Every POS Metric in AskBiz Explained
A plain-language guide to every number in your AskBiz POS dashboard — Revenue, Gross Profit, Margin, Avg Sale, Return Rate, Stock Value, and more — so you know exactly what each one means.
Key Takeaways
- Revenue is total income; Gross Profit is what's left after cost of goods; Margin is Gross Profit as a percentage of Revenue.
- Avg Sale (average basket size) is one of the most actionable metrics — small increases compound quickly.
- Return Rate tells you what proportion of sales are being reversed — a rising rate needs investigation.
- Stock Value (KSh 170,787.75 in this example) is the total cost of all products currently on hand.
The seven headline metrics on your Overview
The AskBiz POS Overview shows seven numbers at a glance. Understanding what each one means — and what drives it up or down — is the foundation of running your business by data rather than instinct. The metrics are: Revenue, Sales count, Refunds, Low stock, Gross profit, Margin, and Avg sale. Each has a 'vs prev' change indicator showing whether it has improved or declined compared to the previous equivalent period. The Overview also shows Stock value in the Reports section — currently KSh 170,787.75 representing the total cost of all on-hand inventory.
Revenue: your total income
Revenue (also called Turnover or Sales value) is the total amount customers paid you during the selected period — before any deductions. It includes all payment methods: cash, M-Pesa, and card. It does not subtract cost of goods, wages, rent, or any other expense. Revenue is your top line. It's important, but it doesn't tell you how profitable you are — a business with high revenue but thin margins can still lose money. Always look at Revenue alongside Gross profit and Margin for a complete picture.
Gross Profit and Margin: your true profitability
Gross Profit is Revenue minus the cost of goods sold (COGS). If you sold Basmati Rice for KSh 250 and it cost you KSh 148, your gross profit on that item is KSh 102. Across all products sold in a period, AskBiz sums these differences to give you total Gross profit. Margin % is Gross profit divided by Revenue, expressed as a percentage. A 40% margin means 40 cents of every shilling earned is kept after paying for the goods. Higher is better. If your margin is falling, check whether product costs have risen or discounts are being over-applied.
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See this in action for your business
AskBiz tracks these metrics automatically — just connect your data and start asking questions.
Start for free →Sales count, Refunds, and Return Rate
Sales is the number of completed transactions in the period — not the revenue value, just the count. Each transaction counts as one Sale regardless of basket size. Refunds is the count of transactions reversed. Return Rate (shown in the Returns & Exchanges dashboard) is Refunds divided by Sales, expressed as a percentage — 0.0% means no sales were returned. A rising Return Rate can indicate product quality issues, customer expectation mismatches, or cashier errors at checkout that are leading to wrong items being rung up.
Average Sale: the metric you can improve fastest
Avg Sale is Revenue divided by the number of Sales — the typical amount a customer spends per visit. This is one of the most actionable metrics in retail because small improvements compound fast: if you serve 80 customers a day and raise Avg sale from KSh 1,200 to KSh 1,350, that's an extra KSh 12,000 per day without finding a single new customer. Strategies to raise Avg sale include: training cashiers to suggest complementary products, setting quick-keys for bundled items, and placing high-margin products near the checkout.
Low Stock count and Stock Value
Low stock shows how many products are at or below their minimum threshold — 48 in the current Overview. Each of these represents a potential lost sale if not restocked. Stock Value (KSh 170,787.75) is the total purchase cost of all products currently in your inventory across all branches. This is the capital tied up in your stock — too high means cash is locked up in slow-moving products; too low means you risk stockouts. Regularly comparing Stock Value to Revenue gives you a stock-turn view: how many times per month you're selling and replacing your inventory.
Reports: the full suite of metric detail
The Reports section (Operations > Reports) expands every headline metric into detailed sub-reports: Sales report (revenue by product, category, staff, and period), Inventory report (stock levels and valuation), Staff performance (sales per cashier and shift totals), Returns report (return rates and reasons), Customer report (retention and lifetime value), Loyalty report (repeat rate and top spenders), Discounts report (promotions usage), and Audit trail (full change and transaction history). Together these eight reports give you complete visibility of every aspect of your POS operation.