Should I benchmark against previous periods?

As a Shopify store owner, I've been wrestling with understanding my store's performance. Every month, I look at my numbers and wonder: am I actually improving, or just spinning my wheels? I've got data from previous months and quarters, but I'm not sure how to use them effectively. Sometimes my sales spike during holiday seasons or after a big marketing push, which makes comparisons tricky. I need a systematic way to understand whether my growth strategies are genuinely working or if I'm just seeing random fluctuations. My team keeps asking me about year-over-year performance, and I want to provide meaningful insights. But comparing raw numbers feels inadequate—I want to understand the underlying trends, not just get surface-level statistics. What metrics matter most? How can I create a benchmarking approach that gives me real strategic insights without getting lost in spreadsheet paralysis?