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How to Create a Sales Dashboard (Step by Step)
A sales dashboard is a single screen that shows how your business is doing — revenue, orders, average order value, profit, and ad performance — pulled from wherever you sell. Instead of opening five tabs and a spreadsheet, you glance at one view.
Here's what a good one shows, and a step-by-step way to build it.
What a sales dashboard should show
Lead with the numbers you'd check first thing each morning: total revenue (today, this week, this month), orders, average order value, and — if you run ads — ad spend and ROAS. Add net profit so you're looking at what you keep, not just what you sold.
Then add context tiles: sales by channel (Amazon vs Shopify vs Walmart…), your top products, and a revenue trend line so you can see direction, not just a snapshot.
Step by step
1) List your data sources — every marketplace, store and ad platform you use. 2) Choose your metrics — the handful above beat a wall of fifty. 3) Connect the data — either export CSVs into a spreadsheet, or connect each source to a dashboard tool via its API. 4) Lay it out — most-important numbers top-left, supporting charts below. 5) Keep it live — a dashboard you rebuild by hand each week stops getting used, so automate the refresh.
Spreadsheet vs. a connected tool
A spreadsheet is free and flexible, but you re-export and re-paste every time, it breaks when a format changes, and it's never quite current. It's a fine place to start.
A connected dashboard pulls each source automatically and stays live, so the numbers are always today's — the trade-off is connecting your accounts once. If you sell on more than one channel, that automation is usually worth it. (Dash Captain is built for exactly this — connect your stores and ad accounts and it builds the live view for you.)
Frequently asked questions
What should a sales dashboard include?
At minimum: revenue (by day/week/month), orders, average order value, net profit, and — if you advertise — ad spend and ROAS. Add sales by channel, top products, and a revenue trend for context.
How do I build a sales dashboard without a spreadsheet?
Use a dashboard tool that connects to your stores and ad platforms by API. You connect each source once, pick your tiles, and it pulls the numbers automatically and keeps them live — no manual exports.
What's the best way to see sales from multiple stores at once?
Connect each store to a single dashboard that normalises them into one view, so Amazon, Shopify and others show side by side and roll up into one total.
Track this on a live dashboard
Connect your store and watch these numbers update themselves — no spreadsheets.
Keep reading
How to See All Your Sales in One Place (Amazon, Shopify & More)
Selling on more than one channel means your numbers are scattered. Here's how to combine Amazon, Shopify, Walmart and more into one live view of total sales.
What Is a Good ROAS? Break-even ROAS Explained
A “good” ROAS isn't a fixed number — it depends on your margin. Learn the ROAS formula, how to find your break-even ROAS, and how ROAS relates to ACoS, with a calculator to find yours.