Contribution margin and unit economics for DTC brands
Contribution margin, unit economics, pricing and profit tracking for DTC brands, with worked examples.
- Finance
Revenue-Based Financing for Ecommerce: Is Wayflyer or Shopify Capital Worth It?
Is revenue-based financing worth it for an ecommerce brand? Fractional CFO Jon Blair on Wayflyer, Shopify Capital, when it makes sense, the cash-gap mistake to avoid, and the 10% fixed overhead rule.
- Finance
Ecommerce P&L: How to Read Yours Line by Line Before You Add AI
What an ecommerce P&L should contain, a line-by-line example for a $10m DTC brand, what Shopify's profit reports leave out, and the five-step read to do before any AI project.
- Finance
Inventory Turnover Formula for Ecommerce: How to Calculate It, What's Good and Why Margin Matters More
Inventory turnover is COGS divided by average inventory at cost. Here's how to calculate it monthly and annually, what a good ratio looks like for ecommerce, and why GMROI and days of cover should decide your ad spend.
- Finance
What Happened to Allbirds? The Filings Behind Its Fall, Plus Casper and Peloton
Allbirds was worth over $4bn on day one and sold its shoe business for $39m. We read the SEC filings of Allbirds, Casper and Peloton to find the line that broke at each.
- Finance
Dead Stock: What It Is, What It Really Costs and 9 Ways to Clear It, Ranked by Margin Recovered
Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling. Here is what it really costs, how to find it with 5 formulas, and 9 ways to clear it, ranked by how much margin each one recovers.
- Finance
Contribution Margin Ratio vs Contribution Margin in Dollars: Which to Measure, and Why It Beats ROAS
The contribution margin ratio formula with worked ecommerce examples, plus why you should run your store on contribution margin in dollars, why it beats ROAS, and the one job the ratio is good for.
- Finance
UK DTC Brands Ranked by Profit: What 20 Sets of Filed Accounts Reveal
We read the filed Companies House accounts of 20 UK DTC brands, from Gymshark and Huel to Adanola and Rapha, and ranked them by how much of every £100 they keep. Half lost money.
- Finance
TikTok Shop Fees 2026: What a $100 Order Is Really Worth
TikTok Shop fees in 2026 start with a 6% referral fee, but creator commission rates, samples, Smart Promotion and returns change the maths. Here's what a $100 order is really worth.
- Finance
Black Friday Strategy: The Q4 Profit Plan (5 Analyses to Run Before BFCM)
Most Black Friday marketing strategies stop at revenue, ROAS and a discount percentage. These five analyses show how much BFCM revenue you'll actually keep.
- Finance
The EU Just Changed the Rules on Shipping. Here’s What Every Ecommerce Brand Needs to Know.
EU shipping rules change on 1 July 2026. Discover how new import duties could affect ecommerce margins, returns and EU fulfilment.
- Finance
The Ultimate Guide to Subscription Economics for DTC Brands
Discover why subscription ecommerce outperforms one-time purchases — and how mastering CAC payback, LTV, and cashflow drives DTC profitability.
- Finance
Why Most DTC Brands Outgrow Their Accountant | When to Hire an eCommerce CFO
Learn why growing eCommerce brands outgrow traditional accountants — and how hiring an eCommerce CFO or fractional CFO helps you scale profitably through better cashflow, ad spend, and financial clarity.
- Finance
Measure Customer Value and Calculate CAC Payback to Scale Profitably Now
Learn how to measure Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) the right way, using profit, not revenue. Calculate CAC payback & scale your ecommerce brand profitably.
- Finance
3 Proven Levers to Unlock Margin Expansion in 2025
Discover 3 simple levers to boost DTC profitability, expand gross margin, and unlock more firepower to scale paid media sustainably.
- Finance
Contribution Margin Formula: The Complete Guide for Ecommerce (With Worked Examples)
The contribution margin formula, worked through an example DTC order and month: CM1, CM2 and CM3, per unit, ratio, income statement, weighted average and how to set a target from your fixed costs.
- Finance
How and When to Discount: A Strategic Guide for eCommerce Brands
Strategic guide for e-commerce brands on using discounts effectively, managing timing, types, and impact on margins to drive sales and protect profitability.
- Finance
The Brand Founder’s Guide to Improving Margins
Master contribution margin to boost profitability, manage costs, and guide your DTC brand’s growth with actionable tips and strategic financial insights.
- Finance
Mastering Unit Economics: Key to Ecommerce Success
Master unit economics for ecommerce growth. Learn key metrics like LTV/CAC ratio and CAC payback period. Optimize costs and maximize revenue.
- Finance
Simple Guide to Understanding Contribution Margin for Ecommerce Brands
Introduction to Contribution Margin In the world of online businesses, understanding your contribution margin is a powerful key to success. It involves much more than just factoring the cost of your product.
- Finance
Understanding E-Commerce Profit Margins
Learn how to determine your businesses financial health and make better decisions to grow profitably with StoreHero.
- Marketing
BFCM 2026: Black Friday Cyber Monday Dates, Meaning and the Profit-First Checklist
BFCM 2026 runs from 27 to 30 November. What BFCM means, the full dates, what a discount really costs your margin, and a week-by-week Black Friday checklist.
- Business
Revenue per Employee: The Ecommerce Metric to Start Tracking Now
How to calculate revenue per employee for an ecommerce brand, benchmarks from Shopify, Etsy, Chewy, Amazon and DTC brands, and why contribution margin per employee is the version to track.
- Platform
Ecommerce Reporting That Tells You Why: The Ultimate Weekly Business Brief (Free AI Prompt)
A free AI prompt that turns your sales, margin, ad, email and account-change data into a weekly brief: what happened, why, what is coming and what to do about it.
- Platform
Claude in Excel: How to Build a Profit-First Ecommerce Forecast (10 Copy-Paste Prompts)
Claude for Excel can build a 12-month forecast in an afternoon. How to install it, the prompts that make it start from profit instead of revenue, and the checks that stop it hardcoding numbers.
- Advertising
Should Your Brand Run ChatGPT Ads? The Profit Maths Before You Test
ChatGPT ads now start at $25 a day in about 60 countries. Here's what's confirmed as of October 2026, the break-even maths in dollars, what a readable test costs and a 30-day plan with kill and scale rules.
- Platform
Managing Multiple Shopify Stores? Get One Profit Report Across Every Store (Free AI Prompt)
Regional Shopify stores, Amazon, TikTok Shop, wholesale: every one has its own StoreHero view. The Multi-store report rolls them into one profit report in Claude or ChatGPT, in about five minutes.
- Platform
Inventory Tracking That Finds Profit: Connect Stock to Ad Spend and Margin
StoreHero isn't an inventory management system. It tracks your stock against profit and ad spend, so you stop overspending on products that are running out and underspending on the ones you can sell.
- Platform
Best Profit Tracking Tools for Ecommerce in 2027: 11 Ecommerce Analytics Tools Ranked for Profit
11 profit tracking and ecommerce analytics tools ranked for 2027 on what matters to profit: contribution margin depth, AI and MCP access, inventory, forecasting and price, with honest limits for each, including ours.
- Business
How to Start a Profitable Shopify Store in 2026 (The Profit-First Playbook)
15 years in ecommerce, 7,000+ DTC founders later — here’s how we’d build a profitable Shopify store in 2026: 70% margins, repeat customers, low OPEX, and an unfair CAC advantage.
- Marketing
Learn how to FORECAST AD SPEND well and GROW your ECOMMERCE store now.
Learn how to forecast ad spend for your ecommerce store in minutes. StoreHero helps you set profit goals, calculate MER, and create accurate 12-month forecasts to stay profitable and on track.
- Marketing
MER & aMER: Smarter Metrics Than ROAS
Learn why ecommerce founders should track MER vs ROAS. Discover how aMER reveals true profitability and how to scale growth effectively.
- Advertising
Meta Andromeda Explained for Ecommerce Brands: What Changed and What to Do Now
Meta Andromeda rewired how Facebook and Instagram ads choose creative. What changed, why Meta's AI can scale your lowest-margin sales, and a 30-day checklist to fix it.
- Advertising
Forget Multi-Touch Attribution: Profitability Is the Only Source of Truth
Multi-touch attribution and ROAS mislead Shopify and DTC brands. With rising CACs and thin margins, profitability—not ROAS—is the only metric that drives real growth.
- Marketing
Are your repeat customers driving enough profit?
Track repeat customers profitability with AI cohort analysis for your Shopify store and make data-driven decisions to boost growth.
- Marketing
7 Key Metrics That Your Ecommerce Dashboard Should Have
Essential ecommerce dashboard metrics that drive acquisition, boost conversion, enhance retention, and maximize profitability.
- Business
Scaling from Zero to Shark Tank – Jon Blair – StoreHero Interview
Jon Blair shares his entrepreneurial journey and how blending marketing with finance. Gain key insights for scaling in Ecommerce.
- Marketing
Navigating Brand Growth: Smarter Data, Real Results
Fuel eCommerce growth with smarter data. Track metrics like contribution margin and use StoreHero tools to boost ad performance and overall profitability.
- Marketing
The Power of AI for Boosting eCommerce Profitability
Unlock e-commerce profits with AI-powered personalization and analytics, driving higher customer engagement, conversions, and sustainable business growth.
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