Sample Checklist of KPI’s for Select Industries

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assist business owners in measuring the growth of an organization. Often, KPIs are evaluated to establish long-term goals. Typically, the KPIs for an organization remain consistent and are not modified unless the company’s mission or goal is changed.

In addition to being measurable, KPIs also share the following characteristics:

They are well-defined, specific and not vaguely-worded
They are meant to be actionable
Applicable to different areas within a business, if warranted; for example, in a large ecommerce setting, the KPIs for marketing may differ from those for shipping
KPIs typically have an established time-frame and can be used to chart and measure improvement across this time- frame

Following are examples of KPIs for a few selected industries:

Retail Industry:

In the retail industry, KPIs help analyze the mission of the business and define short and long-term goals.

Loss prevention, including reducing cash losses and loss of equity (shares)
Annual turnover in sales
Streamlining operations in terms of updated inventory
Salary and payroll
Accounting for variable costs and expenses
Staff training and development

Professional Services

Professional services can have a number of different goals. KPIs for professional services typically follow the SMART rule: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

New business and incremental clients
Percentage increase of profit margins
Percentage of billable versus non billable hours
Employee training
Employee retention
Training costs and expense

Ecommerce

KPIs are of vital significance in ecommerce for several reasons, including shopper behavior. User behavior while on your website impacts several things, including the visitor stopping to browse merchandise, choosing a product, and finally purchasing it. Conversely, the visitor may not ever convert to customer status.