# How metrics work

> Learn how metrics, breakdowns, and filters work in Cevoid analytics, and find the metrics for UGC, the loyalty program, profiles, and sales.

Breadcrumb: Analytics › How metrics work · Updated: 2026-10-17
Docs index: https://docs.cevoid.com/llms.txt

A metric is what a report measures, such as _Post impressions_ or _Orders_. A breakdown splits a metric into rows, such as one row per day or per widget, and a filter narrows it to the values you pick, such as one market. This article explains how they work together. The articles below list every metric, with the breakdowns and filters each one supports.

## Find the metrics for your work

Each article covers one area of your work, with everything you need to measure it: its metrics, their breakdowns and filters, the setup they need, and the default reports and funnels to start from.

| Article | Covers | In the report builder |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [UGC analytics](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/ugc-analytics.md) | Posts, post performance, galleries and cards, orders from your content, Instagram, upload forms, and creators | **UGC**, **Widgets**, and **Sales** |
| [Loyalty program analytics](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/loyalty-analytics.md) | Members and tiers, activities, points, the points shop, rewards, program widgets, and sales from members | **Loyalty**, **Widgets**, and **Sales** |
| [Profile analytics](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/profile-analytics.md) | Profiles, how they grow and engage, and the customers behind your orders | **Profiles** and **Sales** |
| [Sales analytics](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/sales-analytics.md) | Every sales metric, for your whole store | **Sales** |

The report builder doesn't separate metrics by module: one list holds them all, and every workspace sees every metric, whichever modules it uses.

## How to read the metric tables

| Column | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| _Metric_ | The metric's name in the report builder |
| _What it measures_ | The description the report builder shows when you hover the metric |
| _Unit_ | What the number is: a count, a percentage, an amount in the report currency, days, hours, a ratio, or a change that can be negative |
| _Counts_ | How the number is counted (see below) |
| _Needs_ | The [report requirement](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/setup/report-requirements.md) the metric depends on, if any |

| Counts | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| In the period | What happened between the start and end date |
| At the end of the period | The state on the last day of the range |
| Running total | Everything from the start of your workspace's history to the end date. Changing the start date doesn't change it |
| Lifetime, unique | Unique items or people from the start of your workspace's history to the end date |
| Calculated | A rate or average worked out from other numbers. It's never summed across rows |
| Per customer | Worked out for each customer, then averaged |

Running totals, lifetime metrics, and per-customer metrics need a continuous date axis: they can't be broken down by _Day of week_, _Week of year_, or _Month of year_.

## How metrics combine in a report

A report can hold several metrics when they come from the same data. All _Posts performance_ metrics combine with each other, for example, and all _Sales_ metrics do. Metrics that can't share a report are disabled in the report builder: "Selected metrics come from sources that cannot be combined in one report."

One exception: when _Orders_, _Order value_, _Average order value_, or _Customers_ count orders linked to content, they combine with the _Posts performance_ metrics. See [Orders from your content](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/ugc-analytics.md#orders-from-your-content).

## How breakdowns work

- **Each metric has its own breakdowns.** The tables in each article list them, with the metrics each one is available for. Every metric can also be broken down by _Date_.
- **Up to two per report.** The first breakdown is the chart's horizontal axis, or the rows of the table. The second splits each of them.
- **With several metrics, the breakdowns combine.** A breakdown is offered when any selected metric supports it. A metric that doesn't support it shows `-` in each row. A breakdown no selected metric supports is disabled.
- **Some items count under several values.** A post with three labels counts under each label, and an order that touched three posts counts under each post. Those rows can add up to more than the total.
- **Shares of a whole limit the list.** _Percentage of posts_, _Percentage of members_, and _Percentage of profiles_ only allow their own breakdowns.
- **Rows without a value** show "(not set)", such as posts without a label

Profile breakdowns describe a different person depending on the metric: the creator of a post, a member, a customer, and so on. See [Who a profile breakdown describes](https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics/profile-analytics.md#who-a-profile-breakdown-describes).

## How filters work

Almost every breakdown is also a filter, under the same name. _Date_ and _Required points_ are breakdowns only.

A filter narrows only the metrics that support it. The others in the report stay unfiltered.

| Condition | Use it for |
| --- | --- |
| **is**, **is not** | One value |
| **is any of**, **is not** | Several values |
| **is set**, **not set** | Items with or without any value, such as posts with no label. Not offered on _Is trackable_, _Post_, _Is fully discounted_, _Membership status_, or _Is UGC-attributed_ |

Number fields also offer **equals**, **greater than or equals**, **less than or equals**, and **not equals**. You can add the same field more than once, and all the conditions apply: _Segment_ is VIP and _Segment_ is not Newsletter means both.

## Metrics with future dates

Some metrics can show dates after today, such as points that are pending or due to expire: _Net points_, _Members with point events_, _Average net points_, _Members with points_, _Points balance_, _Pending points_, _Average points balance_, _Total rewards_, and _Reward movements_. A report can only use **Future** and **Window** date ranges when every metric in it supports future dates.

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Canonical: https://docs.cevoid.com/analytics/metrics