The Retail Owners Institute encourages retailers to monitor the trends of the key financial indicators of their store's performance.  Watching these key ratios can provide important early warnings of needed changes. 

Then, compare your store's performance to others in your particular retail niche. This can provide valuable perspective - and even peace of mind! - for retail owners.

Have questions about how to read these ratios, or what they really mean?  See The ROI's Financial Tools & Tips section.

Benchmark Performance Metrics for 50 Retail Segments

The ROI site displays key business performance benchmark data for 50 separate retail segments, from hardware stores to bookstores, to clothing stores, gift shops, wine stores, music stores, furniture stores, tire dealers, and more.  

On these Segment Pages, The ROI presents an Owners Dashboard of six key ratios that we have selected as particularly important for retailers to monitor. 

In addition, The ROI has charted and graphed the five-year trends of these six key performance metrics for independent retailers. 

The segments featured at The ROI reflect the definitions and designations of the North American Industrial Classification System.  Retailers may need to examine the benchmark numbers in more than one segment to get perspective on their own store's performance, particularly if their store does not exactly fit the NAICS category.