The 12 KPIs Every Ecommerce CFO Tracks on the Dashboard
The minimum-viable KPI dashboard for a DTC or marketplace brand: 12 metrics, why each matters, healthy ranges, and how often to refresh.
Most DTC dashboards we inherit have either 4 vanity metrics (revenue, sessions, ROAS, AOV) or 60 numbers nobody reads. The right answer is 12 — enough to run the business, few enough that the founder actually looks at them every Monday.
Growth & demand
1. Net revenue (after returns & discounts)
Gross revenue is a marketing metric. Net revenue — after refunds, chargebacks and promo discounts — is what hits the bank. Track weekly, compare YoY, not MoM.
2. New vs returning customer split
Healthy DTC brands sit at 35–50% returning customers after year 2. Below 25% means you're renting customers from Meta. Above 60% means you've stopped acquiring.
Marketing efficiency
3. MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)
Total revenue ÷ total ad spend. The honest version of ROAS — includes organic and brand spillover. Healthy: > 3.0 for established brands, > 4.0 for early stage.
4. Blended CAC
Total marketing spend ÷ new customers acquired. The number that actually determines payback, not platform-reported CAC.
5. CAC payback period (days)
Days until cumulative gross profit per cohort = CAC. Target < 60 days for sustainable scale, < 30 days if you're using debt to fund growth.
Unit economics
6. Contribution margin %
Net revenue − COGS − fulfillment − payment fees − returns, divided by net revenue. Target > 30%. Below 25% and ad spend can't scale profitably.
7. LTV (12-month, by cohort)
Average gross profit per customer over their first 12 months. Track by acquisition cohort — blended LTV averages hide the truth.
8. LTV/CAC ratio
Healthy: ≥ 3.0. Below 2.0 you're losing money on every customer. Above 5.0 you're probably underspending on growth.
Profitability
9. % of SKUs profitable (fully loaded)
Most brands have 15–25% of SKUs losing money once all costs are loaded. Track this number — if it goes up, kill SKUs.
Cash & inventory
10. Cash runway (weeks)
Current cash ÷ average weekly burn. Anything under 16 weeks needs a board-level conversation.
11. Inventory turn (annualized)
Annual COGS ÷ average inventory at cost. Healthy DTC: 4–8x. Below 3x = trapped cash. Above 12x = you're stocking out.
12. Days of inventory on hand
365 ÷ inventory turn. Combined with cash runway, this is your early-warning system for working-capital trouble.
Refresh cadence
- Daily: revenue, MER, CAC (automated)
- Weekly: cash, LTV cohorts, SKU profitability flags
- Monthly: full P&L, contribution margin, inventory turn
If your current dashboard doesn't cover these 12, you're flying with half the instruments. We build this stack as part of every fractional CFO engagement.
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