Commerce Intelligence Resources
Practical guides to ecommerce profit, product economics, advertising efficiency and the numbers behind better operating decisions. Written for operators who carry the P&L, not for people shopping for definitions.
How to Calculate Ecommerce Profit: The Complete Guide for 2026
The full profit waterfall, from realized revenue down to net margin, with a worked example and the errors that hide a loss-making month.
AdvertisingROAS vs Profit: Why a High ROAS Can Still Lose Money
What ROAS measures, what it ignores, and why two campaigns with the same ROAS can have opposite effects on profit.
MarginsEcommerce Contribution Margin: Formula, Examples & Why It Matters
The difference between gross margin and contribution economics, and which number actually tells you whether to scale a product.
Product economicsHow to Calculate Product Profitability After COGS, Returns and Ad Spend
Why the best seller is rarely the most profitable SKU, and how to calculate product profit without pretending ad attribution is complete.
AdvertisingMER vs ROAS: Which Advertising Metric Should You Actually Trust?
MER measures the whole business against the whole ad budget. ROAS measures one campaign against what a platform claims for it. When to use each.
AdvertisingBreak-Even ROAS: The Formula, and Why One Number Is Not Enough
Three different break-even points, what each one actually covers, and why quoting a single break-even ROAS hides the costs that decide profitability.
ReturnsEcommerce Return Rate: How Returns Actually Reach Your Profit
Two different return measurements, why they disagree, and the costs a return leaves behind after the sale is removed from revenue.
MarginsGross Margin vs Net Margin in Ecommerce: What Each One Tells You
One margin measures the product, the other measures the business. Where they diverge, and which decisions each one should drive.
AcquisitionAOV vs Profit per Order: Why a Bigger Basket Can Earn Less
How the usual tactics for raising AOV affect the profit an order actually leaves behind — and when a higher basket is worth less.
AcquisitionCAC vs Profit per Order: How Much Can You Really Afford to Spend?
Calculating CAC honestly, comparing it against profit per order rather than revenue, and why customer identity quality changes the answer.
See these numbers for your own store
ORVX connects your orders, product costs, expenses and ad spend, then reports realized profit rather than revenue — with the same definitions used throughout these guides.
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