Ecommerce Analytics: Tracking SKU Performance Across Your Store and Marketplaces
Unlock Profits, Cut Waste, and Scale Smart by Monitoring the Right Metrics by Product
As multichannel ecommerce expands, one of the most powerful things you can do to grow smarter is track the performance of each individual SKU — not just by sales, but by profitability, velocity, channel performance, and return behavior.
Without SKU-level analytics, you’re essentially flying blind.
This guide covers how to track SKU performance across Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and other platforms, and how to use that data to make smarter decisions about marketing, pricing, inventory, and product development.
🔍 What Is SKU-Level Analytics?
SKU-level analytics is the process of tracking and evaluating the performance of each individual product (SKU = Stock Keeping Unit) across key ecommerce metrics.
It tells you:
- Which SKUs are your top sellers
- Which SKUs are low margin or unprofitable
- Where each SKU performs best (e.g., Shopify vs Amazon)
- What products are at risk of stockouts or deadstock
- Which items have high return or complaint rates
📊 Key Metrics to Track Per SKU
| Metric | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Sales Volume | Understand product popularity across channels |
| Revenue per SKU | Shows financial contribution per item |
| Gross Margin | Identifies high-profit vs low-margin products |
| Channel-Specific Sales | See where each SKU performs best |
| Inventory Turnover Rate | Tracks product movement and replenishment needs |
| Return Rate | Identifies quality or expectation issues |
| Advertising ROI per SKU | Measures paid efficiency for each product |
| Customer Reviews & Ratings | Qualitative insight into product appeal |
📦 How to Track SKU Performance Across Channels
✅ Shopify
- Use native Reports > Sales by Product
- Add analytics apps like Lifetimely, Better Reports, or Triple Whale
- Use EcomBiz.AI to sync SKU data across your entire stack
✅ Amazon Seller Central
- Go to Business Reports > Detail Page Sales and Traffic by ASIN
- Export data to analyze revenue, sessions, conversion rates, etc.
- Monitor SKU Buy Box Win %, returns, and FBA vs FBM split
✅ Walmart Marketplace
- Use Walmart Seller Center > Analytics Dashboard
- Monitor SKU impressions, sales, and inventory alerts
- Track On-Time Delivery Score, Listing Quality, and Offer Rank
✅ eBay
- Go to Performance > Sales > Reports
- Track sales by SKU/variation, and use Terapeak for market insights
- Review return volume and resolution status per listing
📌 Use a centralized analytics tool like EcomBiz.AI to aggregate and normalize SKU data from all platforms in one dashboard.
🧠 Advanced SKU Performance Insights
🔹 Profitability by Channel
Know how much profit you’re actually making after:
- Marketplace fees
- Advertising costs
- Returns and refunds
- Fulfillment/shipping costs
🔹 Velocity by Platform
Identify which SKUs:
- Sell faster on Amazon than Shopify
- Move well on TikTok Shop but poorly on eBay
- Need replenishment prioritization due to rapid turnover
🔹 Lifecycle Positioning
Track which SKUs are:
- New and untested
- Growing in popularity
- Plateauing
- Obsolete / ready for sunset or liquidation
📈 What to Do With Your SKU Insights
| Insight | Action |
|---|---|
| High revenue, low margin SKU | Raise price, renegotiate cost, bundle |
| Low sales, high return rate | Audit product detail page, quality, or fit |
| Fast-moving SKU on one channel | Push ads or organic content on others |
| Deadstock SKU | Liquidate or run promotions |
| High review volume, low star rating | Investigate customer complaints |
🔁 SKU insights should inform inventory planning, ad budgets, listing optimization, and even product development.
🛠 Recommended Tools for SKU Analytics
| Tool | Key Features |
|---|---|
| EcomBiz.AI | Cross-channel SKU analytics, profitability insights, smart sync |
| Lifetimely (Shopify) | Cohort analysis, SKU lifetime value |
| Better Reports (Shopify) | Custom reports by SKU, location, channel |
| Inventory Planner | Demand forecasting, stockout risk analysis |
| Google Data Studio + API Connectors | Build custom SKU dashboards from Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify |
| Excel + CSV Exports | For manual tracking (time-consuming but flexible) |
🧩 Bonus: Tie SKU Data into Automation
Once you understand SKU performance, you can automate:
- Reordering fast sellers
- Pausing ads on low-performing products
- Hiding low-inventory SKUs from high-risk channels
- Auto-bundling top SKUs with accessories or upsells
- Flagging SKUs for A/B testing on descriptions or images
With EcomBiz.AI, you can build rule-based automations triggered by SKU performance in real-time.
✅ Final Checklist: SKU-Level Analytics Essentials
- Track revenue, margin, and turnover for every SKU
- Compare performance by sales channel
- Monitor returns, refunds, and reviews by product
- Identify high-ROI SKUs to promote or scale
- Flag underperformers for liquidation or improvement
- Feed SKU insights into marketing, inventory, and operations decisions
Final Thoughts: Every SKU Tells a Story — Are You Listening?
Your SKUs aren’t just products — they’re mini profit centers, each with their own sales patterns, risks, and opportunities.
By tracking SKU performance across your store and marketplaces, you gain the visibility you need to:
- Scale what works
- Fix what’s broken
- And make smarter, data-driven decisions at every level