What to Look For in Your Daily Sales Numbers

Most owners check one number at the end of the day: total sales. If it's up, good day. If it's down, bad day. But total sales is the headline — the real story is in the numbers underneath it.

1. Average ticket size

If your total sales are up but your average ticket is down, you're getting more traffic but each customer is spending less. That could mean your upselling is slipping, your menu mix is shifting, or your specials aren't working. Conversely, if tickets are up but order count is flat, you're getting more from each guest — which is often more sustainable than chasing traffic.

2. Order count

This is your traffic number. Is it growing week over week? Declining? Flat? Order count trends over 4-8 weeks tell you whether your marketing and location are working better than any single day's sales total.

3. Day-over-day comparison

Tuesday vs. last Tuesday is more useful than Tuesday vs. Monday. Compare the same days to spot real trends and filter out normal weekly patterns. A 10% drop from last Tuesday means something. A 30% drop from Saturday is just Wednesday being Wednesday.

4. Peak hour performance

Where did your sales concentrate? If 60% of your revenue came between 6-8pm, you might be missing the lunch opportunity. If sales were spread evenly, your staffing should reflect that. Peak hours tell you when to invest labor and when to cut.

5. Payment mix

The split between cash and card affects your cash flow timing. Card payments hit your account 1-2 days later. A heavy cash day means more money in the register but more room for error. Track the mix to understand your deposit patterns.

Get these automatically

Expo's morning recap delivers all five of these numbers to your phone at 7am — before you even get to the restaurant. No logging into a dashboard. No pulling reports. Just a text message with everything you need to start the day informed.