The 7 E-Commerce Numbers Every Ghanaian Shop Owner Should Know
You can't grow what you don't measure. The seven numbers that tell you how your online shop is really doing, how to calculate each one, and what to do when they move.
Ask most online sellers how business is going and they'll say "it's okay" or "this month was slow". Ask them their conversion rate or cost per sale and they don't know.
You don't need a finance degree to run your shop by the numbers. You need seven figures, checked weekly.
1. Revenue
Total money from sales in a period. Track it weekly and monthly, and compare with the same period last year where you can. Seasonal businesses in Ghana can look like they're failing in February when they're actually fine.
2. Number of orders
Revenue can rise because of one big order. Order count tells you whether more people are buying.
3. Average order value (AOV)
AOV = revenue ÷ number of orders.
Raising it is one of the easiest ways to grow, because each customer costs the same to win. Bundles, order bumps and free delivery thresholds all lift it. See order bumps and upsells.
4. Conversion rate
Conversion rate = orders ÷ visitors.
If 1,000 people visit and 15 buy, your conversion rate is 1.5%. If adverts bring visitors but conversion is low, the problem is your page, price, trust or checkout, not the adverts. See how to write a product page that sells.
5. Cost per acquisition (CPA)
CPA = marketing spend ÷ new customers.
Compare it with how much profit a customer brings. If you spend GH₵ 80 to win a customer who brings GH₵ 60 profit on their first order, you need them to come back to make money.
6. Repeat purchase rate
The share of customers who buy more than once. Repeat customers are your cheapest sales. If this is low, look at product quality, follow-up and how often you contact past customers. See customer lifetime value.
7. Gross margin
Gross margin = (revenue − cost of products, packaging, delivery and payment fees) ÷ revenue.
Growing revenue on a shrinking margin is a trap. Watch it whenever supplier prices, exchange rates or delivery costs change. See how to price products for online sales.
How they fit together
Revenue = visitors × conversion rate × average order value.
That means you have three levers:
| Lever | How to pull it |
|---|---|
| More visitors | Adverts, content, SEO, referrals |
| Higher conversion | Better pages, trust, checkout, follow-up |
| Higher order value | Bundles, bumps, upsells, free delivery thresholds |
Small improvements in each multiply. Ten percent better on all three is about a third more revenue.
Also worth watching
- Cart abandonment rate: how many start checkout and don't finish. See abandoned cart recovery.
- Delivery success rate for pay-on-delivery orders.
- Return on ad spend. See ROAS explained.
- Stock levels of best-sellers.
Make it easy to see
Most of these numbers live in different places: your shop, payment provider, ad accounts and spreadsheets. Pulling them together every week takes time, which is why most owners don't. A simple dashboard that updates itself changes that. See the dashboard every owner should check.
Common questions
What's a good conversion rate?
It varies by product, price and traffic source. Measure your own and work to improve it, rather than chasing someone else's benchmark.
How often should I check these?
Weekly for most, with a deeper monthly review.
If you'd like your numbers on one screen, see our custom dashboards.