Operations managers are the unsung heroes of eCommerce. They’re the calm in the chaos, the fixers behind the scenes, the people who keep everything running—even when the wheels start to wobble. But even the best ops pros can’t steer a business blind. You need data. The right data. And you need it now.
But here’s the catch: in today’s eCommerce environment, data is everywhere. Dashboards scream at you with KPIs. Reports land in your inbox. Notifications pop up. The problem isn’t too little data—it’s too much of the wrong kind.
You don’t need vanity metrics. You don’t need bloated spreadsheets. You need sharp, actionable metrics that reveal what’s working, what’s breaking, and where to focus your team this week. Not next month. Not next quarter. This week.
In this post, we’ll break down the essential weekly metrics every eCommerce operations manager should track. These aren’t just “nice to knows”—they’re “must haves.” The kind of metrics that uncover overstocking before it becomes a problem. That catch order delays before customers feel the sting. That tell you if your warehouse is humming or hurting.
And yes, we’ll show how tools like SKU.io make tracking these metrics not just possible, but easy—so you can stop drowning in data and start making moves.
Let’s dive in.
1. Inventory Turnover Rate
This is your first red flag metric. Inventory turnover tells you how often you’re selling and replenishing your stock within a period. If this number is too low, you’re sitting on dead inventory. Too high, and you’re running on fumes.
Tracking this weekly gives you early warning signs. Are your top SKUs slowing down? Are you restocking too fast on the wrong items?
With SKU.io, you can calculate turnover by SKU, product category, or warehouse. That granularity helps you shift fast—before slow movers choke your capital or fast movers trigger stockouts.
2. Days of Inventory on Hand (DOH)
How many days can you fulfill orders without restocking? That’s DOH. It’s your forward-looking metric—your buffer against disruption. But if you’re overstocked, DOH is a cash anchor. If you’re understocked, you’re one promo away from chaos.
Weekly DOH tracking helps you balance just-in-time with just-in-case. The sweet spot shifts constantly. Having tools that forecast based on real sales velocity and vendor lead times—like SKU.io does—makes it easier to hit that moving target.
3. Stockout Rate
There’s nothing more frustrating than being ready to ship… and realizing the product isn’t there. Stockouts kill customer satisfaction, spike your refund rates, and damage your rep on marketplaces.
Every week, you should know: how many SKUs were unavailable, for how long, and how many orders were affected.
SKU.io flags stockout risk before it happens—based on velocity, inbound POs, and safety stock thresholds—so you’re solving problems before they become fire drills.
4. Order Accuracy Rate
This one’s simple: how many orders did you get exactly right last week? No missing items. No substitutions. No address errors.
Even a 2–3% error rate adds up fast when you’re shipping hundreds or thousands of orders. That’s money out the door in reships, returns, and lost loyalty.
SKU.io ties order accuracy to specific SKUs, pickers, or workflows. That lets you fix what’s broken—whether it’s a warehouse zone, a faulty barcode, or a system glitch.
5. Vendor On-Time Delivery Rate
Your operations don’t exist in a vacuum. Vendor performance is a key part of your supply chain, and late deliveries upstream turn into stockouts downstream.
Track weekly: how many POs arrived on time? Which vendors are slipping? What’s the impact?
SKU.io automatically logs vendor delivery performance and gives you historical trends—so you can have data-backed conversations when it’s time to renegotiate or realign.
6. Fulfillment Time per Order
How long does it take from the moment an order is placed to the moment it ships? And how does that vary across fulfillment centers, teams, or shifts?
Long fulfillment times often hide bigger problems—inefficient picking, undertrained staff, or system lag.
Monitoring this weekly helps you keep SLAs on track and uncover bottlenecks early. SKU.io tracks fulfillment down to the minute and flags outliers automatically—so you don’t have to hunt through logs to find the holdup.
7. Return Rate by SKU
Not all returns are created equal. Some are sizing issues. Others are damage-related. But when a single SKU starts creeping up in returns, that’s a red flag.
It might be a product defect, a misleading listing, or a fulfillment problem.
Weekly tracking helps you isolate patterns before return rates erode margins. SKU.io can tie return reason codes back to the SKU level—so you can fix the root cause, not just issue another refund.
8. Over-Stocked SKUs by Value
This one stings—because it’s the metric no one wants to admit. But knowing which SKUs you’re too heavy on (and how much cash is locked up in them) is vital to maintaining healthy cash flow.
Weekly checks keep you accountable. If a product hasn’t moved in 60+ days and you’re still holding hundreds of units, it’s time for a promo, a liquidation plan, or a reorder pause.
SKU.io uses inventory forecasting to surface overstock risks before they balloon—and recommends reorder adjustments based on real demand trends.
9. Sales Forecast Accuracy
Forecasting is only as useful as its accuracy. Each week, compare your forecasted vs. actual sales by SKU, channel, or category.
Did you overshoot? Undershoot? Were you caught off guard?
SKU.io learns from your forecasting history and adjusts future models based on real outcomes—so your planning gets better every week.
10. Gross Margin per Order (GMPO)
This is the bottom line. You can fulfill fast, pick accurately, and avoid stockouts—but if your GMPO is slipping, your ops strategy is failing.
Track how much profit you’re earning per order after product cost, fulfillment, packaging, and shipping. It’s a reality check—and a guide.
SKU.io lets you assign real COGS, carrier costs, and overhead to each order—so GMPO isn’t a guess. It’s a dashboard metric you can trust.
Weekly Ops Metrics Aren’t Optional—They’re a Lifeline
Here’s the truth: if you’re only looking at ops metrics monthly, you’re reacting too late. By the time a trend becomes obvious, it’s already cost you money.
Weekly tracking gives you agility. It helps you course-correct before problems scale. It aligns your team. It protects your customer experience. And it builds operational muscle that turns into margin, speed, and growth.Want to see how SKU.io helps top eCommerce ops teams monitor all 10 of these metrics in real time—with no extra spreadsheet work? Book a 15-minute demo and get the visibility you’ve been missing.