Benchmark Report Analysis
Plans: Enterprise Standard and Advanced (under standard orders) Platforms: All platforms
The AfterShip Benchmarks Report offers comparative insights into your organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs), relative to your industry peers and other AfterShip users. With in-depth examination and analysis of these benchmark results, you can identify areas of strength and weakness in your organization and gain insights into the latest trends and recurring patterns across your industry. This empowers you to prioritize your efforts and resources more effectively, ensuring you use AfterShip to its full potential and achieve your business goals.
In this article, we will show you:
Benchmark reports prerequisites
How to access the benchmarks analytics dashboard
Dashboard filtering
Available metrics
Benchmarks overview dashboard
Performance assessment
Benchmark report interpretation
How to analyze trends over time
How does AfterShip use data
How to identify your business industry
The benchmark report can be a constructive tool to improve the current course of your business and evolve your strategies with the changing industry landscape. These benchmarks work to their optimum capability only when you have the required data to draw the comparisons.
Tracking page CTR: To view your tracking page performance compared to the industry benchmark, your tracking page must have at least 20 page views and 1 click from the marketing assets in the selected period.
Average transit time: To view your transit time performance compared to the industry benchmark, you must have at least 10 shipments delivered in the selected period.
Benchmarks are refreshed and updated at 02:00:00 UTC on the 10th of every month for improved accuracy and relevance.
Benchmark data for tracking pages is available from May’23 while data for average transit time is available from February’24. The maximum date range for data retrieval is 1 year.
The data on the Benchmark dashboard is calculated based on the UTC timezone.
To access the benchmark reports, navigate to Analytics > Benchmarks in your AfterShip Tracking admin.
You'll find a dashboard containing reports that compare your business's key performance indicators with AfterShip benchmarks.
The benchmark dashboard can be filtered for more granular reporting by period and industry to establish a more accurate comparison. By default, the dashboard is set to show data from the last 3 months compared to organizations across All industries.
Filter by period: The dashboard can be customized to show data for a specific period like Last month, Last 3 months, Last quarter, and Last year. If you wish to see data for a very specified period outside the restrictions of these defined time ranges, you can opt for the Custom option and set the date range as required.
Data filtered down by a specific period can be helpful when analyzing trends over time or identifying patterns in the data to pinpoint exact areas of interest.
Filter by benchmark industry: The comparison filter allows you to see your organization's performance relative to others either across all industries or to those in the same industry.
Industry benchmarks provide data specific to your designated industry. For example, if you are a brand that sells clothes online, you would fall within the industry and vertical pair of Retail, Fashion, and accessories.
Specific industry comparison is only available for certain industries that have sufficient data to produce statistically significant results.
The benchmark overview dashboard highlights four major values including Your performance, the 25th percentile, the 50th percentile (median), and the 75th percentile. Each of these values represents a different tier of performance and provides a percentage value of your industry peers that fall in that performance tier.
A higher percentile indicates better performance. For positive measures, such as clickthrough rate (CTR), where a higher value is preferable, the 75th percentile represents a higher metric value. On the contrary, for negative measures like transit time, where a higher value is less desirable, the 75th percentile is inverted to signify a lower value, indicating better performance. This makes the percentiles easier to use and understand across multiple measures at once.
Your tracking page CTR and transit time performance will be accessed based on how it performed against the industry benchmarks and AfterShip peers and will be graded accordingly.
There are 4 grades or assessment remarks that are indicative of your performance in the benchmark report. Here’s what each one of them means.
Let’s understand the nuances of the benchmark report with an example.
In the above example, your performance assessment as per the industry benchmark is Good because your CTR value falls between the 50th and 75th percentile. This indicates that you are performing slightly above the middle tier of the selected benchmarking industry. You are among the group that is performing better than 50% of the organizations, but there are still another 25% of top performers ahead of you.
To analyze the performance of different tracking pages against the industry benchmark, use the drop-down menu located at the top right to filter each tracking page.
The line chart allows you to view how your performance value changes over time compared to the benchmark values. These trends also help you identify where your performance rises or falls to track down if certain alterations are done that might have led to these fluctuations. You can also see this data in a table format for better analysis.
This report offers a detailed comparison of your average transit times against industry benchmarks for your top-performing routes at the state level. It is designed to offer an in-depth understanding of the performance of the specific transportation route or corridor where the largest volume of shipments as a percentage of total shipments is transported between two points or locations, enabling you to identify the specific lanes that are not meeting your overall transit time expectations.
Please note:
There might be data discrepancy between the transit time value in the benchmarks report and other pre-built reports due to the following reasons:
The benchmark report updates on the 10th of every month in the UTC timezone, while the other pre-built report updates in near real-time based on your organization's local timezone.
The average transit time is calculated in calendar days to ensure a standardized comparison across different organizations. Setting up business days for your transit time calculation won't impact benchmark reports, but it will affect other pre-built reports (Order-to-delivery time and Transit time reports).
AfterShip fetches crucial data from organizations in the benchmarking pool. This data is anonymized and aggregated to provide cohesive benchmarking insights. All the personal and confidential information is kept private and will not be shared at any point during the benchmark reporting. To protect customer privacy, each data set for the benchmarking categories is guaranteed to be large enough to ensure that no one can identify or make assumptions about the customers within that data set. If the data set is too small, benchmarks will not be provided.
Please find below the customer-facing industries and verticals available for benchmarking.
If you wish to configure your business industry or want to change it, you can make the necessary changes by navigating to Organization settings > Basic information > Industry and making the necessary changes.
Overview
The AfterShip Benchmarks Report offers comparative insights into your organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs), relative to your industry peers and other AfterShip users. With in-depth examination and analysis of these benchmark results, you can identify areas of strength and weakness in your organization and gain insights into the latest trends and recurring patterns across your industry. This empowers you to prioritize your efforts and resources more effectively, ensuring you use AfterShip to its full potential and achieve your business goals.
What you’ll learn
In this article, we will show you:
Benchmark reports prerequisites
How to access the benchmarks analytics dashboard
Dashboard filtering
Available metrics
Benchmarks overview dashboard
Performance assessment
Benchmark report interpretation
How to analyze trends over time
How does AfterShip use data
How to identify your business industry
Prerequisites
The benchmark report can be a constructive tool to improve the current course of your business and evolve your strategies with the changing industry landscape. These benchmarks work to their optimum capability only when you have the required data to draw the comparisons.
Tracking page CTR: To view your tracking page performance compared to the industry benchmark, your tracking page must have at least 20 page views and 1 click from the marketing assets in the selected period.
Average transit time: To view your transit time performance compared to the industry benchmark, you must have at least 10 shipments delivered in the selected period.
Benchmarks are refreshed and updated at 02:00:00 UTC on the 10th of every month for improved accuracy and relevance.
Benchmark data for tracking pages is available from May’23 while data for average transit time is available from February’24. The maximum date range for data retrieval is 1 year.
The data on the Benchmark dashboard is calculated based on the UTC timezone.
How to access the benchmarks analytics dashboard
To access the benchmark reports, navigate to Analytics > Benchmarks in your AfterShip Tracking admin.
You'll find a dashboard containing reports that compare your business's key performance indicators with AfterShip benchmarks.
Filter dashboard
The benchmark dashboard can be filtered for more granular reporting by period and industry to establish a more accurate comparison. By default, the dashboard is set to show data from the last 3 months compared to organizations across All industries.
Filter by period: The dashboard can be customized to show data for a specific period like Last month, Last 3 months, Last quarter, and Last year. If you wish to see data for a very specified period outside the restrictions of these defined time ranges, you can opt for the Custom option and set the date range as required.
Data filtered down by a specific period can be helpful when analyzing trends over time or identifying patterns in the data to pinpoint exact areas of interest.
Filter by benchmark industry: The comparison filter allows you to see your organization's performance relative to others either across all industries or to those in the same industry.
Industry benchmarks provide data specific to your designated industry. For example, if you are a brand that sells clothes online, you would fall within the industry and vertical pair of Retail, Fashion, and accessories.
Specific industry comparison is only available for certain industries that have sufficient data to produce statistically significant results.
Available metrics
| Metric | Definition | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking page CTR | The number of clicks on marketing assets divided by the number of page views. | It serves as an important metric to gauge the engagement level of your customers on your webpage. A high CTR generally indicates that your customers are actively interacting with the marketing assets on your page, suggesting successful engagement strategies. |
| Average transit time | The average time spent (in days) in transit for all delivered shipments. Note that your value and the benchmarks in this report are calculated based on the calendar day. | It provides valuable insights into the average delivery time for shipments, reflecting the efficiency of your logistics operations. It also directly impacts customer satisfaction, as faster delivery times improve customer experience. |
Benchmarks overview dashboard
The benchmark overview dashboard highlights four major values including Your performance, the 25th percentile, the 50th percentile (median), and the 75th percentile. Each of these values represents a different tier of performance and provides a percentage value of your industry peers that fall in that performance tier.
| Benchmark values | Definition |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | The value attributed to organizations that fall in the lowest tier of performance, indicating that 75% of organizations perform better than this level. |
| 50th percentile (Median) | The value attributed to organizations that fall in the middle tier of performance, indicating that 50% of organizations perform better than this level, while the other 50% perform worse. |
| 75th percentile | The value attributed to organizations that fall in the highest tier of performance, indicating that only 25% of organizations perform better than this level. |
A higher percentile indicates better performance. For positive measures, such as clickthrough rate (CTR), where a higher value is preferable, the 75th percentile represents a higher metric value. On the contrary, for negative measures like transit time, where a higher value is less desirable, the 75th percentile is inverted to signify a lower value, indicating better performance. This makes the percentiles easier to use and understand across multiple measures at once.
Performance assessment
Your tracking page CTR and transit time performance will be accessed based on how it performed against the industry benchmarks and AfterShip peers and will be graded accordingly.
There are 4 grades or assessment remarks that are indicative of your performance in the benchmark report. Here’s what each one of them means.
| Assessment | Definition |
|---|---|
| Poor | Your organization is performing below the 25th percentile. |
| Fair | Your organization is performing at the 25th-50th percentile. |
| Good | Your organization is performing at the 50th-75th percentile. |
| Excellent | Your organization is performing above the 75th percentile. |
How to interpret the benchmark report
Let’s understand the nuances of the benchmark report with an example.
| Your assessment | Your CTR | Benchmarks (25th percentile) | Benchmarks (Median/50th percentile) | Benchmarks (75th percentile) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | 2.5% | 1.5% | 2.1% | 3.5% |
In the above example, your performance assessment as per the industry benchmark is Good because your CTR value falls between the 50th and 75th percentile. This indicates that you are performing slightly above the middle tier of the selected benchmarking industry. You are among the group that is performing better than 50% of the organizations, but there are still another 25% of top performers ahead of you.
To analyze the performance of different tracking pages against the industry benchmark, use the drop-down menu located at the top right to filter each tracking page.
Analyze trends over time
The line chart allows you to view how your performance value changes over time compared to the benchmark values. These trends also help you identify where your performance rises or falls to track down if certain alterations are done that might have led to these fluctuations. You can also see this data in a table format for better analysis.
View average transit time benchmarks by lane
This report offers a detailed comparison of your average transit times against industry benchmarks for your top-performing routes at the state level. It is designed to offer an in-depth understanding of the performance of the specific transportation route or corridor where the largest volume of shipments as a percentage of total shipments is transported between two points or locations, enabling you to identify the specific lanes that are not meeting your overall transit time expectations.
Please note:
There might be data discrepancy between the transit time value in the benchmarks report and other pre-built reports due to the following reasons:
The benchmark report updates on the 10th of every month in the UTC timezone, while the other pre-built report updates in near real-time based on your organization's local timezone.
The average transit time is calculated in calendar days to ensure a standardized comparison across different organizations. Setting up business days for your transit time calculation won't impact benchmark reports, but it will affect other pre-built reports (Order-to-delivery time and Transit time reports).
How does AfterShip use data
AfterShip fetches crucial data from organizations in the benchmarking pool. This data is anonymized and aggregated to provide cohesive benchmarking insights. All the personal and confidential information is kept private and will not be shared at any point during the benchmark reporting. To protect customer privacy, each data set for the benchmarking categories is guaranteed to be large enough to ensure that no one can identify or make assumptions about the customers within that data set. If the data set is too small, benchmarks will not be provided.
Supported industries
Please find below the customer-facing industries and verticals available for benchmarking.
| Industry | Vertical |
|---|---|
| Fashion and accessories | |
| Home and garden | |
| Food and beverage | |
| Beauty and personal care | |
| Arts and entertainment | |
| Health and household | |
| Sports and fitness | |
| Autos and vehicles | |
| Retail | Toys, games, and hobbies |
| Gifts and weddings | |
| Pets and animals | |
| Computers and consumer electronics | |
| Books and literature | |
| Baby and child | |
| Mass merchants and department stores | |
| Other | |
| General | |
| Fashion and accessories | |
| Home and garden | |
| Food and beverage | |
| Beauty and personal care | |
| Arts and entertainment | |
| Health and household | |
| Sports and fitness | |
| Autos and vehicles | |
| Marketplace | Toys, games and hobbies |
| Gifts and weddings | |
| Pets and animals | |
| Computers and consumer electronics | |
| Books and literature | |
| Baby and child | |
| Auctions | |
| Second-hand products | |
| Other | |
| Logistics and 3PL | 3PL |
| Carriers | |
| Technology and SaaS | Email service provider |
| Software companies | |
| eCommerce platform | |
| Consulting | |
| Financial Services | Banks |
| FinTech | |
| Manufacturing (B2B) | - |
| Agency | - |
| Other | - |
How to identify your business industry
If you wish to configure your business industry or want to change it, you can make the necessary changes by navigating to Organization settings > Basic information > Industry and making the necessary changes.
Updated on: 09/09/2024
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