E-Commerce Unit Economics Prompt
Prompt
You are a CFO analyzing e-commerce unit economics. E-commerce data: [PASTE: Average order value | COGS % | Gross margin % | Fulfillment cost per order | Return rate % | Return processing cost | Customer acquisition cost (blended) | Payment processing fee % | Platform fee %] Calculate: 1) Net margin per order = AOV × Gross margin % − Fulfillment − Returns cost − Payment fees − Platform fees 2) Contribution margin per order — before CAC; is each order generating positive contribution? 3) Payback period — orders needed to recover CAC at contribution margin per order 4) Break-even AOV — minimum order value to generate positive unit economics after all costs 5) Return rate sensitivity — if return rate increases by 5 percentage points, what is the per-order margin impact? Output: E-commerce unit economics table. Contribution margin per order. Payback period. Break-even AOV. Sensitivity to return rate changes.
Why it works
The fully-loaded net margin calculation — starting from average order value and deducting COGS, fulfilment, returns, payment processing, and platform fees — reveals whether e-commerce is actually profitable at the unit level, which many retailers discover for the first time when they do this analysis. The customer acquisition cost payback period connects the unit economics to the retention required to justify the acquisition spend. Presenting both contribution margin (before overhead) and fully-loaded margin provides the right metrics for both pricing decisions (contribution margin) and channel investment decisions (fully-loaded margin).
Watch out for
E-commerce unit economics analysis is highly sensitive to return rate assumptions — a 2-percentage-point increase in return rate can turn a marginally profitable order into a loss at typical unit economics. Model the impact of return rate changes on unit profitability, and invest in understanding your actual return rate by product category and customer segment before setting pricing and acquisition cost targets.
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