Understanding and analyzing data and key metrics for your online store can be challenging, especially when there are no industry standards or comparative data available. If your store’s conversion rate is 4%, is that good? How does it compare to other stores in the same industry? Should you invest in improving your conversion rate?

Enter Benchmarks

Benchmarks are industry-specific metrics that establish a performance standard for businesses. They provide insights into your online store’s performance, allowing you to make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts and resources.

With millions of merchants on our platform, Shopify has the unique ability to match merchants not against industry standards but to surface benchmark data against similar merchants. Comparing performance against stores similar to yours, gives merchants a highly competitive and achievable advantage.

Benchmarks in Shopify are based on cohorts of stores that are similar to yours. These cohorts are defined by looking at the order volume, primary market, and product categories sold over the past 30 days. If there aren’t enough similar stores like yours on Shopify, Benchmarks data may not be available for your store.

 

Shopify gives you Benchmarks data at a median, 25th percentile and 75th percentile level so that you can make better decisions based on your relative performance. For instance, finding yourself in a narrow range for conversion between the median and 75th percentile may suggest that smaller changes in conversion rate might not have a significant impact on your top-line. This means you can focus instead on your average basket size by offering bundling options.

Percentiles can also be helpful in indicating how close or far your shop is from peak performance. When there is only a small difference between the median and 75th percentile, even a small percentage improvement in conversion rate can bring your store up to par with other stores at the 75th percentile.

What KPIs are Benchmarks available for?

In this first iteration, Benchmarks data is available for the following metrics in Shopify: online store conversion; average order value; retention rate; and time to fulfill, ship, and deliver. You can access these metrics using the relevant reports in Shopify.

Online store conversion

Online store conversion is the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase. View the Online store conversion over time report in Shopify to find out how your store’s conversion rate is doing compared to other similar stores in the industry over a period of time.

Average order value

Compare the average value of an order placed on your store against similar stores using the Average order value over time report.

Retention rate

Retention rate is the percentage of customers who return to your website to make another purchase. Dig into your Customer Cohort Analysis report to view the retention rate for your store and compare against similar stores.

Time to fulfill, ship, and deliver

Time to fulfill is the average time it takes for you to start processing an order after it’s placed. Time to ship is the average time it takes for an order to be shipped after it’s been processed. Time to deliver is the average time it takes for an order to be delivered after it’s been shipped. The Fulfillment, shipping, and delivery times report in Shopify gives you a clear view of these metrics along with Benchmarks data to analyze your performance in fulfillment, shipping and delivery.

Stay on top of the game with Benchmarks

Benchmarks help you stay on top of the game by giving you unique insights that uplift your performance and help you make better decisions. With Benchmarks, you can realistically view how your KPIs are performing against others in the industry, identify areas for improvement, and see where your efforts are paying off.

https://www.shopify.com/blog/benchmarks