15 E-commerce KPIs Every DTC Brand Should Track in 2025
A practical dashboard blueprint for Shopify merchants
Most Shopify dashboards show you everything—and still fail to tell you what to do next. In2025, the winning DTC teams track a smaller set of KPIs that connect directly to growth levers: acquisition efficiency, conversion health, customer value, and margin.
This article gives you 15 KPIs that actually matter, what each one tells you, and how to use them together—plus a simple way to structure your dashboard so it drives decisions, not anxiety.
How to use this list (so it doesn’t become noise)
Before the KPIs, lock two rules:
- Pick one “source of truth” for revenue.
For most merchants, that’s Shopify order revenue (choose gross or net and stick to it).
- Always view KPIs in context.
A metric without a time trend or breakdown becomes a vanity number. For each KPI, decide the default view:
- Trend over time (daily/weekly)
- Breakdown by channel / campaign / product / cohort
The 15 KPIs (grouped by what they help you decide)
Revenue & Demand (Are we growing?)
These KPIs tell you if the business is moving in the right direction—and where to look next.
Net Sales (or Gross Sales)
Your top-line health indicator. Trend it daily/weekly.
Use it to sanity-check platform attribution.
Orders
Volume matters because it changes how reliable other metrics are (AOV, CAC, conversion rate).
If revenue is flat but orders are up, AOV may be falling.
Average Order Value (AOV)
A lever for profitability and paid scaling.
Track AOV by channel and by new vs returning customers.
Units per Transaction (UPT)
Shows bundling strength and merchandising quality.
If AOV is up but UPT is flat, price increases or discounting may be driving it.
Refund / Return Rate
Revenue quality metric. High return rate destroys ROAS without showing up in platform dashboards.
Track by product and channel.
Conversion & Funnel Health (Is the store converting?)
These KPIs tell you whether the website is turning traffic into revenue—and where the funnel breaks.
Sessions (or Users)
You need a denominator. Sessions help interpret conversion, AOV, and revenue changes.
Track by source/medium.
Conversion Rate (CVR)
A “truth serum” KPI. If CVR drops, spend efficiency will follow.
Break down by device, landing page, and traffic source.
Add-to-Cart Rate (ATC%)
Product-page and offer quality signal.
If ATC% drops, investigate product pages, price, shipping, and trust signals.
Checkout Initiation Rate
Measures how many carts become checkout attempts.
If ATC is stable but checkout initiation drops, investigate shipping, discount UX, and cart friction.
