Most online stores in Nepal track one number — total sales — and it tells them almost nothing about what to do next. A KPI is only useful if a bad reading points at a specific action. Here are the few worth watching, and what each one tells you to change.
1. Conversion rate
Visitors who buy, divided by total visitors. If 1,000 people visit and 12 buy, that is 1.2%. For most Nepali stores anything between 1% and 3% is normal.
A low number is almost never a traffic problem — it means people arrive and something stops them. Usually price shown without delivery cost, no trust signals, no clear payment options, or a slow page on mobile data.
2. Average order value (AOV)
Revenue divided by number of orders. This is the cheapest lever you have, because raising AOV costs no extra marketing. Bundles, free delivery above a threshold, and a genuinely relevant "goes well with this" block all move it.
3. COD refusal rate
The Nepal-specific one, and the one most stores never measure. Count the orders sent cash on delivery that came back unpaid, divided by all COD orders. If it is over 10%, your packing and delivery costs are quietly eating the margin on everything else.
Fix it by verifying phone numbers, confirming higher-value orders before dispatch, and keeping a record so the same repeat refuser is visible.
4. Repeat customer rate
The share of customers who bought more than once. New customers cost money to acquire; repeat customers are nearly free. If this number is under 20%, the problem is usually after the sale — delivery, packaging, or simply never contacting them again.
5. Gross margin per order
Selling price minus cost of goods, minus delivery, minus payment fees, minus packaging. Many stores discover their bestseller barely breaks even once delivery is counted. You cannot fix what you have not calculated.
6. Stockout days
How many days per month your top products were unavailable. Every one of those days is demand you paid to create and could not serve.
How to actually use them
Pick a weekly half hour. Write the six numbers down. Compare with last week. Change one thing that targets the worst one, then check again next week. A dashboard nobody acts on is decoration.
The short version
Track conversion rate, AOV, COD refusal, repeat rate, margin per order and stockout days. Six numbers, once a week, one change at a time.
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