Beyond Open Rates: The KPIs that actually matter in retail marketing automation

Most retail marketers track the same set of KPIs. Open rate. Click-to-open rate. Conversion rate. And while these are a great starting point, they only tell a small part of the story.

If you want to build a marketing automation strategy that drives meaningful business results, you need to zoom out. Because opens and clicks don’t pay the bills. Customers do.

So, what should you really be tracking? And how do you know if your retail brand is performing above or below the benchmark?

Let’s dig into the KPIs that actually move the needle.

1. First-to-Second Purchase Rate

This is where the magic happens. Your welcome flow has done its job and the customer has made a first purchase. Now what?

A high-performing retention strategy will help you turn that one-time buyer into a repeat customer. If you’re not tracking how many first-time buyers convert into second-time customers (and how quickly), you’re missing your biggest growth lever.

2. Days Between Purchases

It’s not just about frequency. It’s about timing. This KPI tells you how effective your cross-sell, replenishment, and loyalty flows are. If your customers are buying once every 180 days, and your category allows for 90, you’ve got room to speed things up.

3. Days from First Activity to First Purchase

This is a goldmine metric, especially for brands investing heavily in lead generation. Understanding how long it typically takes a prospect to become a paying customer gives you the insight to optimise onboarding, welcome flows, and nurture campaigns. It’s a key signal of how persuasive your first impression really is.

4. Average Order Value (AOV)

This one might sound obvious, but the nuance comes in segmenting it. Are your highest AOVs coming from loyal customers, or just the result of promotional spikes? Use this to identify where automation can increase basket size without sacrificing margin.

5. Active vs. Inactive Customer Ratio

How many of your customers are still engaging with your emails, SMS, or loyalty programme? If you’re sitting on a list of 100,000 people but only 10,000 are active, your marketing automation is probably missing the mark.

6. Automation Flow Performance

You’d be surprised how many brands launch a welcome flow and never check in again. Monitor engagement, conversion, and timing per step in your key flows. Abandoned cart, post-purchase, birthday, loyalty triggers. They should all be earning their keep.

7. Revenue per Automation

Want to know what’s really working? Attach revenue to each automation. If your abandoned cart flow is pulling in €20,000 a month and your birthday emails are making €50, you know where to optimise or rework.

8. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)

This is the big one. How much is a customer worth over their entire relationship with your brand? And how does that compare across segments, acquisition sources, or automation journeys?

9. Churn Rate of Loyal Customers

Not all churn is created equal. Losing high-value or long-term customers hits differently than losing one-time buyers. Measure how many of your loyalty programme members or multi-purchase customers fall off, and use that insight to create targeted win-back strategies.

Good, Better, Best: Retail Benchmarks in the EU (2025 Edition)

Note: these are indicative and vary by sector, market maturity, and customer lifecycle.

3 Ways to Boost Your KPIs Today

You’ve got the benchmarks. Now let’s make sure you’re hitting them. Here are three practical ways to improve performance across your marketing automation efforts:

1. Smarter Segmentation

Not every customer should receive the same message. Start with lifecycle-based segmentation like first-time buyers, lapsed customers, and loyal fans. More relevant messaging leads to more engagement and higher conversion.

2. Consistent A/B Testing

Stop guessing. Test subject lines, timing, content blocks, and CTA placement. Over time, small improvements compound into big performance gains. Make testing a habit, not a one-off.

3. Clearer Measurement Frameworks

If your team doesn’t know what success looks like, how can they achieve it? Build dashboards that show KPIs aligned with business goals. Track performance per automation, not just per campaign. Make data digestible and actionable.

When you combine strategy with structure, your KPIs don’t just improve. They become part of a smarter, more sustainable growth engine.