Selling on Amazon means entering into a space that's unpredictable and comes with intense competition. The only way to stay ahead is to know your numbers.
Tracking sales isn't enough for Amazon marketplace analytics; you also need to understand what drives those sales. Which products are converting? Where are you overspending on ads? What's killing your margins?
This guide breaks down the tools, metrics, and insights that help Amazon sellers make decisions that grow profit, not just revenue.
If you're flying blind, you're leaving sales behind. The good news? You don't need a dozen tabs or messy spreadsheets to figure out what's working. We at MerchantSpring pull everything into one clean, real-time dashboard. It's built for marketplace sellers who want clarity, not complexity.
Selling on Amazon isn't about listing a product and hoping for the best. You need to know what's working, what's not, and why.
That's what marketplace analytics gives you: real numbers, real patterns, and data you can act on so you're not just guessing your way through it.
The point is simple: without analytics, you're guessing. With it, you're steering your business with intention.
If you're selling on Amazon, there's a flood of numbers coming at you every day, but only a handful are worth your constant attention.
Here are the key metrics that deserve a permanent spot on your radar, because they directly impact how well you sell, how much you profit, and how fast you can grow.
This is your headline number: the total revenue generated from customer purchases. It includes item prices, as well as shipping costs in the case of FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant). Even though it's a broad metric, it still matters. It tells you whether your sales are gaining steam or stalling. If it's flat, there's a problem worth digging into.
This one's simple: how many products did you actually sell? It helps you flag bestsellers, prep inventory, and see the real impact of promotions, especially when discounts make revenue but the totals are a bit fuzzy.
AOV shows how much revenue you bring in per order. It's a quick way to see if your pricing, bundling, or cross-selling strategies are getting customers to spend more each time they buy.
You can't understand profit without knowing what you paid for the inventory you sold. COGS gives you that visibility. It includes the production, purchase, or sourcing cost of each unit. If you're not tracking this, your profitability metrics will always be incomplete or misleading.
Sales mean nothing if you're not keeping any part of it. The profit, after subtracting COGS, fees, refunds, ad spend, and all other expenses, is the number that matters at the end of the month.
If you're using Amazon's Sponsored Ads, ACoS is the metric to watch. It tells you how much of your ad revenue is being spent to get those sales. A high ACoS means you're overspending to acquire customers. A low ACoS (especially one that is below your profit margin) means your ads are effective.
While ACoS shows efficiency as a cost percentage, ROAS shows how much revenue you're earning for each dollar spent. Higher is better, but what matters most is that it's above break-even.
Getting traffic is one thing. Turning that traffic into actual buyers is where the real game is. Conversion Rate shows the percentage of sessions that result in an order. If you see a strong rate, that means your listing (images, title, price, reviews) is doing its job. If traffic's high but conversions are low, it's time to rethink how your product is presented.
Returns eat into your margins and signal issues with product or customer expectations. A rising refund rate often indicates that something's amiss with your listing, product quality, or customer fit.
If you're not winning the buy box, you're losing sales. This tells you how often you're Amazon's default seller. Price, stock levels, and seller ratings all impact your chances.
You've got two ways to track how you're doing on Amazon: use the analytics Amazon gives you, or bring in third-party tools to see more. Amazon's native tools are fine for day-to-day metrics, but if you want to dig into things like market share, keyword rank, or competitor behaviour, you'll need something more powerful.
Let's take a closer look.
|
Feature |
Amazon Native Tools |
Third-Party Analytics Platforms |
|
Sales Tracking |
Basic totals and units sold |
Granular views by SKU, ASIN, time, and channel |
|
Profit Calculation |
Not available |
Tracks real profit after fees, refunds, ads, COGS |
|
Advertising Performance (ACoS, ROAS) |
Available, but only for ad-attributed sales |
Merges PPC+organic data for deeper analysis |
|
TACoS and Blended Metrics |
Not provided |
Available; connects ads to total revenue |
|
Inventory Forecasting |
Basic stock and movement reports |
Predictive restock alerts and sell-through analysis |
|
Conversion Rate Tracking |
Available (Unit Session %) |
Integrated with traffic, sales, and ad data |
|
Historical Data Access |
Limited time range |
Extended timelines and trend analysis |
|
Custom Dashboards & Filters |
Very limited |
Full customisation by SKU, tag, channel, etc. |
|
Multi-Marketplace View |
Separate views per region |
Unified dashboard across marketplaces |
|
Real-Time Alerts |
Not available |
Alerts for ACoS spikes, Buy Box loss, low stock |
There are a lot of tools out there claiming to make selling on Amazon easier. Truth is, most of them just show you the exact numbers in a slightly different interface. The real value lies in marketplace seller tools that don't just show you data, but help you act on it. A few stand out for turning raw metrics into decisions that make a difference.
Let's start with one explicitly built for agencies and professionals who manage multi-channel sales.
MerchantSpring isn't just another Amazon dashboard. It's a full analytics platform built for marketplace professionals managing multiple seller or vendor accounts, not just Amazon, but 120+ marketplaces.
If you run an agency or manage authorised client accounts across multiple countries and marketplaces, MerchantSpring is built for you. It's powerful without being overwhelming, and it saves teams hours every week.
So, stop stitching together data manually. Schedule a call to see how MerchantSpring can simplify reporting, impress clients, and help you make smarter decisions faster.
If you're launching a product or trying to spot the next big niche, Jungle Scout is where a lot of sellers start and stay. It's very user-friendly and comes with some unique tools you might need.
Great for beginners and brand builders who want an all-in-one solution that's fast, visual, and easy to learn.
Helium 10 is a feature-packed platform built for serious Amazon sellers. It's not the easiest tool to learn, but once you've figured it out, it gives you full control over product research, keyword strategy, financial tracking, and listing performance.
Best suited for sellers who want to get tactical with PPC, obsess over keyword data, and scale across multiple Amazon marketplaces.
Strong sales don't mean much if your margins are thin. Sellerboard focuses squarely on profitability, tracking every fee, refund, and cost that eats into your bottom line. It's straightforward, accurate, and designed to show what you're truly earning.
Best for brands that want clarity on profit, not just revenue.
Seller Legend is for people who like their data raw and their reports customizable. The UI is functional, but it's extremely powerful once you get into it.
Perfect for sellers who love spreadsheets, need full control, and want to slice their data in ten different ways.
Choosing the right analytics tool isn't about grabbing the one with the most features; it's about picking the one that actually fits the way you sell.
If you're managing a brand, an agency portfolio, or scaling up a private-label operation, the right platform should do more than report data. It should help you act on it.
Here's what to look for, broken down into what matters:
Let's explore some of the common mistakes sellers make about Amazon analytics.
Dashboards are addictive. But watching 20 different metrics won't help if you're ignoring the ones that actually affect your bottom line. Stick to what matters: how well you're converting, what you're making per sale, how your ads are performing, and whether you're about to stock out.
If the data's wrong, the decisions based on it will be too. A reporting delay or misconfigured dashboard can lead you to boost the wrong campaign or cut a winner. Always verify before you act.
When your analytics tool doesn't sync with inventory, ad platforms, or accounting, things break fast. You'll waste time piecing together reports, and worse, make choices based on scattered, unreliable data.
Advanced features sound great, but they're not always necessary, especially when you're still figuring out the basics. Complex dashboards and predictive tools can pull you off track if you're not sure what you're even measuring. Start simple. Use what actually helps.
Data alone won't grow your business. If you're not using it to make decisions like adjusting pricing, optimizing listings, or dropping weak products, it's just digital clutter. The point of analytics is action, not just observation.
Here are some best practices that'll help you along your seller journey on Amazon.
Amazon Marketplace visibility is algorithm-driven. Your titles, bullet points, descriptions, and backend keywords need to speak Amazon's language. To optimise your Amazon product listing effectively, use keyword tools (like MerchantSpring, Helium 10, or Jungle Scout) to pinpoint high-converting, relevant search terms. Focus on clarity, not keyword stuffing.
Marketplace sellers who offer Prime (via Fulfilled by Amazon or Seller Fulfilled Prime) gain a serious edge, like higher CTRs, better Buy Box odds, and increased consumer trust. If FBA fees feel steep, calculate the total cost vs. the uplift in sales from Prime visibility. Spoiler: it usually pays off.
Ads are necessary on the Marketplace to stay visible, but they'll drain your margins fast if you don't manage them well. Use Amazon PPC reports or a tool like Sellerboard to monitor true ad ROI (not just ACOS). If you want expert hands-on optimisation, agencies like IG PPC specialise in fine-tuning Amazon PPC campaigns to drive profitable growth.
Running out of stock doesn't just cost you sales, it kills your organic rank. That's why forecasting and staying in-stock should be a top priority. Use inventory tools to anticipate demand spikes and restock windows, especially around Q4, Prime Day, or your niche's seasonality.
Manually pulling sales reports or compiling PPC data is a waste of time (and risky). Use a centralised platform like MerchantSpring to automate client-ready reporting, especially if you manage multiple brands or regions.
Amazon's landscape changes constantly with seasonality, competitor moves, even policy tweaks can affect your listings. Track pricing, stock levels, and keyword rankings regularly. Tools like Keepa and Jungle Scout help you stay ahead.
You don't want to find out a listing's suppressed when your sales drop. Stay ahead by regularly auditing for compliance, content quality, and formatting, especially if you're expanding globally.
Here are some commonly asked questions to clarify some more of your queries.
It depends on your scale. If you're just starting out, free or entry-level tools like Amazon's Seller Central might do the job. But as your catalog, ad spend, or number of marketplaces grows, you'll want more advanced features, so expect to spend anywhere from $120 to $400/month for tools that offer real-time dashboards, profitability tracking, and ad performance analytics.
Yes, and many sellers do. One tool rarely covers everything. For example, you might use:
The key is to avoid overlap that causes confusion. Know what each tool does best to keep your workflows streamlined.
At a minimum:
But if you're running ads or scaling fast, daily (or even real-time) monitoring is essential.
Start with ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) and TACoS (Total ACOS), but don't stop there. Look at:
If your ads boost total sales and margin after spend, they're working. ROI isn't just clicks and sales, it's about long-term lift in visibility and profit.
Success on Amazon isn't about listing more products. It's about making better decisions. And that starts with data you actually understand and use.
Track what matters, cut what doesn't and choose tools that show you not just what's happening, but why and what to do about it. That's how you move from guessing to scaling with intention.
Because on Amazon, the advantage doesn't go to the biggest seller. It goes to the smartest one.
And to help you make smarter decisions, we at MerchantSpring bring you the most accurate marketplace analytics. Book a tour today.