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One of the strongest benefits of developing an effective B2B eCommerce strategy is that top-notch eCommerce platforms allow you to track large volumes of data. With that information, you can make data-driven decisions that help you increase market share and grow your business.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the 16 most essential B2B eCommerce metrics worth studying in 2024. Tracking these metrics will help you shape your strategy so you can attract new business, retain existing customers, and boost profitability.
What Are The Essential B2B eCommerce Metrics to Track?
Given the sheer volume of data that B2B eCommerce platforms can collect, you may be wondering which are the most important.
The essential B2B metrics to track are:
- Website traffic
- Form fills
- Sales-Qualified Leads (SQLs)
- Conversion rates
- Average Order Value (AOV)
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- CLV to CAC ratio
- Repeat purchase rate
- Customer Retention Rate (CRR)
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Average Revenue per Account (ARPA)
- Churn Rate
While there are plenty of other metrics you can study, such as bounce rate, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), these are the most important metrics to track as a B2B eCommerce business.
1. Website traffic
Tracking website traffic is essential for any online business. Technically, we’re talking about many separate metrics here. However, they all fall under the broad header of website traffic, and they’ll give you a clear understanding of where your visitors are coming from, how long they stay on your website (e.g., time-on-page and bounce rate), and other key factors.
We should note that, when we talk about the origin of your website traffic, we’re not simply referring to geography. We’re talking about the ad, article, blog post, search engine, or anything else that led them to your site.
Evaluating this type of website visitor information will help you optimize your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy and refine your marketing campaigns so you can double down on what works.
2. Form fills
B2B eCommerce companies use forms to capture key data from website visitors, including email addresses you can use to target prospective clients with email campaigns. Prospects are more likely to fill out forms if they think they’ll receive something valuable in exchange for their contact information.
Tracking form fills is valuable because it shows a heightened level of interest in your company and the products you offer.
3. Sales-Qualified Leads (SQLs)
A Sales-Qualified Lead (SQL) is a prospective customer that has been fully vetted by your sales team. In other words, a member of your sales staff has identified the lead is likely to become a profitable customer.
Unlike B2C eCommerce, where vetting is almost unheard of, B2B eCommerce companies often need to be more strategic about the customers they take on.
A customer with a strong potential for high-volume repeat business may require special attention from sales staff and negotiated bulk pricing. They also may benefit from extra support to ensure rapid fulfillment of large orders.
Tracking these SQLs provides insight into the success of your sales and marketing efforts.
4. Conversion rates
A conversion, in marketing-speak, describes a visitor completing whatever action you want them to perform—anything from signing up to your mailing list to making a purchase. In most eCommerce scenarios, a conversion is defined by completing the checkout process.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) involves A/B testing different variables on your page to see what impacts your conversion rates. You can test everything from marketing copy, the position of Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons, special promotions, product images, and more.
The conversion rate is arguably the most important metric you’ll study since it drives the health of your business. Tools like Adobe Target, Optimizely, and Visual Website Optimizer (VBO) are popular CRO tools among enterprise B2B businesses.
5. Average Order Value (AOV)
Average Order Value (AOV) is one of those eCommerce metrics that is almost exclusively used by B2B companies, unlike their B2C counterparts. That’s because B2B companies have fewer clients, and they’re focused on how to better serve their highest value customers.
AOV is one of those metrics that, when combined with a careful analysis of total spending, profit, and other figures, paints a picture that will help you develop an informed strategy.
6. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) calculates the total amount of money a customer will spend over the entire time they do business with you. Understanding your average CLV will help you evaluate whether your current business model is sustainable, especially when compared to your marketing expenses.
7. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the average costs required to convert a prospect into a paying client. It considers all the costs of your marketing efforts, from advertising to other marketing campaigns. This figure also includes salaries for sales and marketing team members, as well as overhead costs.
Needless to say, you’ll want your CAC to end up lower than your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), otherwise you’re losing money.
Additionally, you’ll need the profit you earn from your average customer to exceed your acquisition costs quickly enough that it doesn’t eat into your funds, especially if you’ve got limited capital to play with.
CAC is a metric worth evaluating on a regular basis since it plays such a key role in the success or failure of your marketing campaigns and your overall business.
8. CLV to CAC ratio
CLV to CAC ratio measures the success of your marketing efforts, and you can attain this figure by dividing your average Customer Lifetime Value by your average Customer Acquisition Cost. A larger number means more effective (and potentially profitable) marketing campaigns.
9. Repeat purchase rate
How often do existing customers come back to purchase from your website? The repeat purchase rate measures the number of customers who return to make an additional purchase over a given timeframe (often a one-year period).
Your repeat purchase rate is an important metric because it can cost up to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one, according to the Harvard Business Review. That means repeat customers end up having a much higher lifetime value, on average, than those one-hit-wonders.
Pay attention to your repeat purchase rate, and work to improve it by surveying your clients about their customer experience and identifying how you can improve their customer journey. This can have a big impact on your bottom line.
Tools like Hotjar and CrazyEgg allow you to create on-page and post-purchase surveys, which you can use to identify issues and improve your customer experience in an effort to boost your repeat purchase rate.
10. Customer Retention Rate (CRR)
Another measure of customer loyalty, CRR measures repeat business, just like the repeat purchase rate.
The difference between these two metrics is that CRR often measures repeat business over a shorter time frame (often over a single month), compared to the year-long time frame that the repeat purchase rate often considers.
11. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
As the name implies, MRR measures revenue that predictably recurs through monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscriptions. While more common in Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses, B2B eCommerce companies can also offer subscriptions for recurring orders.
Improving MRR can add an element of predictability to your business, which means you can more confidently predict income streams and moderate seasonal highs and lows.
12. Average Revenue per Account (ARPA)
Like Average Order Value (AOV), Average Revenue per Account is particularly important to B2B eCommerce companies. Knowing each client’s average monthly or annual revenue will help you determine things like negotiated pricing and the number of resources you want to dedicate to keeping any given customer happy.
13. Churn rate
Since repeat customers are so lucrative, it’s important to be aware of how many customers you lose to your competitors each month. The churn rate identifies the percentage of customers who stop doing business with you over a given period of time.
Limiting churn is essential to maintaining a healthy B2B business because, once again, it costs far more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Using surveys to identify and improve the products you sell and the overall customer experience will help you keep your churn rate to a minimum.
14. Cart abandonment rate
The shopping cart abandonment rate identifies the total number of instances where prospective customers filled up their virtual shopping cart and left without completing the purchase.
Since sales cycles can be slower in B2B eCommerce and buyers often need approval before completing a purchase, you may experience more temporarily abandoned shopping carts than B2C retailers.
Regardless, you’ll want to get the abandoned shopping cart rate as low as possible. You can reduce your cart abandonment rate by evaluating where these customers drop off in the customer journey. You can do this by gathering visitor feedback to identify and improve weak spots.
15. Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI is such a universal metric in any business that it hardly requires an explanation, but we would be remiss if we didn’t put it on our list of the top B2B eCommerce metrics to track. ROI is derived by dividing the profit by costs, multiplied by 100.
No business can survive without producing a profit, and carefully tracking your ROI will give you a clear sense of how to best spend your marketing and operations budgets.
How Do I Track B2B eCommerce Metrics?
There are a number of powerful tools available to track key metrics on your eCommerce site. Here are three popular choices that are ideally suited for enterprise eCommerce companies.
Google Analytics 360: The free version of Google Analytics will often work well for small-to-mid-size companies, but the paid version (Google Analytics 360) includes advanced features that can process large volumes of data, perform BigQuery integration, conduct advanced analysis, evaluate custom metrics, and much more.
Adobe Analytics: Adobe Analytics is part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, and it offers in-depth analytics and data visualization to support enterprise B2B eCommerce clients. Features like predictive analytics, advanced segmentation, and customer journey analysis are extremely useful as well.
Piwik PRO: Piwik has a robust analytics suite that works well for eCommerce businesses. Piwik offers advanced segmentation, customer reports, data ownership rules, and user-centric analytics that track every element of the customer journey.
Of course, there are a number of other options available, so don’t feel like you should limit yourself to these choices. Review your options and choose the right tracking platform for your business.
How Often Should I Check My eCommerce Metrics?
While each of these metrics is important, you aren’t likely to track all of them daily. How often you track each metric will depend on your business volume and other factors, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. That said, here’s an approach that will work well for many companies.
Metrics to track daily
The following metrics might be worth reviewing daily:
- Conversion rates (especially if A/B testing)
- Form fills
- Website traffic
Metrics to track weekly
You may consider conducting a weekly review of the following metrics:
- Average Order Value (AOV)
- Sales-Qualified Leads (SQL)
- Cart abandonment
Metrics to track monthly
The following metrics are good candidates for monthly tracking:
- Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
- Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA)
- Average Order Value
- ROI
Metrics to track quarterly
The following metrics might be worth tracking quarterly:
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- CLV to CAC ratio
- Repeat purchase rate
- Churn rate
- Customer Retention Rate (CRR)
Again, you may decide to track any of these more or less frequently than what we’ve listed here, and that’s just fine! Track each metric as often as is necessary, over a given period, to support your business needs.
Why Are B2B eCommerce Metrics Important?
B2B eCommerce metrics are important because accurate data allows you to make informed decisions about your business. You can adapt your messaging, your offerings, and your B2B User Experience (UX) to address your customers’ needs and keep them coming back.
Better understand how customers engage your site
Delivering an unforgettable customer experience through your B2B eCommerce website begins with understanding how those customers use your website, where they get stuck, and which features and elements you can add to improve the site’s functionality.
As we mentioned above, you can A/B test different elements to determine what improves conversion rates and the overall user experience.
Get in-depth performance insights
Many of the metrics we’ve covered in this post will give you powerful insights into performance surrounding individual products, product lines, marketing campaigns, and the effectiveness of the various design elements you introduce.
This includes metrics like conversion rates, ARPA, MRR, churn rate, and more. Collecting data also allows you to address other metrics relevant to B2B business, such as the total number of orders for a given customer, the total number of store visits, and more.
These metrics are important because B2B companies (as opposed to B2C retailers) tend to be far more focused on individual account performance. Data allows you to focus on, and develop, your most lucrative accounts.
Improve forecasting
Collecting mountains of data will aid your forecasting efforts so you can predict buying trends and other factors that will guide your sales and marketing efforts.
One of the biggest benefits of working with a cutting-edge B2B platform with all the latest B2B eCommerce features is that you can use AI tools to spot patterns in user behavior and predict trends that no human would be able to spot. This will give you a competitive advantage over those who are not using this technology.
Looking for a B2B eCommerce Technology partner?
Net Solutions has built B2B eCommerce stores for well-known companies like Bonds of London and Euro Car Parts, and we’ve developed apps for household names like the Harvard Business Review and Xerox over our 24-year history.
We can help with any aspect of your B2B eCommerce efforts, from designing and developing your website from scratch to app modernization and maintenance. Plus, we’re up on all the latest, most effective B2B eCommerce trends so you can stay ahead of your competitors.
Speak with one of our experts to explore your options and get a technological edge in your market.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1.What Is The Difference Between KPIs and Metrics in eCommerce?
B2B Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics tied to specific business goals, such as quarterly sales. While there is a great deal of crossover between B2B eCommerce KPIs and general eCommerce metrics (e.g., you may have a KPI for increasing conversion rates within a given segment), the two concepts are distinct.
Metrics, in and of themselves, are not tied to specific goals. They simply point to the raw data that will inform your strategy in a variety of ways. Your metrics may be mentioned in your KPIs, but they are not KPIs themselves.
2. How do you measure B2B success?
Measuring B2B eCommerce success begins with identifying a benchmark for your existing performance. This involves using metrics, such as those listed above, to determine where you are now and where you hope to be in the quarters and years to come.
Ultimately, the success of any business comes down to factors like total revenue and profit. If your bottom line is increasing quarter after quarter, you’re doing something right. The trick is to identify which metrics move the needle and help your business grow.
3. Which B2B eCommerce analytic tool is the best?
We’ve mentioned three popular analytics tools for enterprise B2B eCommerce businesses: Google Analytics 360, Adobe Analytics, and Piwik, but what if you’re a smaller company?
If you’re looking for a solution better suited to startups or mid-sized businesses, Hubspot Analytics, Kissmetrics, and the free version of Google Analytics could serve you well.
