Essential KPIs for Any Amazon Business

Smart business decisions sprout from good data. With all the various aspects Amazon sellers need to manage—ranging from sales to traffic and advertising to inventory—close monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential.

While Seller Central provides some high-level insights, more mature Amazon FBA sellers prefer to go even deeper.

Junglytics is a customizable data analytics platform for Amazon sellers. Rather than looking at the store level, Junglytics empowers sellers to explore the most important Amazon KPIs at the product, variant, and regional levels as well. Thanks to its simple interface, Junglytics makes it easy to build dashboards that track more than 40 metrics over any time period in the past 4 years.

A customizable data analytics tool for Amazon FBA sellers.

Better data means better decision-making. By unlocking the insights hidden within your Amazon brand, FBA sellers can make decisions that boost profitability, increase traffic, improve advertising ROI, and more.

Here’s a brief overview of the most important Amazon seller KPIs, why they matter, and some suggestions about what this data means for your business.

Understanding Amazon Seller KPIs

Remember that no single metric tells the whole story. The crucial metrics for your business depend on your goals, which can and will shift over time.

For example, increasing traffic and revenue might be essential metrics for a new product line. In this case, throwing lots of ad dollars behind the nascent offering is a wise decision, even if that means a low RoAS.

But what about a more established set of products? Rather than trying to boost revenue and traffic, sellers should focus on increasing profitability.

Similar things can be said for product variations, region-specific campaigns, seasonal products, and beyond. This is why customized data analytics for Amazon sellers is key. The more flexibility you have in your business intelligence tool, the more easily you can sift through your data based on your goals.

Amazon Sales KPIs

The goals of running an Amazon business are simple: Make sales and generate profits. But there are a few ways to slice and dice the data to better understand your store’s performance.

Units Sold: The total number of units sold is a clear measure of product demand and market acceptance.

The total number of units sold across regions.

Selling a large number of units is a good thing. However, tracking this alone doesn’t tell you much.

Sales: This represents the total revenue normalized to your preferred currency.

Amazon sellers love to track revenue because it shows the total amount of money generated through sales. And it can be really encouraging to watch this number go up over time. However, it’s not as useful as profit for determining financial success.

Net Sales: This is the total revenue minus revenue from returns.

(∑ sales) - (∑ returnedRevenueByOrderDate)

Note that returned revenue will increase as customers return units during the period following the purchase that products are eligible for return.

Orders: The total number of customer orders.

This metric provides important clues about revenue generation, customer engagement, and market demand. Sellers should keep an eye on the total number of orders to anticipate opportunities and challenges to inventory management and operational efficiency.

Furthermore, comparing the number of orders to the number of units sold provides crucial information about how many people are buying multiple units within a single order. This is a strong indicator that bundling could work for your business.

Average Order Value: Total sales divided by total orders.

(∑ Sales) / (∑ Orders)

Notice how the average order value differs for different products.

Average order value tells Amazon sellers how much money they make on average from each customer order. By increasing AOV, sellers can make more money without getting more customers, which is good for their business and profits. It helps sellers decide on prices, discounts, and how to market their products effectively.

Let’s Talk Money

People get into the wild world of ecommerce to make money. And Amazon provides a massive marketplace to attract shoppers. If you’re doing well, it’s enjoyable to track your profits. But beyond that, these metrics provide crucial insights that smart sellers can leverage to earn even more.

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A quick snapshot of important KPIs.

Profit: Total sales minus Amazon fulfillment fees, Amazon referral reels, advertising, and cost of goods sold. Note that “advertising” does not include sponsored brand videos.

(∑ sales) - (∑ ad spend) - (∑ cost of goods sold) - (∑ amazon fees)

Yes, the old adage is true. You have to spend money to make money. Which is why high revenue doesn’t necessarily mean high profits. Pay close attention to anything that might be draining your earnings to boost profits and not just revenue.

Know that estimated profit helps sellers project their earnings and plan their finances. If estimated profits are high, it might be worth increasing ad spend to grow profits even more. If estimated profits are low, maybe consider ways to boost its sales or if that product is even worth selling.

When estimating profits, take into account seasonal variances, hidden expenses, changing fees, and currency fluctuations to avoid nasty surprises.

Margin Percentage: This represents the percentage of your sales that make your profit. It’s calculated as profit divided by sales.

(∑ profit) / (∑ sales)

A healthy margin percentage can give a business a competitive advantage. It allows for flexibility in pricing while maintaining profitability, enabling the business to offer competitive prices to customers without compromising its own bottom line.

Amazon Traffic

It’s important for Amazon sellers to know how many shoppers are finding their products. You can’t garner high profits or high sales numbers if potential buyers aren’t landing on your listings. To increase traffic, identify and target high-volume keywords. Then inject these keywords into your listing pages and advertisements to attract more customers.

We’ll get into advertising later. But for now, it’s important to understand the following KPIs.

Page Views: This represents the total number of page views recorded each time someone visits a detail page or product variant.

A high number of page views is good because it means people are finding your offerings. But that alone is not enough. Take a look at your conversions as well to see if there’s anything you can do to turn window shoppers into buyers.

Total Number of Sessions: One session is recorded the first time a shopper visits one of your detail pages within 24 hours. Each subsequent time that same shopper visits your page during the 24-hour window no session will be recorded.

Note that sessions can be deceiving on variation listing pages. A session is recorded on each of the child ASINs a shopper visits.

Conversion Rate: The total orders divided by total sessions.

(∑ orders) / (∑ sessions)

A high conversion rate means that a good portion of the shoppers who land on your listing page become buyers. A low conversion rate indicates that—for some reason—shoppers simply aren’t motivated to click “add to cart” after landing on your listing. Explore ways to optimize your product description, improve your images, and motivate positive customer reviews to drive more conversions.

Note that conversion rates on Amazon can be deceiving—if you’re looking at variation listings where people tend to click on multiple variations before purchasing. In general, variation listing conversion rates are useful when compared to the same listing from a different period. But these can be misleading when compared to another listing.

Percentage Organic: Percentage of sales generated from organic sales.

(∑ Organic Sales) /(∑ Sales)

Organic traffic is great because it means shoppers are finding your goods on their own. Organic traffic is free, and obviously much cheaper than advertising.

Spending Money to Make Money

Operating an Amazon business isn’t free—it’s an investment. Taking stock of your cost of goods and various fees is essential for maximizing profits.

Cost of Goods Sold: Total landed cost of the item sold—including the factory cost, freight, and other shipping expenses. Junglytics customers can upload their COGS information to see this displayed in the product and generate accurate profit reports.

The cost of goods sold can vary by the size of your products.

If you’re spending too much on COGS, explore tactics to save money. This includes profitable inventory management techniques like using case packs, splitting inventory by FBA or merchant fulfillment, and standardizing packaging for smaller volumes and weights. Additionally, Amazon sellers should renegotiate with suppliers when possible, find new factories, or change product offerings when necessary.

Total Amazon Fees: Amazon referral fee plus Amazon fulfillment fee

(∑ Amazon Referral Fee) + (∑ Amazon Fulfillment Fee)

Amazon taps its sellers into a vast digital marketplace and, in the case of FBAs, handles storage, shipping, and fulfillment. In exchange, Amazon takes a cut of your revenue for the services provided.

With Junglytics, you can even drill down into just referral fees or fulfillment fees—as well as see the percentage of your revenue going to these fees.

Amazon Advertising KPIs

Advertising is a powerful tool in the Amazon seller’s arsenal. Ads raise awareness, attract buyers, and give sellers a fighting chance in competitive spaces. But can you tell what ad spend is giving you the biggest benefit? Track these KPIs to double down on what works and reduce spend on what does.

PPC Units Sold: Total units sold via pay-per-click advertising.

PPC is a strong advertising metric because these ads require a customer to take action before charging you money. Once the shopper gets to the listing page, it’s up to you to convert them through your images, copy, and price point.

Beyond the number of units sold, Junglytics delivers deeper insights into your PPC. For example, you can track PPC sales, the number of PPC sales associated with a specific SKU, or even the percentage of sales generated from pay-per-click advertising.

RoAS: Return on ad spend.

(∑ PPC Sales) / (∑ Ad Spend)

RoAS by ad type.

RoAS calculates the amount of PPC sales earned for every dollar spent on advertising. A positive RoAS means your ads are generating more revenue than you invested, while a negative RoAS means you're losing money to pursue shoppers.

Sellers typically target a RoAS of greater than three. However—as discussed above—the RoAS you’re comfortable with will depend on your specific goals for those advertising dollars.

Ad Spend: Total amount spent on advertising.

Track sponsored products, sponsored brands, and sponsored displays, all rolled into one number. Or split your ad spend by each ad type to discover opportunities to shift, reduce, or grow your investments.

Ad Conversion Rate: Total PPC units sold divided by total advertising clicks.

(∑ PPC Units Sold) / (∑ Ad Clicks)

Once you understand your total ad spend, ad conversion rates help you determine if your ads are working. The higher the conversion rate, the better.

TACoS: Total advertising cost of sale.

(∑ Ad spend/ ∑ Sales) x 100

TACoS includes both the direct advertising costs and the associated overhead expenses.

TACoS is all about the big picture. Monitoring TACoS ensures that the cost of advertising does not outweigh the revenue generated from those efforts, ultimately maximizing profitability. Amazon sellers typically want to see TACoS between 10 and 15%. Any higher and you’ll struggle to make a profit, any lower and you’re likely leaving $ on the table. Again this is a general guideline and your targets will depend on your niche and your goals.

Cost Per Click: Average cost per click for pay-per-click advertising.

(∑ Ad Spend) / (∑ Ad Clicks)

Your cost per click can vary by product line.

How much are you paying for a single click? CPC gives you that information. Whether or not the CPC is appropriate depends on the overall cost of your product and how competitive the category is. A high CPC might make sense for expensive wares like electronics, while a similar CPC for cotton T-shirts might reflect a runaway ad budget.

Ad Click-Through Rate: The percentage of time a customer clicks on your ad.

(∑ Ad Clicks) / (∑ Ad Impressions)

Ad impressions are the number of times shoppers see your advertisements. Ad clicks represent how many people took action on those ads. A low CTR indicates that your ads are failing to resonate with would-be buyers. A high CTR means that your ads are attracting eyeballs and clicks, which is a good thing. This metric can be a great indicator of how your listing is resonating with customers on the search result page. Impression quality is an often overlooked part of the Amazon shopper funnel that can make or break your success.

Important KPIs for FBA Inventory

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to inventory, which is actually why FBA is such a good idea. By taking on the brunt of storage, shipping, and fulfillment, Amazon FBA makes it easier for sellers to focus on selling. But that doesn’t mean it’s a completely passive process. To make sure your inventory investments are on track, you’ll need to think about the following KPIs.

FBA Inventory: Total inventory stored at Fulfillment by Amazon.

A Junglytics card showing FBA inventory by product line.

Inventory is a balancing act. Too much inventory could cost you big bucks, but it also adds a competitive edge due to availability and fast shipping times for customers. Lean inventory can sell out too quickly, leaving you scrambling to re-up or risk missing sales opportunities. Knowing where your inventory stands month after month can help you make better predictions in the future.

Returned Units: Number of returns attributed to the return date.

One of the challenges of ecommerce is that customers can’t physically inspect or try on merchandise before buying it. For this reason, ecommerce sees a much higher rate of return than traditional retail. FBA sellers can reduce the rate of returns by preempting consumer questions in their listings or through customer reviews.

An excessive rate of return shows low customer confidence in your products. If that’s the case, you might need to rethink what you’re selling or how you’re selling it.

Return Rate: Percentage of units returned allocated to their order date.

(∑ Returned Units) / (∑ Units Sold)

While the raw number of returns is helpful, seeing it in the context of the percentage of units should help you figure out if this is a trend to be aware of.

key performance indicators amazon

Key Performance Indicators for Amazon Businesses: The Insights You Need to Succeed

To be a successful seller on Amazon, you need to go beyond vanity metrics into real, meaningful insights. No single KPI can deliver that. But by using an Amazon data analytics tool like Junglytics, sellers can deep dive into the metrics most closely aligned with their goals.

If you’re ready to take your Amazon business to the next level, request a demo of Junglytics. Or try it out for yourself in our live demo.

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