KPIs for data analysts
43 levels in 6 chapters
Learn the business metrics every analyst reports: revenue, AOV, LTV, CAC, conversion, retention, churn and margin, defined honestly and computed in SQL and pandas on real store data.
You can define a KPI so it cannot lie, compute it from raw orders, spot a ratio that moved because the mix moved, and build the KPI sheet a leadership team reads every week. Every level is open; the path only suggests an order.
Chapter 1 · 7 levels
Revenue and orders
- Gross sales, discounts, net salesNot started, difficulty 1 of 5 Next up
- Which orders count?Not started, quiz, difficulty 1 of 5 Next up
- AOV and units per orderNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- What the coupons costNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- From net sales to net revenueNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Metric trap: the average discount rateNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the 2025 revenue bridgeNot started, boss, 3 steps, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
Chapter 2 · 8 levels
Customers
- New or returning?Not started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Do they come back?Not started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- What a customer has been worthNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- A simple predictive LTVNot started, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
- What a new customer costsNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Metric trap: the LTV of the survivorsNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- LTV:CAC and paybackNot started, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the customer economics one-pagerNot started, boss, 3 steps, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
Chapter 3 · 7 levels
Funnels and conversion
- Sessions to orders, honestlyNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Which traffic source convertsNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Desktop, mobile and the traffic mixNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Where the funnel leaksNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- What last-touch credit really saysNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Metric trap: every device got betterNot started, quiz, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the funnel report for budget planningNot started, boss, 3 steps, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
Chapter 4 · 7 levels
Retention and churn
- Cohorts by first orderNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- The cohort retention tableNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Reading a retention curveNot started, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
- Churn without subscriptionsNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Picking a churn windowNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Customers who came backNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the retention reviewNot started, boss, 3 steps, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
Chapter 5 · 7 levels
Profitability
- Gross margin by categoryNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Contribution margin by channelNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Revenue mix vs margin mixNot started, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Pareto: do 20% of products make 80% of sales?Not started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- What returns really costNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Metric trap: the margin that rose by itselfNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the category P&L reviewNot started, boss, 3 steps, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up
Chapter 6 · 7 levels
KPI design and dashboards
- One north star, a few guardrailsNot started, quiz, difficulty 2 of 5 Next up
- Three return rates, one datasetNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Half a month is not a bad monthNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- November is always upNot started, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Two AOVs from the same ordersNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- December's suspiciously good return rateNot started, quiz, difficulty 3 of 5 Next up
- Boss Boss: the monthly KPI sheetNot started, boss, 4 steps, difficulty 4 of 5 Next up

Laura Bennett · Head of Finance
"Marketing says 2025 sales were $2.6M, my ledger says less. Before we argue, give me three numbers for 2025 on our definitions: gross sales, what discounts took off, and net sales."
Light the next lantern