Same question, two answers
Yesterday's revenue was $18,420, down 12% from the day before. Sessions were 9,800 with a 2.4% conversion rate.
Day over day, which mostly measures the day of the week. Gross from the platform. No plan, no reason, no sense of whether it matters.
Month to date is 6% ahead of plan. Yesterday was soft against last Tuesday because the email moved to today, so nothing to act on. One thing to watch: acquisition cost on paid social is up 18% this week while new-customer orders are flat.
Month to date against plan, the calendar explained, and the single number worth a look.
What the model has to learn
- Your definitions. One net revenue, one contribution margin, one count of new customers, used by every view.
- Your calendar. Promotions, email sends, holidays and fiscal weeks, so normal swings are not reported as news.
- Your thresholds. How big a move has to be before it earns a line.
- Who reads it. What the CEO wants in two lines versus what the head of growth wants in ten.
The dashboard and the weekly recap share their definitions, so the Monday story always matches the daily numbers. Both are common builds during an operations audit.
Related
Questions
We already pay for an analytics tool. Why another dashboard?
Keep it if your team uses it. The problem is usually not the chart but the numbers disagreeing between tools, and nobody writing down what they mean. This sits on your definitions and adds the read.
Where does it live?
Wherever leadership already looks: a Google Sheet, a page in Notion, or a message in Slack each morning. Nothing new to log into.
How often does it update?
Daily is typical for sales and marketing numbers, weekly for inventory, and monthly for the full P&L once the books close.
What goes on it?
Usually net revenue, gross and contribution margin, new and returning customers, acquisition cost, conversion, inventory weeks of supply and cash, each against plan and last year. Your leadership team picks.