Understanding Sales Metrics Over Time by Order Type

KPI > Sales > KPI Trends > Order Type

Summary

The report provides essential insights into how different types of orders—one-time purchases, subscription first orders, and subscription recurring orders—are performing over time.

Questions the report answers

Which order type is contributing the most to business over time?
Do I need to focus on acquiring new customers or on retaining existing ones?

How to read the report

Understanding the Contribution of Different Order Types

The report splits key metrics by different order types, such as one-time purchases, subscription first orders, and subscription recurring orders. This segmentation allows you to assess how each type contributes to overall performance.

If One-Time Purchases domination suggests that your business relies heavily on customer acquisition. Consider focusing on retention strategies to turn these one-time buyers into repeat or subscription customers.
If Subscription First Orders dominate, this suggests that your acquisition strategies for attracting new subscribers are effective.
If Subscription Recurring Orders domination indicates strong customer loyalty and satisfaction. Focus on nurturing these relationships to increase their lifetime value.

Track the Performance of Order Type for Specific Metric Over Time

The trend lines for order types show how these order types are evolving over time. You can use the line charts to spot any growth or declines in segments over time.

Increasing trends: A rising trend indicates positive performance. Investigate what’s driving this growth (e.g., promotions, new product launches, successful campaigns) to replicate it.
Decreasing Trends: A declining trend requires attention. Investigate what’s driving this decline (e.g., marketing inefficiencies, product-related issues).
Fluctuating Trends: If you see fluctuations, they may be tied to seasonality or specific promotions. Compare these fluctuations with known events (e.g., holiday sales or marketing campaigns).

How to Read the Line Charts for Each Metric

One-Time Purchases: If this line increases, it shows that more customers are buying or spending more on single purchases. If it declines, it suggests a drop in one-time buyers or smaller purchase sizes.
Subscription First Orders: When this line trends upward, it indicates effective acquisition strategies bringing in new subscribers. A decline could signal fewer people are subscribing for the first time.
Subscription Recurring Orders: When it rises, it shows strong customer retention, with more customers renewing their subscriptions or placing additional orders. A downward trend may indicate cancellations or declining customer engagement.

Analyzing Supporting Metrics

Each KPI is influenced by supporting metrics to understand these you refer to the KPI Tree report. KPI Tree will help you understand the relationship between these key metrics. By reviewing these supporting metrics, you can gain deeper insight into why your high-level KPIs are trending up or down. For example, If the Sales Amount is declining: Check the Number of Orders and Average Order Value. If the Number of Order is declining check Session, Conversion Rate, Number of Customers, and Order per Customer. These will explain to you why sales are declining.

Glossary

`Average Order Value (AOV)`

The average amount a customer spends per order. It is calculated by dividing the total sales amount by the number of orders.

Average Order Value =

\frac{Sales Amount}{Number of Orders}

`Average Orders per Customer`

Average number of orders placed by each customer. It is calculated by dividing the total number of orders by the number of unique customers.

Average Orders per Customer =

\frac{Number of Orders}{Number of Customers}

`Average Products per Order`

The average number of unique products purchased per order. It is calculated by dividing the total number of unique products present in orders by the total number of orders placed.

Average Products per Order =

\frac{Products in Order}{Number of Orders}

`Average Unit Price`

The average selling price of a single unit of a product. It is calculated by dividing the total sales amount by the total number of products sold.

Average Unit Price =

\frac{Sales Amount}{Quantity Sold}

`Average Unit Price (Discounted)`

The average selling price of a single unit of a product specifically for orders where a discount was applied, either at the header level or at the line item level. It is calculated by dividing the total discounted sales amount by the total quantity of products sold in those discounted orders.

Average Unit Price (Discounted) =

\frac{Sales Amount from Discounted Orders}{Quantity Sold in Discounted Orders}

`Average Unit Price (Non-Discounted)`

The average selling price of a single unit of a product specifically for orders where no discount was applied, either at the header level or at the line item level. It is calculated by dividing the total non-discounted sales amount by the total quantity of products sold in those non-discounted orders.

Average Unit Price (Discounted) =

\frac{Sales Amount from Non-Discounted Orders}{Quantity Sold in Non-Discounted Orders}

`Average Units per Order`

The average number of units sold (Quantity sold) per order. It is calculated by dividing the total number of units sold by the total number of orders.

Average Units per Order =

\frac{Quantity Sold}{Number of Orders}

`Average Units per Product`

Average number of units sold per product with a given order. It is calculated by dividing the total quantity of products sold by the total products in order.

Average Units per Product =

\frac{Quantity Sold}{Product in Order}

`Average Days to Repeat`

The median number of days it takes for a customer to make a repeat purchase within a year after their initial order. It calculates the median of the days to repeat the order. It specifically considers only those orders where the number of days to repeat is less than 365.

`Conversion Rate (Google Analytics)`

The percentage of website sessions tracked by Google Analytics (GA) that result in a purchase. It is calculated by dividing the number of orders by the number of sessions.

Conversion Rate =

\frac{Number of Orders}{Sessions tracked by GA} \times 100

Orders per Customer

The average number of orders placed by each customer. It is calculated by dividing the total number of orders by the total number of unique customers.

Order per Customer =

\frac{Number of Orders}{Number of Customer}

`Number of Orders`

Total count of orders placed by customers. It is calculated by counting the number of orders.

`Number of Customers`

Total count of unique customers who have made at least one purchase. It is calculated by counting the number of unique customers.

`Sales Amount`

Total revenue generated from the sales. It is calculated by summing sales amount values.

`Sessions (Google Analytics)`

The total number of sessions recorded in Google Analytics.