19 Key Retail Reports & KPIs for Evaluating Store Performance

Reporting and analytics help you see exactly how your business is performing. Reports can help you run your business better—from being more cost-effective with your inventory to measuring your customer acquisition cost (CAC) and retention efforts, top-line revenue growth, and more. 

But for most retailers, the problem isn’t collecting data—it’s making sense of the numbers and knowing how to course correct your strategy based on what the data shows. Retail data only becomes powerful when it’s connected. A unified analytics system links every sale, product, and customer record into a single source of truth—so instead of reacting to problems, you can anticipate them. That’s what separates data-driven retailers from data-rich ones.

In this guide, you’ll learn which retailer performance reports to use, how to interpret them, and how connected insights can improve every part of your operation.

Why data-driven reporting is critical for retail success

Data-driven reporting is table stakes for modern retailers because it offers:

• Improved inventory management: There’s a fine line between tying too much cash or storage space up in inventory and not having enough stock to meet demand. Inventory reports help find the middle ground, accounting for any emerging trends or shifts in customer behavior. 
• Optimize operations and resources: For example, if your retail performance report shows Fridays have the most foot traffic, schedule your top performers during that day’s peak hours to optimize staff schedules.
• Increased agility: A recent study found companies with real-time business performance data were 17% better at managing risk, 20% better at innovating, and operated with 22% more efficiency, largely because real-time data allows you to pivot when the data begins to trend—not after the fact. 

Every decision you make—how much to order, when to restock, who to schedule, and which products to feature—draws from five core data streams: inventory, sales, customers, staff, and operations. These categories work together to form a single retail performance system.

💡 Tip: Use Shopify's built-in reporting and analytics to help you make better decisions, faster. Choose from over 60 prebuilt dashboards and reports—or customize your own—to spot trends, capitalize on opportunities, and supercharge your decision-making.

Five key categories of retailer performance reports

We can break retail performance reports down into five key categories:

• Inventory management: Keeping track of your inventory is essential to running a profitable retail business. You want to know how much merchandise you have in-store, how quickly it sells, and which items contribute the most to your bottom line. 
• Sales and revenue: A sales dashboard is the best way to know whether or not your retail stores are contributing to your revenue. Are they performing to your expectations, or do you need to course-correct to meet your monthly sales targets? 
• Customer loyalty and acquisition: The best way for you to hedge against increased ad spend to acquire new customers is to focus on retaining the ones you have. To make your retention marketing as successful as possible, it needs to be fueled by customer data.
• Staff and operations: Staff and operations data helps spot inefficiencies, optimize scheduling, and improve overall store performance. Use these retail reports to ensure your resources are allocated effectively.
• Point-of-sale (POS) analytics: For store managers, Shopify POS comes with store-level analytics to help them run the store, manage staff, and ensure they’re on track to hit sales goals. Store managers—or any staff you assign the appropriate permissions—can view the data specific to their store location from Shopify POS without needing access to the Shopify admin.

Inventory management reports

Inventory management reports show how efficiently you move products through your business. They help you spot slow-moving items, identify bestsellers, and maintain healthy stock levels across every store location. When your inventory, sales, and customer data live on the same platform, you can adjust faster to demand—freeing up cash flow and reducing storage costs.

1. ABC analysis by product

An ABC analysis gives a snapshot of your best- and worst-selling inventory over a period of time:

• A-grade inventory consists of products that generate high revenue with fewer items, and can account for as much as 80% of the total revenue potential of your inventory.
• B-grade inventory generates a moderate amount of revenue with a moderate number of items, and may account for 15% of your inventory’s total revenue.
• C-grade inventory consists of products that generate less revenue with a high number of items, possibly accounting for around 5% of revenue. 

Use the ABC analysis by product report in Shopify admin to ensure you always have A-grade inventory on hand, invest in stock that’s likely to sell, and discount C-grade inventory to sell it off quickly and free up inventory space.

2. Sell-through rate

Sell-through rate shows how much inventory you’ve sold in relation to the amount you purchased from a supplier. It’s often expressed as a percentage. 

Use a sell-through rate report to see how quickly you sell through a product’s inventory and time your restocks better. Combine this with estimated supplier lead times to plan your restocks. Then set automated reorder points to get low-stock notifications and ensure you have enough lead time to replenish a product’s inventory before quantities reach zero.

3. Inventory turnover rate

Inventory turnover rate measures how many times you sell and replace inventory within a given period. 

This report shows how efficiently each location is moving products and whether stock levels align with customer demand. A high turnover rate can indicate strong sales or lean inventory management, while a low rate may reveal overstocking, poor product selection, or pricing issues.

Use an inventory turnover report to identify top and underperforming stores. You can also adjust stock based on what sells best in each store or location, and shift slow-moving items—either through discounting or bundling—to free up retail space.

4. Month-end inventory value

Physical inventory counts are a necessary but time-consuming way to reconcile inventory quantities. What if there were a simpler way to find discrepancies and keep inventory levels balanced? 

The Month-end inventory snapshot report in Shopify’s admin shows the ending quantity for each product and variant you carry at a glance. It shows how much capital is tied up in inventory across multiple locations and whether stock levels are balanced with sales performance. High month-end inventory value may point to overstocking or slow sales, while a low value could signal strong sell-through or potential stockouts.

When a product or variant’s ending quantity is negative, you need to investigate what caused the discrepancy. Count that item’s inventory and adjust the quantity available with the result of your count in Shopify admin.

5. Days of inventory remaining

A days-of-inventory-remaining report gives you an overall sense of how many days your inventory will last, based on the product’s average daily sales and the amount of inventory you have left. It highlights any stockout risks so you can replenish stock before it becomes unavailable. 

💡 Tip: If the supplier’s lead time doesn’t line up with this retail report but you have inventory available elsewhere, initiate a stock transfer. Shopify makes it easy to track inventory as it moves from one location (another retail store, shipping warehouse, or distribution center) to another. 

Together with sales and staffing data, these insights show what makes your products move—not just how many you’ve moved.

Sales and revenue reports

Sales and revenue reports show how each channel and store contributes to your bottom line. They track the health of your business in real time, showing where growth comes from and where performance may be lagging. With unified data, you can see the complete picture—from ecommerce to in-store—and focus resources where they’ll have the biggest impact.

6. Sales by channel

If you sell in more than one place—online and at your retail store, for example—it’s important to know how these channels contribute to total revenue. Sometimes called a sales-by-source or sales-by-platform report, this report gives you a big-picture view of which channels are most impactful for your retail business. 

To see how much revenue each sales channel generates over a period of time, as well as total orders and more, view the Sales by channel report in Shopify. 

💡 Tip: Shopify’s unified data model makes it easy to compare sales channels without patchy middleware or integrations. Sales data from all integrated channels—including your online store, retail locations, marketplaces, and social storefronts—is updated in real time in one centralized reporting dashboard for easy analysis. 

7. Sales by location

A sales by billing location report shows the total revenue your brand generates from online orders in certain regions. It’s a versatile report that can help measure how your physical stores impact online sales and even find favorable areas where opening a retail store could help acquire new customers and retain existing ones. 

View the Sales by billing location report in Shopify to analyze online sales data and see if customers are congregated in certain cities and neighborhoods. Consider opening a popup shop or retail store in regions with a high concentration of customers to improve customer lifetime value (CLV) and retention. 

8. Average order value (AOV)

Average order value (AOV) is the total sales divided by the number of orders over a period of time. 

Use your AOV to get a broad sense of how effective your store staff are at selling, measure the impact of digital marketing efforts and promotions, and spot seasonal revenue trends. Store managers can also track this metric to see how effective store associates are at upselling products. 

💡 Tip: If this metric is lower than you’d expect (particularly in certain retail locations), use upselling tactics—such as bundling or personalized recommendations based on data in each customer’s unified profile—to increase it. Luxury fashion retailer Filling Pieces does this using Shopify POS, and has subsequently increased AOV by 25%.

9. Average items per order

Average items per order calculates the average amount of items customers purchase per transaction. Also known as basket size, store managers can use this metric to:

• See how effective store associates are at cross-selling related products
• Measure the effectiveness of retail signage or marketing campaigns
• Display items commonly bought together beside each other to encourage future sales

10. Top-selling products by revenue and volume

If you have more than one retail store, you’ll want to get a high-level comparison of each store’s sales. Which store is your flagship? Which sells the most units? Which has the highest total sales? 

Store managers can use the top products report to see which products or product types were their bestsellers that day, week, month, quarter, or year. This can help measure how effective a promotion for a certain product was, as well as give more insight into which items you should prioritize for restocks. 

Customer loyalty and acquisition reports

Once you understand sales performance, the next step is knowing who drives it. Customer loyalty and acquisition reports help you understand who’s shopping, how often, and what keeps them coming back. 

These insights show which campaigns drive repeat purchases and where new customer opportunities lie. When your customer and order data are unified, you can personalize experiences that build long-term relationships—not one-time transactions.

11. First-time vs. returning customer sales

It’s a known fact that returning customers are any retailer’s lifeline. They account for 44% of all revenue and 46% of total orders, on average—despite only accounting for 21% of the typical retailer’s customer base.

To measure how effective your business is at attracting new customers and compelling them to keep coming back, run a side-by-side comparison of your new and returning customers on a regular basis. 

Monitor how this report trends as you implement marketing and sales strategies such as:

• Customer loyalty programs
• Personalized winback campaigns
• Proactive customer support 

While this can be challenging if you’re using different systems to run your online and physical stores, it’s easy with Shopify. When a customer shares their email address or phone number with you, Shopify creates a unified customer profile to store their data. This lets you track customer behavior across several channels.

12. Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLV) measures the total revenue you can expect from a single customer over the duration of their relationship with your brand. A higher CLV indicates repeat purchases and strong customer loyalty, while a lower CLV may signal the need for customer engagement or retention initiatives.

💡 Tip: Analyze CLV by product, category, store location, or sales channel to identify what makes customers come back. Do the post-purchase emails sent to online shoppers increase CLV? What about the automated SMS sent to retail shoppers that invites them to join your loyalty program? Double down on whatever works. 

13. Customers by location

If you sell internationally through your online store and retail stores, you may want to know how many customers you’ve served in each country, the total number of orders, and the value of those orders. Shopify’s Customers by location report helps you know the AOV of customers per region and plan marketing activities to boost sales in certain regions. 

Next, close the loop operationally with staff and store-level insights.

Staff and operations reports

Staff and operations reports connect team performance to business outcomes. They help you evaluate productivity, conversion, and scheduling efficiency, ensuring every shift drives measurable results. By combining staffing, sales, and traffic data, you can uncover what motivates top performers and replicate their success across every location.

14. Sales by staff member

Knowing how retail staff contribute to a store’s sales helps store managers keep employees accountable and ensure their store hits its objectives. 

Use a sales by staff report to see the average order value, items per transaction, and total sales value for store associates across all of your retail store locations. View this data on a daily basis to:

• Give kudos to your top staff
• Ensure struggling staff get the feedback and coaching they need
• Design incentive programs that motivate staff 
• Schedule top performers during peak hours 

15. Conversion rate by location

Not everyone who walks through the door will become a paying customer. Use a conversion rate by location report to measure the percentage of store visitors who do, and how this compares between stores. 

If you find that one store has a much higher (or lower) retail conversion rate than others, dig deeper to find out why. You might need to offer more sales training to retail staff in a poorly performing store, or replicate the in-store visual merchandising displays shown in those with a high conversion rate. 

16. Foot traffic analysis

Foot traffic analysis measures how many people visit your retail location within a specific time period. There are several methods to collect this data: through mobile device beacons, CCTV, or privacy-friendly options like Dor, which rely on thermal sensors to track how visitors navigate the store.

Foot traffic data can highlight what’s happening in your store, like:

• How many people walk past the store instead of entering it 
• “Hot” areas where shoppers spend the most time in-store
• “Cold” areas where visitors rarely go 
• How long the average person stays for 
• If the weather impacts store visits

Finally, unify in-store and online performance through POS analytics.

Point-of-sale analytics

Point-of-sale analytics tie your online and in-store performance together, giving you a single view of every transaction. These reports highlight trends in sales, discounts, and customer behavior at the register—insights often hidden in disconnected systems.

17. Net sales

Net sales are the sum of a store’s total sales minus its returns and discounts. Use this metric to get a high-level understanding of your store’s daily sales and track weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue growth.

💡 Tip: Benchmark net sales across each channel with Shopify Analytics. It uses data from millions of other stores similar to your own to evaluate how you stack up in your industry.

18. Net sales by staff

Net sales by staff shows the total revenue each store staff makes in sales over time after returns, discounts, and allowances are accounted for. Use the report to monitor who makes the most sales, is most effective at upselling or sharing promotions, and who could use some retail sales tips to be more effective. 

19. Top products by net sales

Retail sales by product gives you a breakdown of the total sales of each product and variant you carry over a period of time. It’s a simple way to see your top-selling products both in terms of units sold and total sales.

When planning your next purchase order, take a look at which product categories contribute the most to your total sales. This will help inform which product categories each store should carry stock of per season. 

How to use retail reports to make strategic decisions

Using the insights you find in reports is an excellent way to inform the decisions you make and run your business with confidence. With that in mind, here are a few tips and best practices for store reporting and analytics. 

Build a retail store performance dashboard

Many digitally native retailers have challenges applying the same data-driven approach they use for ecommerce to run physical stores. 

One way to make that easier is to centralize ecommerce and store data into the same back office. This helps you compare sales channels, spot sales trends, and get a clearer understanding of your brand’s overall performance.

Shopify’s unified data model does this by default. Because POS and ecommerce are natively built on the same platform, you get a centralized operating system to manage every aspect of your retail operations. Inventory, customer, and order data flow to this unified system, complete with advanced analytics and prebuilt reporting tools to slice and dice the multichannel data you’ve collected.

Set a routine for report analysis

Certain retail metrics lend themselves to different reporting cadences:

• Daily: Track fast-moving metrics like sales, inventory levels, and foot traffic to respond quickly to issues like stockouts or slow sales.
• Weekly: Review performance trends, staffing efficiency, and promotional results to adjust operations and marketing efforts.
• Monthly or quarterly: Analyze broader insights such as profit margins, category performance, and customer trends to guide strategic planning.

Work the analysis into your schedule as well as the schedule of your store managers. This way, everyone’s on the same page. You can monitor overall brand performance, while store managers can ensure inventory levels are accurate, store associates are productive, and their store is on track to achieve sales targets. 

Power your decisions with Shopify's unified analytics

No matter how big your business is, it’s important to refer to the right reports and interpret store data correctly. But it’s not always easy to know which data to look at, when that data is relevant, and what the data means. 

Shopify makes this easy with native analytics tools that unify your POS and ecommerce data into one reporting dashboard. Choose from over 60 prebuilt templates to find insights quickly. Or, create custom explorations to display your most important metrics on a personalized performance reporting dashboard for easy referencing.