Beauty products are purchased more frequently in the morning, snacks after dark, and home goods on weekends. An analysis of aggregated order data from Kustom reveals these patterns. The checkout company is now launching a new feature in its analytics tool, giving merchants deeper insights into sales and refunds at the product level.
Breaking down e-commerce data at the product level reveals patterns that are not visible in overall order and sales figures. The analysis shows when different product categories are purchased, how sales are concentrated among a small number of products, and which categories are most often found in orders associated with refunds.
Purchase patterns vary by product category
Beauty and health products are purchased 14 percent more often before 11 a.m. than a typical product. Food and beverages are purchased 13 percent more often after 5 p.m. The pattern is most pronounced for snacks, which are purchased 23 percent more often after dark. Home goods are purchased 11 percent more often on weekends. For kitchen products, the corresponding increase is 27 percent.
Five products drive nearly one-third of sales
For half of merchants, the five products generating the highest sales value account for at least 29 percent of total sales. Across merchants, the best-selling product generates a median of 34 percent more sales value than the second-best-selling product.
The share of refunded orders varies significantly across product categories
Among orders containing a dress, 40.6 percent have at least one refund associated with them. The corresponding share for orders containing shampoo is 2 percent. Orders containing other fashion items, including jeans, skirts, and swimwear, also have high refund rates, while consumables are generally found at the other end of the spectrum.
“Total sales figures do not always reveal which products are actually driving change. The new feature shows what is selling, when it is selling, and which products are associated with refunds. This gives merchants a stronger basis for decisions about product range, inventory, and marketing,” says Rasmus Fahlander, Chief Product Officer at Kustom.
Product-level data for each merchant’s business
Kustom launched a new analytics tool in March 2026, giving merchants consolidated insights into areas including sales, customer groups, payment methods, and refunds. The tool is now being expanded to include product-level analysis. Each merchant can track its best-selling products, sales concentration, average product value, number of products per cart, and refunds. The data can also be analyzed over time and filtered by factors including time period, market, age, gender, and payment category.
About the analysis
The analysis of purchase times is based on a random five percent sample of Kustom’s order data from May 26 to August 26, 2026, comprising 1,465,424 orders. The sales concentration analysis is based on median values from 13,382 merchants offering at least ten different products during the period from August 2025 to July 2026. The refund analysis covers August 2025 to August 2026 and was conducted at the order level. An order containing a particular product category may therefore have received a refund for a different product in the same cart.
Press inquiries
Julia Grönstedt
press@kustom.co
About Kustom
Kustom is one of Europe’s leading checkout solutions, helping merchants across Europe grow through a high-conversion, low-complexity, and highly customizable setup. By making the checkout process seamless and transparent, and adaptable to local markets and shopper preferences, Kustom supports stronger, long-term customer relationships. Today, Kustom serves more than 24,000 merchants across 170 markets and has converted more than 25 million shoppers.