Austin Retail & Ecommerce

revenue minus COGS, fulfilment, payment fees, returns and variable marketing; explain that it is the only number that tells you whether an extra order helps

total acquisition spend over new customers, not orders; call out the common cheat of excluding agency fees, creative and discounts

MER is total revenue over total spend at the business level; explain why platform-reported ROAS double-counts and why boards moved to MER

define contribution-margin LTV over a fixed window and explain that horizon choice is what makes most LTV claims meaningless; the right window depends on their repeat cycle

explain pick-pack-ship, receiving and storage fees, and the volume and space signals that mean self-fulfilment has stopped working

who holds and ships the inventory, and how it affects Prime eligibility, fees and control over stockouts

explain price, fulfilment method, seller metrics and stock reliability as inputs, and that Amazon does not publish the weighting

unit cost, freight, duty, brokerage, insurance, drayage and inbound placement — the usual omissions are duty and inbound fees

the low-value duty-free entry threshold that direct-from-overseas parcel models depended on; explain the tightening and point to CBP for current treatment rather than stating a value

retailers selling ads against their own shopper data at high margin; explain that on-platform spend has become the price of visibility and works like a hidden take rate

the target shifts from clicks to citation and brand mention; explain that comparison and how-to intent is increasingly satisfied without a visit

explain GTIN, attributes, availability and price accuracy as the machine-readable version of the storefront that agents and ad platforms actually consume

volunteered preferences versus observed behaviour; give quizzes and preference centres as the practical collection points

explain the conversion and AOV lift against provider fees, authorisation rates and dispute handling; fees vary by provider so give the trade, not a rate

platform attribution counts orders the brand would have got anyway; walk them to blended MER and contribution margin after returns and fulfilment

give the calculation and the factors that set the answer — gross margin, repeat rate and how the business is financed — and refuse to publish a benchmark month count