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The 1st drop of eCom goodness is here
Flo State exists to explore the balance of beauty, psych + performance in online stores.
Laura Robinson
January 15, 2025
You’re probably reading this because you’ve seen snippets of me across LinkedIn or Instagram and like the cut of my jib:
✔️ Data-led design + CRO
✔️ eCom trends
✔️ Shopify fan girl
✔️ Private, introverted type turns content creator
Whatever your reason, thanks for being here. Let’s help you grow your online store.
Starting with the numbers
THE ONLY METRICS THAT MATTER
It’s 2 weeks into Jan, your calendars are filled with GOAL PLANNING, Q1 TARGETS and you’re psyched for a big 2025.
But before diving headfirst into the future, you’re sitting on a wealth of data.
Let’s take a moment to look at what shaped this past year.
These are 5 metrics that tell you what is going well in your store and what to focus on:
1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Why it matters: CLV helps you understand the total value a customer brings to your business over their lifetime
How to calculate:
CLV = (Average Order Value×Purchase Frequency)×Customer Lifespan
Average Order Value (AOV): Total revenue ÷ Number of orders.
Purchase Frequency: Total orders ÷ Total unique customers.
Customer Lifespan: Average time a customer stays with your brand.
Actionable Tip: Focus on building a bunch of fans though community-events and loyalty programs.
2. Conversion Rate (CR)
Why it matters: Your conversion rate shows how effectively your website turns visitors into paying customers.
How to calculate
This is in your dashboard
CVR= (Number of Visitors/Number of Sales) x 100
Breakdown by
Device: desktop, mobile, and tablet
Landing pages
Products
Channel
Actionable Tip: Optimise your landing pages, product pages, checkout process, and website speed to boost CVR.
3. Average Order Value (AOV)
Why it matters: A higher AOV means more revenue per customer without increasing marketing costs
How to calculate:
AOV = Total Revenue / Number of Orders
Actionable Tip: Test free shipping thresholds, product cross-sell or upsells, or bundles to encourage larger purchases.
4. Website Traffic
Why it matters: The total number of visitors to your website. Use this to assess overall reach and marketing performance.
How to calculate:
In your Shopify / GA4 dashboard
Add even more value by breaking it down by Source:
Organic: Visitors from search engines.
Paid: Visitors from ads (Google Ads, Meta Ads, etc.).
Social: Visitors from social media platforms.
Email: Visitors from email campaigns.
Referral: Visitors from external websites linking to you.
Direct: Visitors typing your URL directly.
By Visitor Type:
New vs. Returning Visitors:
New Visitors: First-time visitors to your site.
Returning Visitors: Visitors who’ve been to your site before.
Insight: Understand which channels drive the most traffic and conversions.
Actionable Tip: Focus on high-performing channels and improve targeting to reduce CAC.
5. Retention Rate
Why it matters: Retaining customers is WAY more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. And if you have a store that sells multiple products, you want customers to choose you again
How to calculate:
Retention Rate= (Customers at End of Period−New Customers Acquired ) / Customers at Start of Period ×100
Timeframe: Typically measured over a month, quarter, or year.
Focus: Long-term loyalty and engagement.
Insight: Helps understand how well you retain your overall customer base.
Actionable Tip: Use email campaigns, loyalty programs, and excellent customer service to boost this
Looking at these altogether will tell you which areas you need to double down on and which need improving. REPLY if you need any help with this
ON MY RADAR
Yassification hits eCom
(the act of making something more attractive or glamorous, often by using photo editing apps to apply beauty filters)
I LOVE eCom brands that take stances: breathing life into the mundane and bland and / or problem-solving
This week, we’re talking about cottage cheese and mouth tape - not to be used together.
Given the huge rise in protein products, this humble fridge stable is getting the aesthetic glow up it deserves
Why they stand out: Simple branding and clean
What you can learn: Tie in nostalgia to your products and you’ll have a PR article writing itself
The power of jumping on social media trends (57K posts using #cottagecheese on Tik Tok alone)
Every product serves a purpose - from status signalling to improving lives. This falls into the latter camp: the rise of mouth tape
Why they stand out: An attempt at making an otherwise frightening looking product fun and girly. Not my style but a first-mover in this problem-solving space.
What you can learn: Your audience cares about the aesthetic of everything. From their laundry (Tallow and Ash) through to their lampshades (Ceau Store). How can you test new messaging that leans on the problem-solving nature or essential rituals of your products?
You made it to the bottom!
I hope these insights help you unlock inspiration or money for your store.
Financial freedom in 2025 bb.
Here’s to a new year full of bold moves while maintaining Flo
Laura
P.S. For next week, what's your FAVOURITE BRAND? I love discovering new things to buy!
Let me know by replying to me. I’m a new email sheriff and want to make a difference
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