Ecommerce Analytics Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the metrics and methods ecommerce teams use, with the formula where there is one. Where we have a free calculator or a deeper guide, it is linked under the term.

Add-to-cart rate

The share of sessions in which a visitor adds at least one product to the cart: sessions with an add-to-cart divided by total sessions.

Anomaly detection

Automatically flagging data points that fall outside their normal pattern, such as a sudden drop in conversion rate or a spike in ad spend with no matching revenue.

Attribution model

A rule or method for deciding which marketing touchpoints get credit for a sale. Common models are last-click, first-click, linear, time-decay, position-based and data-driven.

Average order value (AOV)

Total revenue divided by the number of orders in the same period. It shows the typical basket size.

Blended ROAS

Total store revenue divided by total ad spend across all channels. Because it uses real store revenue, it cannot be double-counted the way platform-reported figures can.

Breakeven ROAS

The lowest ROAS at which advertising stops losing money. It equals order value divided by the contribution per order before ads.

Related: Breakeven ROAS calculator

Business intelligence (BI)

The practice and tooling that consolidates data from many sources into one model, defines each metric once, and delivers dashboards and reports to the people who run the business.

Cart abandonment rate

The share of created carts that do not end in a completed purchase: one minus completed purchases divided by carts created.

Checkout completion rate

Orders divided by checkouts started. It measures how well the checkout turns intent into purchases.

Cohort analysis

Grouping customers by a shared starting point, such as the month of their first order, and comparing how each group behaves over time, for example how many buy again.

Consent mode

A Google setting that adjusts how analytics and ad tags behave based on a visitor's cookie consent choice, and that can use modeling to estimate conversions from visitors who declined.

Contribution margin

Revenue minus the costs that scale with each sale: product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns, and optionally marketing. It shows what each order contributes toward fixed costs and profit.

Related: Product performance analysis

Conversion rate

Orders divided by sessions. It shows how well traffic turns into purchases.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)

The direct cost of producing or buying the products you sold, before shipping to the customer, marketing and overhead.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

The marketing and sales cost of winning new customers in a period, divided by the number of new customers acquired in that period.

Related: CAC calculator

Customer lifetime value (LTV or CLV)

The value a customer generates over the whole relationship. A simple estimate multiplies average order value by purchase frequency and customer lifespan; multiply by gross margin to get a margin-adjusted figure.

Related: CAC calculator (includes LTV)

Customer retention rate

The share of customers at the start of a period who are still customers at the end of it.

Data-driven attribution

An attribution model that assigns credit by statistically modeling the paths of converting and non-converting visitors, instead of using a fixed rule.

First-click attribution

An attribution model that gives all the credit for a sale to the first touchpoint the customer interacted with.

First-party data

Data you collect directly from your own customers and channels, such as orders, accounts and on-site behavior, as opposed to data bought from or tracked by third parties.

GA4 ecommerce events

The standard events Google Analytics 4 uses to measure shopping behavior, from viewing an item and adding to cart through checkout steps to purchase and refund.

Related: GA4 ecommerce events guide

Gross margin

Revenue minus cost of goods sold, divided by revenue, expressed as a percentage.

Incrementality

The extra sales that marketing caused and that would not have happened without it, typically measured with holdout groups or geographic tests rather than platform attribution.

Inventory turnover

Cost of goods sold divided by average inventory value. It shows how quickly stock turns into sales.

Last-click attribution

An attribution model that gives all the credit for a sale to the final touchpoint before the purchase.

Linear attribution

An attribution model that splits credit for a sale equally across every touchpoint in the customer's path.

LTV:CAC ratio

Customer lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost. A ratio above 1 means a customer earns back what they cost over their lifetime; how quickly they do so is shown by the payback period.

Related: CAC calculator

Marketing efficiency ratio (MER)

Total revenue divided by total marketing spend. It judges marketing across the whole business and is also called blended ROAS when only ad spend is used.

Related: MER calculator

Marketing mix modeling (MMM)

A statistical approach that uses aggregate spend and sales over time to estimate each channel's contribution, without tracking individual users.

Multi-touch attribution (MTA)

Attribution that spreads credit for a sale across several touchpoints instead of giving it all to one.

New-customer MER (nMER)

Revenue from new customers divided by total marketing spend. It isolates how efficiently marketing wins new customers.

Related: MER calculator

Payback period

The time, or number of orders, it takes for a customer's gross profit to cover the cost of acquiring them.

Position-based attribution

Also called U-shaped. An attribution model that gives the largest shares of credit to the first and last touchpoints and spreads the rest across the middle.

Profit on ad spend (POAS)

Profit attributed to ads divided by ad spend. Unlike ROAS it accounts for product and variable costs.

Related: ROAS calculator

Real-time analytics

Analytics where data is processed as events arrive, so figures update within moments. Vendors use the term loosely, so ask how often each source actually refreshes.

Related: Real-time ecommerce analytics

Repeat purchase rate

Customers with two or more orders divided by total customers.

Return and refund rate

Returned or refunded orders divided by total orders. It signals product and fulfillment quality and erodes margin.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Revenue attributed to ads divided by the ad spend that produced it. Each platform reports its own ROAS using its own attribution, so platform figures can overlap.

Revenue per session

Revenue divided by sessions. It summarizes traffic quality in one number.

Sell-through rate

Units sold divided by units received in a period. It shows how fast inventory moves.

Server-side tracking

Sending conversion and event data from your server to analytics and ad platforms, instead of relying only on code running in the visitor's browser, which ad blockers and consent choices can interrupt.

Single source of truth

One agreed set of numbers, built from all your data sources with each metric defined once, that everyone in the business uses.

Time-decay attribution

An attribution model that gives more credit to touchpoints closer in time to the purchase.

View-through attribution

Giving credit to an ad that a customer saw but did not click before they converted.

Ecommerce Analytics Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the metrics and methods ecommerce teams use, with the formula where there is one. Where we have a free calculator or a deeper guide, it is linked under the term.

Add-to-cart rate

The share of sessions in which a visitor adds at least one product to the cart: sessions with an add-to-cart divided by total sessions.

Anomaly detection

Automatically flagging data points that fall outside their normal pattern, such as a sudden drop in conversion rate or a spike in ad spend with no matching revenue.

Attribution model

A rule or method for deciding which marketing touchpoints get credit for a sale. Common models are last-click, first-click, linear, time-decay, position-based and data-driven.

Average order value (AOV)

Total revenue divided by the number of orders in the same period. It shows the typical basket size.

Blended ROAS

Total store revenue divided by total ad spend across all channels. Because it uses real store revenue, it cannot be double-counted the way platform-reported figures can.

Breakeven ROAS

The lowest ROAS at which advertising stops losing money. It equals order value divided by the contribution per order before ads.

Related: Breakeven ROAS calculator

Business intelligence (BI)

The practice and tooling that consolidates data from many sources into one model, defines each metric once, and delivers dashboards and reports to the people who run the business.

Cart abandonment rate

The share of created carts that do not end in a completed purchase: one minus completed purchases divided by carts created.

Checkout completion rate

Orders divided by checkouts started. It measures how well the checkout turns intent into purchases.

Cohort analysis

Grouping customers by a shared starting point, such as the month of their first order, and comparing how each group behaves over time, for example how many buy again.

Contribution margin

Revenue minus the costs that scale with each sale: product cost, shipping, payment fees and returns, and optionally marketing. It shows what each order contributes toward fixed costs and profit.

Related: Product performance analysis

Conversion rate

Orders divided by sessions. It shows how well traffic turns into purchases.

Cost of goods sold (COGS)

The direct cost of producing or buying the products you sold, before shipping to the customer, marketing and overhead.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

The marketing and sales cost of winning new customers in a period, divided by the number of new customers acquired in that period.

Related: CAC calculator

Customer lifetime value (LTV or CLV)

Related: CAC calculator (includes LTV)

Customer retention rate

The share of customers at the start of a period who are still customers at the end of it.

Data-driven attribution

An attribution model that assigns credit by statistically modeling the paths of converting and non-converting visitors, instead of using a fixed rule.

First-click attribution

An attribution model that gives all the credit for a sale to the first touchpoint the customer interacted with.

First-party data

Data you collect directly from your own customers and channels, such as orders, accounts and on-site behavior, as opposed to data bought from or tracked by third parties.

GA4 ecommerce events

The standard events Google Analytics 4 uses to measure shopping behavior, from viewing an item and adding to cart through checkout steps to purchase and refund.

Related: GA4 ecommerce events guide

Gross margin

Revenue minus cost of goods sold, divided by revenue, expressed as a percentage.

Incrementality

The extra sales that marketing caused and that would not have happened without it, typically measured with holdout groups or geographic tests rather than platform attribution.

Inventory turnover

Cost of goods sold divided by average inventory value. It shows how quickly stock turns into sales.

Last-click attribution

An attribution model that gives all the credit for a sale to the final touchpoint before the purchase.

Linear attribution

An attribution model that splits credit for a sale equally across every touchpoint in the customer's path.

LTV:CAC ratio

Customer lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost. A ratio above 1 means a customer earns back what they cost over their lifetime; how quickly they do so is shown by the payback period.

Related: CAC calculator

Marketing efficiency ratio (MER)

Total revenue divided by total marketing spend. It judges marketing across the whole business and is also called blended ROAS when only ad spend is used.

Related: MER calculator

Marketing mix modeling (MMM)

A statistical approach that uses aggregate spend and sales over time to estimate each channel's contribution, without tracking individual users.

Multi-touch attribution (MTA)

Attribution that spreads credit for a sale across several touchpoints instead of giving it all to one.

New-customer MER (nMER)

Revenue from new customers divided by total marketing spend. It isolates how efficiently marketing wins new customers.

Related: MER calculator

Payback period

The time, or number of orders, it takes for a customer's gross profit to cover the cost of acquiring them.

Position-based attribution

Also called U-shaped. An attribution model that gives the largest shares of credit to the first and last touchpoints and spreads the rest across the middle.

Profit on ad spend (POAS)

Profit attributed to ads divided by ad spend. Unlike ROAS it accounts for product and variable costs.

Related: ROAS calculator

Real-time analytics

Analytics where data is processed as events arrive, so figures update within moments. Vendors use the term loosely, so ask how often each source actually refreshes.

Related: Real-time ecommerce analytics

Repeat purchase rate

Customers with two or more orders divided by total customers.

Return and refund rate

Returned or refunded orders divided by total orders. It signals product and fulfillment quality and erodes margin.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Revenue attributed to ads divided by the ad spend that produced it. Each platform reports its own ROAS using its own attribution, so platform figures can overlap.

Revenue per session

Revenue divided by sessions. It summarizes traffic quality in one number.

Sell-through rate

Units sold divided by units received in a period. It shows how fast inventory moves.

Server-side tracking

Single source of truth

One agreed set of numbers, built from all your data sources with each metric defined once, that everyone in the business uses.

Time-decay attribution

An attribution model that gives more credit to touchpoints closer in time to the purchase.

View-through attribution

Giving credit to an ad that a customer saw but did not click before they converted.