In this guide
Why a dashboard should not show "everything"
A dashboard with forty charts does not get opened. Even when it does, it does not get read.
Before you put a number on the dashboard, ask one question: "If this number changes, what will I do?" If you have no answer, it does not go on the dashboard.
The 12 numbers that belong on one screen
| Group | Number | Decision it drives |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Revenue (next to the previous period) | Is the trend good or bad? |
| Sales | Number of orders | Is a drop down to price or to traffic? |
| Sales | Average basket value | Are bundles and cross-selling working? |
| Profit | Gross profit by product or category | Which product to push, which to drop? |
| Profit | Return and cancellation rate | Is there a problem with the product or its description? |
| Profit | Net profit per order (after shipping and commission) | Does selling on marketplaces really pay? |
| Stock | Days of stock left | When to reorder? |
| Stock | Products out of stock but in demand | Where are sales slipping away? |
| Stock | Slow-moving stock | Which product has cash tied up in it? |
| Marketing | Customer acquisition cost by channel | Which channel should get the budget? |
| Marketing | Revenue per unit of ad spend | Do the ads pay for themselves? |
| Marketing | Repeat purchase rate | Do customers come back? |
Days of stock is the most overlooked number, and it is easy to calculate: current stock ÷ average daily sales. 40 units in stock and 5 sales a day means 8 days of stock.
Numbers that change by industry
- Clinics and beauty: occupancy rate, no-show rate, revenue by service.
- Restaurants and cafés: sales by hour, ingredient cost as a share of sales, best and worst sellers.
- Real estate: conversion from enquiry to viewing to sale, enquiries per listing.
- Manufacturing: conversion from quote to order, delivery time, scrap rate.
Where will the data come from?
A dashboard's real job is not drawing charts but bringing scattered data together. The data usually comes from:
- Accounting software
- The e-commerce platform and marketplaces
- Ad accounts
- Google Analytics
- The till and POS system
- Excel spreadsheets
Data copied by hand from these sources into a spreadsheet is not a dashboard. A dashboard connects the sources and updates itself.
Check this today: in Google Analytics 4, the data used in detailed analyses (explorations) is kept for 2 months by default. In the free version you can extend this to 14 months (Admin → Data collection and modification → Data retention). The extension applies only to data not yet deleted; deleted data does not come back. Standard reports are not affected by this setting.
5 features of a good dashboard
- It updates itself. Nobody copies data every morning.
- Every number sits next to the previous period. A number on its own says nothing.
- It alerts you. For example, it tells you when stock drops below 7 days.
- It is the single source of truth. The same number never gives two different results in two files.
- It reads on a phone. Decisions are often not made at a desk.
3 questions before you build one
- Which decisions do I make every week?
- Which numbers do I look at for those decisions?
- Where do those numbers live today, and who collects them, in how much time?
The answers to these three questions are the draft of your dashboard.
When is a dashboard not needed?
If you sell through a single channel and get a few orders a day, your e-commerce platform's own report may be enough. A dashboard makes sense when you have several channels, several sources, and collecting data takes hours every week.
Frequently asked questions
Aren't off-the-shelf tools (Looker Studio, Power BI) enough?
They may be enough to display the numbers; Looker Studio even has a free version. The real work is pulling the data from different systems regularly and correctly. Most dashboards fall short on exactly that part.
Is my data safe?
The dashboard accesses only the data you allow and can be set up to run on your own server. The data stays in your accounts.
How often does the dashboard update?
As often as each source allows. Most data updates at least once a day; fast-changing data such as orders, more often.
Can't I just carry on with Excel?
For one person and one source, perhaps. If copying data takes hours every week, or the same number comes out differently in two files, it is time for a dashboard.
Epnex DigitalBuilds automation and AI systems that hand the work businesses do by hand every day over to software. The system runs on your own server; the data and the control stay with you.
Sources
- Google Analytics Help, Data retention. support.google.com
Last updated: 25 September 2026. Figures reflect the sources as of publication.