E-commerce goals: 4 objectives and practical ways to measure them

Are you making the most of your B2B e-commerce strategy? Or are you at risk of falling behind in an increasingly digital market?

Companies that don’t set clear goals — or chase vague ones — put their growth at risk and may lose their competitive edge. The result: shrinking market share and slower revenue growth.

That’s a daunting prospect, but the right approach can help you avoid it.

In this article, we cover four B2B e-commerce goals, along with key metrics and actionable insights to help you fully optimize your digital commerce strategy.

Short on time? Here are the key takeaways

B2B e-commerce companies need to focus on these four data-driven goals to succeed:

• Take back control of your sales by investing in a unified commerce platform that gives you detailed insight into customer behavior. This helps you refine your sales approach.
• Collect and analyze customer touchpoint data across all your sales channels to understand and anticipate customer needs. That way, you can personalize your offers and predict future buying behavior.
• Forecast future needs by using predictive analytics and AI to anticipate trends and customer behavior. This helps you make proactive adjustments and improve customer satisfaction.
• Finally, find the right balance between ambition and pragmatism. Aim for innovation while staying grounded in practicality so you can make the most of your resources and deliver a strong return on investment (ROI).

E-commerce goal #1: take back control of your sales

In B2B e-commerce, transaction complexity and the sheer volume of data generated can be overwhelming.

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New market entrants often struggle to capture and organize this data effectively. And even for those who do, interpreting it from every necessary angle can be difficult, leading to overlooked insights and misread signals.

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As a result, companies can lose control of their sales processes.

Fortunately, investing in a robust e-commerce platform (we recommend SaaS solutions over on-premise solutions) can significantly reduce these challenges by helping you understand transactions from every angle. It makes it easier to offer self-service options to customers and lets sales teams place orders on their behalf, which greatly reduces friction.

A few important metrics can help you measure this online sales goal:

E-commerce sales vs. overall sales

This metric shows how effective your online channels are within your overall sales strategy.

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Understanding this ratio helps you assess the impact of your digital presence and refine your approach to win more online market share. In this way, you can ensure your e-commerce investments deliver tangible results.

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Expert tip: You can increase your share of e-commerce sales by making your e-commerce site easy to use. Improve its navigation and interface design so customers can find products easily. Also, review your sales data regularly to spot trends and adjust promotions to drive even more online sales.

Customer retention rate

This metric tracks how many customers come back to make additional purchases, and it matters because it’s usually less expensive to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones.

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A high retention rate signals customer satisfaction and loyalty, which can generate steady revenue and provide a stable foundation for growth.

You can improve your customer retention rate by offering personalized customer service, for example through a dedicated account manager. You should also tailor your email marketing based on past purchases and customer preferences to keep them engaged and encourage repeat business.

Finally, think carefully about what your customers value and how you can connect with them. For example, many companies are trying to reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact. Highlighting sustainable e-commerce practices could therefore help make you a more attractive option.

Number of unique visitors

Knowing how many unique visitors come to your site gives you insight into your brand reach and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts at attracting new prospects.

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This metric is an essential indicator of your site’s visibility and plays a key role in turning initial interest into engaged customers.

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If you have a public-facing B2B site, there are several ways to attract visitors. First, focus on SEO by optimizing your site content for relevant search terms. Also, engage on social media to create compelling content that drives traffic to your site. You can also consider targeted pay-per-click (PPC) ads to generate additional traffic.

Acquisition cost

In any B2B e-commerce business, from B2B retail to B2B construction, understanding the cost of acquiring a new customer helps you assess the effectiveness of your marketing and sales strategies.

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To keep your customer acquisition cost (CAC) low and your spending efficient, consider refining your lead qualification process so you can focus on high-potential prospects. You can also try to leverage existing customer relationships and encourage new customers to refer others.

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You can also explore strategic partnerships with companies whose products complement yours. You can promote each other’s offers and tap into new customer bases!

E-commerce goal #2: understand and anticipate

Companies that struggle to collect data on transactions and customer interactions will find it hard to understand their customers and anticipate their needs. As a result, they’ll be less able to adjust their offer to meet specific needs or forecast future buying patterns.

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This leads to missed opportunities, inefficiencies in inventory and supply chain management, and ultimately lower customer satisfaction and slower growth.

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A data-driven approach built on the right SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS infrastructure can help companies avoid these challenges and achieve this e-commerce goal. With the right platform, businesses can aggregate and analyze customer touchpoint data and get a complete picture of customer behavior and preferences.

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Once you have a strong B2B e-commerce platform in place, there are a few key metrics to keep an eye on:

Conversion rate

This is the percentage of visitors to your e-commerce site who take the desired action, such as making a purchase.

A high conversion rate means your site is effective at encouraging visitors to act, which is essential if you want to get the most out of your web traffic.

To increase your conversion rate, you first need to understand your target audience and make sure they have all the information they need to buy, for example by providing informative product descriptions and clear pricing (especially if you use a tiered or volume-based pricing model).

It’s also important to make it easy for customers to buy from you. Clear, compelling calls to action (CTAs) and a simple checkout process with multiple payment options can help remove friction that might otherwise stop a visitor from completing a purchase.

In addition, consider A/B testing different layouts or promotions, and fine-tuning your e-commerce copy to see what resonates with your audience. Also, remember that even small incentives, such as a 10% discount on orders of 50 to 75 units versus no discount on orders of 1 to 49 units, can make a big difference in boosting conversions.

Average order value

Average order value (AOV) measures the typical amount a customer spends when placing an order.

Increasing your AOV is a direct way to grow revenue without raising your marketing costs proportionally. There are several ways to do this.

To start, improve your product suggestions with high-quality e-commerce product photography that complements what your customer is already buying. This can happen through contextual recommendations or at checkout. Think of it as helping them find the perfect add-ons for their purchase.

In addition, bundling products at a special price can encourage customers to buy more in a single order.

Gross merchandise value

Gross merchandise value (GMV) represents the total monetary value of goods sold through your platform over a given period, excluding returns.

GMV is an important indicator of scalability and performance in your e-commerce business and of the overall success of your sales strategy.

To improve GMV, consider diversifying your product offering to appeal to a broader audience or tap into new market segments. Launching targeted marketing campaigns to raise awareness of your products can also help increase GMV by driving sales.

Average basket value

This is the average total of each transaction a customer makes at checkout. Knowing this figure is key to shaping your pricing and product placement strategies.

To improve this metric, take a closer look at the products customers frequently buy together and make sure they’re easy to find and purchase together on your site. Also, offering a small discount when customers reach a certain basket value can motivate them to add more items to their order.

E-commerce goal #3: forecast future needs

Many companies struggle to anticipate future needs and handle unexpected changes effectively.

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Unfortunately, traditional methods such as manual data analysis and simple extrapolation of historical trends often fall short when it comes to accurately predicting customer behavior and market trends.

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This gap leads to reactive rather than proactive strategies, which puts unnecessary pressure on customer success teams. It also puts customer satisfaction at risk, because companies aren’t prepared for sudden shifts in demand or customer issues.

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To address these challenges, companies need to fully embrace predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies can turn large volumes of data into actionable insights and accurate forecasts, allowing you to:

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• Automatically detect patterns and predict trends that human analysts might miss.
• Adapt quickly to changing customer behavior or market conditions before they affect your business.
• Empower your customer success teams with real-time data and predictive insights, enabling them to deliver proactive support and resolve potential issues before they escalate.

Here are a few key metrics to track:

Bounce rate

This is the percentage of visitors who leave your site — or “bounce” — after viewing just one page.

It’s a good indicator of whether your content and user experience meet visitor expectations. (The lower your bounce rate, the more engaged and interested visitors are in exploring other content and offers on your site.)

To reduce your bounce rate, make sure your landing pages are engaging and relevant to your audience. Consider using eye-catching visuals, clear CTAs, and interactive elements that encourage visitors to explore more of your site.

NPS score

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, measures customer satisfaction and loyalty. It’s calculated by asking customers to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely they are to recommend your company to others.

This metric is an excellent indicator of growth potential and customer loyalty.

You can improve your NPS score by closely monitoring feedback and quickly resolving issues. Regularly updating your product offering and customer service practices based on that feedback can also help improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total revenue you can expect from a customer over the course of their relationship with your company. This metric helps you assess the long-term value of your customer relationships.

To improve your CLV, focus on personalizing customer interactions and building strong relationships. Personalizing your marketing and product recommendations based on individual customer data can increase satisfaction and encourage repeat business, ultimately raising lifetime value.

E-commerce goal #4: balance ambition and pragmatism

This is something we often see at DJUST: companies struggle to find the right balance between ambition and pragmatism.

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On the one hand, a lack of ambition can lead to missed opportunities and reluctance to launch initiatives that drive growth. On the other hand, too much ambition without practical considerations can lead to projects that are complex, expensive, and time-consuming. That can pull focus and resources away from the most achievable and immediate e-commerce goals.

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Expert tip: To strike the right balance, companies need to foster a culture of strategic planning and incremental innovation. Start by setting clear, achievable e-commerce goals that also push the boundaries of what’s currently possible. Take a phased approach to project development, where you can test ideas in manageable stages and make adjustments as you go without committing too many resources upfront. Also, encourage cross-functional collaboration to make sure those big ideas have solid, practical execution plans. This approach is a key part of your e-commerce business plan — it keeps your efforts both visionary and achievable.

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To help you reach these goals, track the following metrics:

Project milestone completion rate

This measures how often projects hit planned milestones on time. It’s a good indicator of whether your projects are well planned and realistically scoped.

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The easiest way to improve this metric is to keep an eye on your project timelines and be ready to adjust them if needed. If you run into issues, it’s a good idea to bring your team together for a quick check-in. Together, you can quickly identify any bottlenecks and keep things moving smoothly.

Resource utilization rate (RUR)

This tracks how efficiently you’re using your resources relative to what you’re getting from your projects. It helps make sure you’re not pouring resources into initiatives without getting the expected results.

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To improve your RUR, regularly review where your resources are going and where they have the most impact. Don’t hesitate to reallocate them to areas that may need more support or that generate higher returns. It’s about staying flexible and making adjustments to stay on track.

Project ROI

The return on investment (ROI) of each project tells you about its profitability and value relative to its costs. This metric is essential for understanding whether the project’s scope is justified by its benefits.

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Make sure you focus on projects where you can see a clear potential for strong ROI. If some projects aren’t delivering, it may be time to rethink their scope or execution. Starting with smaller pilot projects can help you test things and refine your approach before going all in.

The bottom line

Navigating the complexities of B2B e-commerce can feel overwhelming, and it’s easy to lose sight of the goals you should be focusing on. However, with the right insights, tools, and strategies, you’ll be on the path to success.

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Start by investing in an e-commerce platform that offers comprehensive analytics, predictive insights, and seamless integration with your existing systems. This will help you take back control of your sales, understand and respond to current customer needs, and anticipate future trends.

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Also, strike the right balance between ambition and pragmatism so your projects can succeed without overextending your resources. Remember: the key to success isn’t just having bold ideas, but also the practical means to execute them effectively.

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With these insights, you’re well equipped to improve sales, satisfy customers, and drive sustainable growth.

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