E-commerce metrics for your pitch deck: what tells this top-line story and drives profitability

Key Financial Metrics for Ecommerce Pitch Decks

Crafting an investor pitch deck forces you to distill your e-commerce business into a compelling narrative of growth. But with data scattered across Shopify, Stripe, and various ad platforms, it’s easy to get lost. Founders often struggle to identify which key financial metrics for ecommerce pitch decks truly matter and how to present them with confidence. The goal is not to drown investors in data, but to tell a clear story about your scale, efficiency, loyalty, and profitability.

This guide focuses on the four essential ecommerce financial metrics that form the backbone of a strong pitch. We will cover how to calculate them, why they matter to investors, and how to present them, even without a dedicated finance team. The focus is on creating a credible financial narrative using the tools you already have, like spreadsheets, to build a case for your company’s future success.

First, Consolidate Your Data for Accurate Metrics

Before you can calculate any investor metrics for online stores, you need a reliable source of data. For most early-stage startups, this does not require a sophisticated data warehouse. The reality is that your single source of truth will likely be a master spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel. The first step is consolidating information from your core systems.

You should pull reports from your e-commerce platform like Shopify, your payment processor like Stripe, and your ad platforms like Meta and Google. This manual consolidation is the most common pain point, but it is crucial for accuracy. By pulling order data, customer information, and costs into one place, you gain the ability to answer the fundamental questions investors will ask. Do not aim for perfection. Focus on the core data fields needed to build the metrics discussed below. This pragmatic approach provides the foundation for a defensible and compelling financial story.

Gross Merchandise Value (GMV): Your Story of Scale

Investors first want to answer a simple question: how big is the business and how fast is it growing? Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) is the metric that tells this top-line story. GMV represents the total value of all goods sold through your platform over a specific period. It is a powerful measure of your scale and market traction, calculated before deducting fees, returns, or expenses.

It is essential to distinguish GMV from GAAP Revenue. GMV is the gross value of transactions, while revenue is the portion of that value your business actually recognizes. For example, in a marketplace model, GMV is the total sale price, but your revenue might only be the commission. For a direct-to-consumer brand, you should calculate GMV by summing the price of all products sold, but exclude shipping fees and taxes collected. Showing a clear, upward-trending GMV chart on a monthly or quarterly basis is how to show GMV in a pitch deck effectively. It is the simplest indicator of your growth trajectory.

Average Order Value (AOV): Your Story of Efficiency

While GMV shows scale, Average Order Value (AOV) speaks to the health and efficiency of your transactions. Calculated as Total Revenue divided by the Number of Orders, AOV answers the question of how much customers typically spend at one time. A rising AOV is a powerful signal to investors that you are getting more value from each customer you acquire, improving the fundamental economics of your business.

This is one of the most important ecommerce KPIs for startups because it directly impacts your path to profitability. A higher AOV can help offset fixed costs like marketing and customer acquisition expenses. Strategies like product bundling, offering free shipping over a certain threshold, or implementing post-purchase upsells are practical ways to increase it. In your pitch, presenting a chart showing AOV trends demonstrates that you understand customer purchasing behavior and are actively working to improve the efficiency of every transaction.

Repeat Purchase Rate: Your Story of Loyalty

Do customers come back after their first purchase? Your Repeat Purchase Rate provides the answer, and it’s a critical indicator of product-market fit and long-term viability. A high repeat rate shows investors that you have built a brand people love, not just a product they buy once. This reduces your dependence on costly new customer acquisition and builds a more predictable revenue base, which is highly attractive to potential backers.

For an accurate repeat purchase rate explanation, it is vital to move beyond a simple, blended rate. Investors want to see cohort analysis, which tracks the behavior of specific groups of customers over time. For example, you can create a pivot table in your master spreadsheet by exporting order data with Customer ID and Order Date from Shopify. By grouping customers by their acquisition month or quarter, you can track what percentage of them return to make a second purchase. A powerful statement backed by this data is much more effective, such as: "Of the customers we acquired in Q1, 35% made a second purchase within 90 days." This demonstrates true customer loyalty and retention.

Contribution Margin: Your Story of Profitability

Ultimately, investors need to know if you make money on each sale. Contribution Margin provides this insight by revealing the profitability of a single order after all variable costs are subtracted. It is the core of your unit economics and shows whether your business model is fundamentally sound.

To perform a contribution margin calculation, you must distinguish between variable and fixed costs. Variable costs are incurred for every order, such as the cost of goods sold (COGS), payment processing, and shipping. Fixed costs, like salaries and rent, are not included in this calculation.

There are two key levels to understand:

• Contribution Margin 1 (CM1): This is your gross margin, calculated as Revenue minus COGS.
• Contribution Margin 2 (CM2): This gives the truest picture of transactional profitability. It is CM1 minus other direct variable costs, including fulfillment, packaging, and payment processing fees.

For context, payment processing fees are typically around 2.9%. The reality for most early-stage startups is pragmatic: focus on getting CM2 right. It directly answers whether your business model can scale profitably and clarifies your unit economics for your pitch.

Consider a hypothetical order. If the retail price (your revenue) is $100 and your cost of goods sold (COGS) is $40, your Contribution Margin 1 is $60. From this, you subtract other variable costs. If payment processing is $2.90, shipping is $12.00, and packaging is $1.50, you subtract an additional $16.40. This leaves you with a Contribution Margin 2 of $43.60. This analysis proves that for every $100 order, you have $43.60 to contribute toward fixed costs and eventual profit.

Telling Your Complete Growth Story

These four metrics, GMV, AOV, Repeat Purchase Rate, and Contribution Margin, do not exist in isolation. Together, they form a cohesive narrative for your pitch deck. GMV demonstrates your scale and momentum. AOV shows you are improving transactional efficiency. Repeat Purchase Rate proves you have built a loyal customer base. And finally, Contribution Margin confirms that your business has sound, profitable unit economics.

By consolidating your data and mastering these calculations, you can present a powerful, data-backed story that addresses the key concerns of any early-stage investor. This work builds confidence in your company's future and provides a solid foundation for your financial projections. For structuring your funding request, see the Ask Slide guide. See the Pitch Deck Financials hub for preparing those slides.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do investors focus on GMV instead of just revenue?

A: Investors use GMV as a primary indicator of scale and market adoption, especially for marketplaces where revenue is only a small fraction of total transaction value. It shows the total activity on your platform, offering a broader view of your traction and growth potential before accounting for your specific revenue model.

Q: What is a good repeat purchase rate for an e-commerce startup?

A: A good repeat purchase rate varies significantly by industry. For consumer goods, a rate of 20-40% within 90 days is often considered strong for an early-stage company. More important than the absolute number is demonstrating a positive trend over time through cohort analysis, which proves your ability to retain customers.

Q: How detailed should my contribution margin calculation be in a pitch deck?

A: For a pitch deck, focus on a clear Contribution Margin 2 (CM2) calculation. This means showing revenue minus all key variable costs: COGS, payment processing, shipping, and packaging. This provides the truest picture of transactional profitability without getting lost in unnecessary detail. It proves your core business is profitable on a per-order basis.