Price and Inventory Reports: What Metrics to Track for Decision Making
In modern e-commerce, data is the foundation for decision-making. An online store owner who relies on intuition instead of reports risks missing growth opportunities and facing shortages or overstocking. Price and inventory reports allow you to monitor key indicators, identify trends, and respond to market changes before your competitors.
According to research, companies that use regular analytical reports for inventory management reduce operating costs by 20-35% and increase inventory turnover by 25-40%. However, many small and medium-sized business owners don't use even basic metrics, losing up to 15% of potential profit.
In this guide, we'll explore which metrics are critical for effective price and inventory management, how to set up automated reports and dashboards, and how to use the resulting data to grow your business.
Why do we need reports on prices and balances?
Managing inventory without analytics is like driving with your eyes closed. Regular reports solve several critical problems:
- Preventing product shortages — timely identification of critical balances allows you to avoid loss of sales due to the lack of popular items
- Procurement optimization — Understanding sales velocity helps you order the right volumes and minimize frozen capital
- Price competitiveness control — Monitoring price changes shows where you are losing customers due to inflated prices
- Identification of illiquid assets - Regular analysis of turnover allows you to quickly identify slow-selling products
- Marginality assessment - reports show which products generate the greatest profit in absolute and relative terms
- Seasonal planning — historical data helps predict demand during high and low seasons
Critical error: Many store owners focus solely on overall revenue, ignoring detailed metrics by item. As a result, profitable products run out of stock, while unsaleable items take up space and tie up cash.
To get a complete picture of the effectiveness of the assortment, it is recommended to integrate reports on prices and balances with the general system inventory and assortment management.
12 Key Metrics to Track
There are hundreds of indicators to track, but to make effective decisions, focusing on a dozen critical metrics is sufficient. Let's look at each in detail.
Basic metrics for balances
1. Current inventory level (Stock Level)
What it shows: The number of units of a product in stock at a given point in time.
How to calculate: Direct download from the warehouse system or integration with the accounting program.
Standard: Depends on the product category and sales speed. For category A products, ABC analysis — minimum 2-week supply, for category C — 1-2 weeks.
Actions: If the price drops below the minimum level, place an order with the supplier. Set up automatic alerts.
2. Inventory Turnover Rate
What it shows: How many times is a product completely sold and renewed during a period?
Formula: Cost of Goods Sold / Average Inventory
Example: We sold €100,000 worth of goods, with an average inventory of €20,000. The coefficient is 5 (the goods turned over 5 times per year).
Standard: Depends on the industry. For food products – 15-25, for electronics – 6-12, for clothing – 4-8.
Actions: Products with below-average turnover for their category are candidates for price promotions or removal from the assortment. Read more in turnover analysis guide.
3. Days of Inventory
What it shows: How many days of current sales will the existing stock last?
Formula: (Current balance / Average daily sales)
Example: We have 150 units in stock and sell an average of 10 per day. Inventory days = 15 days.
Standard: 30-45 days for stable goods, 60-90 days for seasonal goods.
Actions: If the indicator is less than 7 days, order the product urgently. If it is more than 90 days, consider reducing your purchase volume.
4. Out-of-Stock Rate
What it shows: What percentage of time is the product out of stock?
Formula: (Days without availability / Total number of days in the period) × 100%
Standard: For category A goods – no more than 2%, for B – up to 5%, for C – up to 10%.
Actions: A high percentage of shortages in profitable items is a signal to increase safety stock or change suppliers.
Pricing metrics
5. Average Margin
What it shows: Percentage of profit from the selling price.
Formula: ((Selling price - Cost price) / Selling price) × 100%
Example: You sell for €100 and buy for €60. Margin = 40%.
Standard: Depends on the industry. E-commerce: electronics 8-15%, clothing 40-60%, accessories 50-70%.
Actions: Products with below-average margins may be unprofitable given operating expenses. Review prices or purchasing terms.
6. Price Change Frequency
What it shows: How often does the price of a product change during a period?
How to calculate: Number of price changes / Number of days in the period
Standard: Depends on the strategy. Dynamic pricing is daily, standard pricing is 1-2 times per month.
Actions: Too frequent changes can confuse customers. Too infrequent changes can lead to a loss of competitiveness.
7. Price Competitiveness Index
What it shows: How much does your price differ from the market average?
Formula: (Your price / Average price of competitors) × 100%
Example: You sell for €95, the average price is €100. The index is 95% (you are 5% cheaper).
Standard: 95-105% is the optimal range for most products.
Actions: If the index is above 110%, consider lowering the price or improving the offer (delivery, guarantees).
Advanced Metrics
8. Gross Product Return on Investment (GMROI)
What it shows: Gross Margin Return on Investment — how much profit each euro invested in stocks brings.
Formula: Gross Profit / Average Inventory Cost
Example: Gross profit €40,000, average inventory €20,000. GMROI = 2 (every €1 of inventory generates €2 of profit).
Standard: GMROI > 3 — excellent, 2-3 — good,< 2 — требуется оптимизация.
Actions: Products with low GMROI are eating up working capital. Optimize purchasing or increase margins.
9. Dead Stock Percentage
What it shows: Percentage of products without sales in the last 90-180 days.
Formula: (Cost of goods without sales for 90+ days / Total inventory value) × 100%
Standard: Should not exceed 5-8% of the total stock.
Actions: Dead inventory ties up cash. Conduct a sale, return it to the supplier, or liquidate it through alternative channels.
10. ABC classification of goods
What it shows: Distribution of goods by contribution to revenue or profit.
Methodology: Category A – 80% of revenue (20% of goods), B – 15% of revenue (30% of goods), C – 5% of revenue (50% of goods).
Actions: Category A products require maximum control and constant availability. Category C products are candidates for inventory minimization. For detailed guidance, see the article. ABC analysis of products.
11. Fill Rate
What it shows: The percentage of customer orders completed completely the first time.
Formula: (Orders completed / Total number of orders) × 100%
Standard: For quality service - at least 95-98%.
Actions: A low fill rate indicates inventory issues. Improve forecasting and increase safety stock.
12. Supplier Performance
What it shows: Reliability and quality of work of each supplier.
Metrics: Percentage of on-time deliveries, percentage of defective items, average delivery time, flexibility of terms.
Standard: On-time deliveries > 95%, defective< 2%.
Actions: Suppliers with poor performance create risks. Work to improve terms or seek alternatives.
Advice: Don't try to track all 12 metrics simultaneously from day one. Start with the basics (inventory levels, turnover, margin), and then gradually add the rest as your business grows.
Report types: daily, weekly, monthly
To effectively manage prices and inventory, it's necessary to establish a system of regular reports with varying frequency. Each type of report serves its own purpose.
Daily Reports
Daily reports focus on operational control and rapid response.
| Report | Content | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Residues | Products with less than 7 days of sales remaining | Purchasing Manager |
| Out-of-stock | List of out-of-stock products with demand history | Purchasing Manager |
| Top sales | The 20 best-selling items of the last 24 hours | Owner, marketer |
| Price changes | Products for which competitors' prices have changed | Pricing Manager |
Receipt time: Morning (7-9 am) to allow time to react during the day.
Weekly Reports
Weekly reports show trends and help plan tactical actions.
| Report | Content | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Sales dynamics | Revenue, average order value, and number of orders compared to the previous week | Owner, marketer |
| Slow moving goods | Positions with below average turnover | Assortment Manager |
| Marginality | Top 20 and bottom performers by absolute and relative margin | Owner, financier |
| Stock performance | ROI of promotional activities, sales, and special offers | Marketer |
Receipt time: Monday morning, to analyze the past week and plan the current one.
Monthly Reports
Monthly reports provide a strategic perspective and basis for making product range decisions.
| Report | Content | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| ABC analysis | Classification of goods by contribution to revenue/profit | Owner, Assortment Manager |
| Inventory turnover | Turnover ratio by categories and positions | Purchasing Manager, Financier |
| Illiquid assets | Products with no sales for 60+ days, liquidation recommendations | Assortment Manager |
| Supplier performance | Assessing the reliability and profitability of each supplier | Purchasing Manager |
| P&L by category | Profit and loss by product category | Owner, financier |
Receipt time: 1st-3rd day of the month, after the close of the previous period.
Custom and ad-hoc reports
In addition to regular reports, special analyses are required periodically:
- Seasonal analysis - comparison of the current period with the same period last year
- Cohort analysis of goods - tracking the life cycle of products added at the same time
- Lost Sales Analysis — assessment of lost revenue due to lack of goods
- Forecast of procurement needs — planning order volumes 1-3 months in advance
Automate reporting with Elbuz
Elbuz automatically generates all the necessary price and inventory reports, from daily alerts to monthly analytical dashboards. The system integrates with your accounting software and provides data in real time.
Learn more about automationDashboard and visualization examples
Tables with numbers are useful, but visual dashboards allow you to spot trends and anomalies more quickly. Let's look at the structure of effective dashboards for different roles.
Dashboard for a purchasing manager
Focus on product availability and procurement optimization.
| Widget | Metrics | Visualization |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Residues | Number of items in stock< 7 дней | Red tile with a number, clicking it opens a list |
| Out-of-stock | Products without residues | A list of days of absence and lost revenue |
| Turnover chart | Days of supply by category | Horizontal histogram, color-coded by zones |
| Status of orders to suppliers | Expected deliveries with dates | Timeline with criticality indicator |
Dashboard for business owners
A strategic view of efficiency and financial results.
| Widget | Metrics | Visualization |
|---|---|---|
| KPI tiles | Revenue, profit, average order value, conversion rate | 4 large tiles with % change vs. previous period |
| Sales dynamics | Revenue by days/weeks | Line chart with trend and forecast |
| ABC distribution | Contribution of categories A, B, C | Pie chart with absolute and relative values |
| Top and outsiders | 10 Best and Worst Products | Two tables next to color coding |
| Stock health | GMROI, turnover, share of illiquid assets | Combined panel with health indicators |
Dashboard for the Pricing Manager
Monitoring competitiveness and effectiveness of pricing policy.
| Widget | Metrics | Visualization |
|---|---|---|
| Competitiveness Index | Average % deviation from the market | Gauge with zones: green 95-105%, yellow 90-95% and 105-110% |
| Products with price lag | Positions where competitors are 10%+ cheaper | Table sorted by criticality |
| The effect of price changes | Impact on sales volume after price change | Scatter plot (price vs. sales volume) |
| Marginality | Average margin by category | Vertical histogram with target values |
Important: An effective dashboard should fit on a single screen without scrolling. Use the "one page, one role" principle. Avoid widget overload—it's better to have 5-7 key metrics than 20 minor ones.
Automation and customization of alerts
Manually monitoring all metrics is too time-consuming and risks missing critical events. Automated reporting and alert settings allow you to respond to issues before they impact sales.
Types of automatic alerts
Alerts for remaining stock
- Critical residue - when the product reaches a minimum level (for example, 7 days of sales)
- Out-of-stock — the product is out of stock
- Overstock — the product has not been sold for more than 60 days, and its stock exceeds 90 days of sales
- Discrepancy with forecast — actual sales deviate from the forecast by more than 30%
Price alerts
- Changes in competitors' prices — a competitor has lowered their price by 5%+ or become cheaper than you by 10%+
- Margin drop — the product margin fell below the minimum acceptable level
- Price anomaly — your price is 15%+ higher than the market or 20%+ lower
Alerts on efficiency
- Decrease in turnover — the turnover ratio fell by 30%+ compared to the previous period
- Increase in the share of illiquid assets — dead stock exceeded 10% of the total value
- Low GMROI — Return on inventory fell below 2.0
Setting up automatic reports
In addition to event alerts, set up regular report distribution:
| Periodicity | Dispatch time | Recipients | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | 07:00 | Purchasing Manager | Email (PDF + link to dashboard) |
| Weekly | Monday, 08:00 | Owner, marketer, assortment manager | Email (PDF + Excel for detailed analysis) |
| Monthly | 1st, 09:00 | All managers | Email + meeting for discussion |
Integration with BI tools
For large stores with large volumes of data, integration with professional BI platforms is recommended:
- Power BI (Microsoft) — powerful visualization, integration with Excel and Azure
- Tableau — advanced analytics, interactive dashboards
- Google Data Studio — a free tool with good visualization capabilities
- Metabase — an open-source tool for self-deployment
Integration allows you to build complex cross-functional reports that combine data from different sources (sales, inventory, marketing, finance).
Attention: Avoid "alert fatigue"—too many notifications leads to them being ignored. Set up only critical alerts with clear trigger criteria.
How to use reports for decision making
Reports alone don't create value—it's how you use them that matters. Let's look at typical data-driven decision-making scenarios.
Scenario 1: Procurement Optimization
Situation: The weekly report shows that 15 products have less than 10 days of inventory, and 23 products have more than 90 days of inventory.
Analysis:
- Check the ABC classification of low-inventory items. If any of them are in category A, it's critical.
- Look at the sales dynamics over the last 4 weeks - perhaps there is a natural increase in demand
- Estimate delivery times from suppliers and current orders in transit
- For items with excess inventory, check turnover and margins.
Solutions:
- Create an urgent order for goods A with critical balance
- Increase safety stock for items with stable sales growth
- Run a price promotion on overstocked items to speed up turnover.
- Adjust reorder points based on new sales velocity data
Scenario 2: Price Optimization
Situation: The pricing dashboard shows that for 12 products, your prices are 15%+ higher than your competitors, but sales of these products account for 30% of your revenue.
Analysis:
- Evaluate the current margin on these products to see if there is room for price reduction.
- Check if sales of these items have declined in recent weeks
- Review your competitors' full offerings - they may have worse delivery terms or warranties.
- Calculate the potential impact of a price reduction on sales volume (price elasticity)
Solutions:
- Reduce prices to market level +5% on items with declining sales
- For items with a strong brand, keep the premium price but improve the value proposition (free shipping, extended warranty)
- Negotiate better purchasing terms with your supplier to maintain your margins.
- Set up monitoring of these positions on a daily basis
Scenario 3: Working with illiquid assets
Situation: The monthly report shows that the percentage of dead stock reached 12% (1,500 products with no sales for 90+ days, worth €24,000).
Analysis:
- Segment dead stock by reasons: outdated models, seasonal goods out of season, purchasing errors
- Evaluate which goods can be returned to the supplier under the terms of the contract
- Determine the minimum acceptable price for each group sale.
- Calculate the cost of storing these items for the next 6 months.
Solutions:
- Run an aggressive sale with 40-60% off high-value items
- Create bundles: combine slow-moving items with popular ones
- Agree with the supplier to return some of the goods with credit towards future orders
- For the remaining 20%, consider donating or recycling.
- Conduct some troubleshooting: why did these items become unsaleable? Adjust your purchasing process.
Golden rule: Every report should end with an action item. If no decisions are made based on the report's results, the report may be unnecessary or its content may need to be revised.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The optimal frequency is quarterly for a stable business and monthly for a rapidly growing or seasonal business. Products may move between categories A, B, and C due to changes in demand, seasonality, or competition. Regularly reviewing the classification allows for timely adjustments to inventory and purchasing strategies. For more information on the methodology, see ABC analysis guide.
To get started, three basic reports are sufficient: (1) Daily Critical Inventory List – to avoid missing out-of-stock items, (2) Weekly Sales Dynamics of the Top 20 Products – to understand trends, (3) Monthly Inventory Turnover Report with Slow-Selling Items – to optimize purchasing. As your business grows, add reports on margins, price competitiveness, and supplier performance.
Начните с настройки трех типов алертов: (1) Out-of-stock по товарам категории A — немедленное уведомление в Telegram или SMS, (2) Критический остаток (менее 7 дней продаж) — ежедневный email утром, (3) Изменение цен конкурентов на ключевые позиции — уведомление в течение часа. Используйте многоканальность: критичные алерты дублируйте через мессенджеры, менее срочные — email. Избегайте перегрузки: лучше 5 важных алертов, чем 50 второстепенных, которые будут игнорироваться.
Современные системы управления предлагают готовые интеграции через API. Основные точки интеграции: (1) Складская система / ERP — для получения актуальных данных об остатках и движении товаров, (2) Платформа e-commerce — для данных о продажах и конверсии, (3) Сервисы мониторинга цен конкурентов — для ценовой аналитики, (4) BI-инструменты (Power BI, Tableau) — для продвинутой визуализации. Платформа Elbuz автоматически интегрируется с популярными учетными системами и предоставляет единый дашборд со всеми ключевыми метриками.
Начните принимать решения на основе данных уже сегодня
Платформа Elbuz предоставляет полный набор отчетов и дашбордов для управления ценами и остатками. Автоматическая интеграция с вашей учетной системой, настраиваемые алерты и прогнозы на основе машинного обучения помогут оптимизировать запасы и повысить прибыль на 20-40%.
Try it for freeЗаключение: от данных к действиям
Эффективное управление ценами и остатками невозможно без систематической аналитики. Отчеты и дашборды превращают разрозненные данные в понятные метрики, а метрики — в конкретные действия для роста бизнеса.
Key findings:
- Отслеживайте критические метрики — 12 показателей, описанных в этом руководстве, покрывают 90% потребностей в аналитике для e-commerce
- Выстройте систему регулярных отчетов — ежедневные для оперативного контроля, еженедельные для тактики, месячные для стратегии
- Используйте визуализацию — дашборды позволяют быстрее замечать тренды и аномалии, чем таблицы с цифрами
- Automate your routine — настройка автоматических алертов и отчетов освобождает время для анализа и принятия решений
- От данных к действиям — каждый отчет должен приводить к конкретным решениям по оптимизации закупок, ценообразования или ассортимента
Начните с малого: внедрите базовые отчеты по критическим остаткам и топ-продажам. По мере освоения добавляйте более сложные метрики и анализы. Главное — регулярность и систематичность. Компании, которые принимают решения на основе данных, растут в 2-3 раза быстрее тех, кто полагается на интуицию.
Интеграция отчетности по ценам и остаткам в общую систему управления запасами и ассортиментом обеспечивает комплексный подход и максимальную эффективность. Сочетайте мониторинг текущих показателей с прогнозной аналитикой, а оперативные отчеты — со стратегическим планированием.
"Вы не можете управлять тем, что не измеряете. Начните отслеживать ключевые метрики сегодня, и через 3 месяца вы увидите существенный рост эффективности вашего бизнеса."
Save a link to this article
My texts are a kaleidoscope of successful automation in the Internet space. Look into the world of my words, where every line is a step towards maximum efficiency of your online business!
Discussion of the topic – Price and Inventory Reports: What Metrics to Track for Decision Making
Price and Inventory Reports: What Metrics to Track for Decision Making
There are no reviews for this product.
Write a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are checked *