What is order count?

Order count is the number of distinct orders in the selected period that count as sales — cancelled and refunded orders excluded, the same is_net_sale rule net revenue uses. It is the volume companion to revenue: together they give average order value, and their trends diverging is usually the first sign the business is changing shape.

Formula

order count = COUNT(DISTINCT order_key)  WHERE is_net_sale

Worked example

A month shows €110,000 of net revenue on 1,375 orders — an €80 average order. Next month revenue holds at €110,000 but orders fall to 1,100: the average order rose to €100. Flat revenue hid a real shift — fewer, larger baskets — which changes the right moves on shipping thresholds, bundles and ad targeting. Neither number alone would have shown it.

How Saldo Metrics computes it

The widget counts distinct order_key from v_orders over the selected period, excluding cancelled and refunded orders by default (an explicit status filter can override that to count, say, only refunded orders). With a brand filter active it counts through v_order_lines instead — an order qualifies if any of its lines is that brand — and DISTINCT keeps a five-line order from counting five times. Store, country and date filters apply the same way as on net revenue, so the two KPIs always describe the same set of orders.

Why it matters

Order count is the metric least distorted by price and mix: revenue moves with pricing, discounts and FX, but an order is an order. It is the cleaner read on demand volume, the denominator behind average order value and per-order margin, and the number to check first when revenue moves — did we sell to fewer people, or for less each?

Common mistakes

• Counting lines instead of orders. A basket with five products is one order; brand-filtered counts go through lines but still count distinct orders.
• Comparing order counts across different filter states. A brand-filtered count includes mixed baskets that contain the brand, so per-brand counts can sum to more than the total.
• Treating order count as customer count. Repeat buyers place multiple orders; the customers metrics separate the two.

Where you see this in the app

The Orders KPI and trend on the dashboard.