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Ecommerce glossary

Learn the numbers that run your store.

Plain-English definitions of every metric a DTC founder needs to know. ROAS, MER, COGS, contribution margin, LTV and more - no jargon, just the numbers.

14 terms covered

Revenue

Gross Revenue

Total sales before any deductions: the full amount your customers paid before refunds, discounts, or returns.

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Net Revenue

What actually landed in your account: gross revenue minus refunds and returns.

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Average Order ValueAOV

The average amount a customer spends per order, calculated as total revenue divided by number of orders.

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Marketing

Return on Ad SpendROAS

Revenue generated per dollar of ad spend on a specific channel or campaign.

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Marketing Efficiency RatioMER

Total revenue divided by total ad spend across all channels combined - the blended, whole-business view of marketing efficiency.

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Break-Even ROAS

The minimum ROAS where ad spend is exactly covered by contribution margin - below this, every sale costs you money.

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New-Customer ROAS

ROAS calculated using only orders from first-time buyers, stripping out returning customers who inflate blended numbers.

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Blended vs Per-Channel

Blended metrics average across all channels; per-channel metrics isolate one source so you can see what is actually driving performance.

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Conversion RateCVR

The percentage of store visitors who complete a purchase.

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Profitability

Cost of Goods SoldCOGS

What each product actually costs you to make or buy: the unit cost plus any manufacturing or sourcing overhead.

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Gross Margin

Revenue minus COGS, expressed as a percentage - how much is left after the product itself is paid for, before operating costs.

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Contribution Margin

What a sale actually contributes to the business after COGS, shipping, platform fees, and ad cost are all subtracted.

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Customers

Customer Acquisition CostCAC

What it costs to acquire one new customer through paid marketing.

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Lifetime ValueLTV

The total revenue (or profit) a customer generates across all their purchases over their entire relationship with your brand.

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See these numbers live in your store.

Vibel connects Shopify, Meta and the rest and surfaces contribution margin, MER, LTV and every metric here - live, per SKU, per channel, per day.

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