Every metric, explained

Every number on the dashboard, how it is calculated, and what it is actually good for.

These are the metrics available as cards on the Dashboard and as columns in every drill-down table. Two rules apply throughout:

• Molecule metrics follow your attribution method. Change the method and they change. Channel metrics do not — they are reported by the ad platform and arrive already decided.

• All money is converted to your dashboard currency.

Revenue

Metric	How it is calculated	What it is for
Total Sales	Attributed order value after discounts, including VAT and shipping, counted on the day the order was placed — before refunds and cancellations	Your headline top line — what you billed, not what you keep. Shopify's own Total sales subtracts refunds on the day they happen, so it can be lower
Net Sales	Sales after discounts, without tax and shipping, minus refunds and cancellations on the day they happen	What the business actually keeps. The basis for Net ROAS
First Time Sales	Revenue from customers buying from you for the first time	How much of your growth is genuinely new business

Efficiency

Metric	How it is calculated	What it is for
ROAS	Total Sales ÷ Spend	A quick read, but inflated by VAT and shipping
Net ROAS	Net Sales ÷ Spend	The profitability number. Compare it against your break-even
First Time ROAS	First Time Sales ÷ Spend	How efficiently you are buying new customers
Channel ROAS	The platform's own reported purchase value ÷ Spend	What the ad platform's algorithm can see — useful for comparing ads inside one platform

Cost

Metric	How it is calculated	What it is for
Spend	What you paid the ad platform	—
CAC	Spend ÷ First Time Customers	What one new customer costs you
CPO	Spend ÷ Total Orders	Cost per order, repeat buyers included
CPC	Spend ÷ Clicks	The price of traffic. On Meta this uses link clicks
CPM	Spend ÷ Impressions × 1,000	The price of reach. A steadily rising CPM on the same creative is the classic sign of fatigue

Volume and quality

Metric	How it is calculated	What it is for
Total Orders	Attributed orders	—
First Time Customers	Orders from customers buying for the first time	Pairs with CAC
Total AOV	Total Sales ÷ Total Orders	Average order value, VAT and shipping included
Net AOV	Net Sales ÷ Total Orders	Average order value you keep
First Time AOV	First Time Sales ÷ First Time Customers	What a new customer spends on their first visit
Conversion Rate	Orders ÷ Clicks — see the note below	How well traffic turns into orders
Clicks	Clicks on your ads. On Meta, link clicks	—
Impressions	Times your ads were shown	—
Channel Conversions	Purchases as the platform reports them — Meta purchases, Google purchase conversions	The platform's own count
Channel Conversions Value	The purchase value the platform reports	Feeds Channel ROAS

Two things that will confuse you if nobody says them

Conversion Rate is measured differently in the summary and in the tables. The summary cards use all your store's orders divided by clicks. The drill-down rows use attributed orders divided by clicks.

So the summary figure is normally higher than any individual row, and the rows will not add up to it. That is not a bug: your store also takes orders that no ad click can claim — direct visits, organic search, email, word of mouth.

Channel metrics ignore your attribution method. Channel ROAS, Channel Conversions and Channel Conversions Value come from the ad platform with its own attribution already applied. Changing the method at the top of the dashboard moves every other metric on the page but leaves these three exactly where they were.

Which ones to watch when you are starting out

Four numbers are enough to run on:

• Net ROAS, against your break-even. Profitable or not.

• CAC, against what a customer is worth to you over time.

• First Time ROAS, to see whether you are buying new customers or re-buying the ones you had.

• CPM, to catch creative fatigue before your results fall.

The rest are there for when you have a specific question.