed. |
Committed orders#
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Committed orders | Orders promised for a day in this period. |
| On-time rate | Share of promised orders completed on or before the promised day. |
| Late | Completed after the promised day. |
| Overdue | The promised day has passed and the order is still open, as of now. |
| Due ahead | Still open, promised day not yet reached, as of now. |
| Deposits due | Deposits asked for and not yet received. |
| Deposit collection rate | Deposits received and settled as a share of every deposit asked for, by amount. |
| Outstanding balance | Still owed on open committed orders, as of now. |
Committed orders are counted by the day each order was promised for, not the day it was placed. Cancelled orders are left out.
The change pills#
Each change pill compares the period with the period before of the same shape. A month meets the month before, a year to date meets the same days last year. A rolling range, such as the last 7 days, meets the 7 days just before it. When the period before had nothing, the pill shows nothing rather than a meaningless percentage. See Date ranges & plan history.