Guides
Which ghost kitchen metrics deserve a monthly look for a small operation
Ghost kitchen KPIs owners should track monthly, each with its formula, its source document, the decision it changes, and the thing it cannot show you.
What to take away
- A KPI without a written formula, a named source, and a stated blind spot is a number to argue about, not to act on.
- Ten numbers a month are enough for a delivery kitchen. Each one below changes a specific decision.
- The platform statement is the source for the money KPIs; the refund log and the ratings are the source for the quality ones; timed orders are the source for the capacity ones.
- Every KPI hides something. The blind-spot column is the most useful one in the table.
- Act on trends over two or three months, not on one bad week, except for the rating trend against a platform's threshold, which is weekly.
The software and KPI guide says each KPI needs a formula, a source, a decision, and a blind spot. This article lists that set for a monthly review. The rating is the one weekly exception.
The monthly set
| KPI | Formula | Source | Decision it changes | What it cannot show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net receipt per order, by platform | (Gross less commission less fees) divided by orders | Platform statement | Commission tier; minimum order value | Whether the order arrived well |
| Contribution per order | Net receipt less food, packaging, labor minutes at loaded cost, and refund allowance | Statement, invoices, timed orders, payroll | Pricing floors; which dishes stay | Fixed cost coverage |
| Contribution per constrained minute, by dish | Contribution divided by minutes on the peak constraint | Timed orders at peak | Peak menu; what to retire | Demand for the dish |
| Orders per peak hour | Orders in the busiest hours divided by those hours | Statement or aggregation tool | Staffing; whether to add a platform or brand | Orders that could not be accepted |
| On-time handoff share | Orders marked ready before the platform's expected time divided by orders | Aggregation tool or platform reports | Radius; crew at peak | Driver delay after handoff |
| Refunds by reason | Refunds charged to the merchant grouped by reason | Refund log; statement | Packaging; checklist; radius | Customers who did not complain |
| Rating trend, by platform (weekly) | Average rating this week and its direction | Platform dashboard | Whether any promotion runs; urgent fixes | Why the rating moved, without the reasons |
| Repeat share | Repeat orders divided by all orders; own-channel share of repeats | Own channel records; platform reports where available | Marketing lever; referral program | Who the platform's repeat customers are |
| Food cost variance | Recipe usage times orders, against purchases and counts | Invoices, count sheets, statement | Pars; portioning; loss investigation | Which station caused the loss |
| Cash runway | Weeks until the rolling cash sheet goes negative | Weekly cash sheet | Supplier terms; credit line; promotions | Profit; the two differ by the payout lag |
Reading the table
- The money rows come from the statement, and the statement comes from the platform on its own schedule, so the money KPIs lag. The Internal Revenue Service's page on what records a business should keep describes a system that clearly shows income and expenses with supporting documents; the statement is the income document, and a KPI computed from anything else is a guess.
- The quality rows come from the refund log and the ratings, and they lead the money rows: a falling rating this week is a falling order count next month.
- The capacity rows come from timing real orders at peak, which nobody wants to do and which changes every ranking; the hiring and training guide puts timing in the shift lead's duties.
Thresholds without numbers
No numeric thresholds appear here. A threshold fitting one kitchen's commission tier and radius will miss another's. Set yours in writing after your first three months.
Written thresholds to set
- Rating below which promotions stop
- On-time share below which radius shrinks
- Contribution per constrained minute floor
- Cash runway before supplier talk
- Set after first three months
The business plan should carry those written thresholds, and the expansion and market guide uses several of them as gates.
Two KPIs to distrust
- Gross sales. It rises with a merchant-funded promotion while contribution falls. Read it only beside net receipt.
- Average rating alone. A stable average can hide a run of one-star ratings on one dish that is about to trip a platform threshold. Read the distribution and the reasons.
Protecting the numbers
Dashboards, statements, and exports holding KPIs sit behind logins. Those logins also control listings and payouts.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's quick-start guides for small businesses and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's guidance for small and medium businesses start from individual accounts, multifactor authentication where offered, and prompt removal of access.
A KPI review that shares one login among three people is a security exposure with a spreadsheet attached.
The monthly review itself
One hour, same day each month. Fill in the table. Put last month's table beside it. For each row, note direction, cause if known, and decision or none. Write the decisions down with an owner and a date. Read them first next month. A review that produces no decision was a report, not a review.
Common questions
Which single KPI matters most?
Contribution per order by platform. That is where commission, price, food, packaging, and labor meet. The rating trend is checked weekly, though. It can end an order stream faster than any other number moves.
Why no benchmark figures?
Any figure would describe a different kitchen's commission tier, container, rent, and radius. Your first three months are your benchmark.
Can the platforms' dashboards replace this?
They show gross, orders, and ratings for their platform. They do not show contribution, cash, or the cross-platform comparison. That comparison is where the decisions are.
How do I time orders at peak without disrupting service?
Three orders per dish, on an ordinary peak, with a stopwatch at the pass. It takes one shift a month. It changes the menu ranking more than any other input.
