The point to remember
The indicative contribution per order is the net income retained, minus costs produced, executed, transported, paid, acquired and other variable costs. It remains before fixed fees and taxes. It is an average basket; affiliate measurement of commissions by click. Neither indicator is sufficient to prove the profitability of a brand.
What remains on an order?
Enter comparable amounts, in the same currency and with the same tax treatment.
Fictitious example, before subscription, other fixed fees and taxes. The calculated ceiling is not a recommended CPA . No sales or profitability predictions.
1. Start from a comparable base
Start with a defined revenue: same currency, same period, and consistent treatment of taxes, discounts, and refunds. A gross checkout amount compared to a supplier cost excluding taxes can give an artificially favorable impression. The quality of the calculation depends first on the consistency of the data.
Then associate the costs with the relevant order. If an upsell adds one unit or a second package, its value is not only its billed price. The product, preparation, shipping, and any additional fees must be reintegrated. An increase in the basket can be useful, but it does not mean an identical increase in margin.
2. Define the acceptable acquisition cost
The CPA paid to the network constitutes a channel cost. To determine a limit, start from net income, subtract other variable costs and keep the contribution you need to fund the monthly, other fees and a margin of security. The CPA should not be chosen only because a competitor is displayed.
A future rebill or a repeat order should not be considered certain revenue in the calculation of the first purchase. You can build customer value scenarios, provided you identify them as assumptions and confront them with the observed cohorts. A cancellation or a return can also modify the final contribution.
3. AOV : the average value of the commands
The number of orders over the period is the turnover held. It makes it possible to compare different offers, quantities or steps of upsell. The definition must remain the same from one test to another: the same rules concerning refunds, taxes and delivery, for example.
In Launch, the complementary offer is integrated into the same funnel as the main product. It aims to work on the order value from the start. The buyer retains the choice to accept it or not. The measured result will depend on the relevance of the product, the price, and the traffic; it is not guaranteed by the presence of the step.
4. EPC : do not mix affiliate and merchant
In the reporting of an affiliate, the EPC is the validated commissions divided by the assigned clicks. It therefore reflects the remuneration observed for this traffic and these validation rules. This is not directly the merchant's income, nor his margin, nor a performance commitment for a new partner.
The merchant can track his income separately by click: income withheld divided by assigned clicks. It can also calculate the contribution by clicking with reliable costs. The name of the ratio, its period, its sources and its attribution method must be visible. Two EPC published on different windows are not necessarily comparable.
5. CVR: measure the conversion without forgetting the quality
The conversion rate relates orders to the measured population: visits, sessions, or clicks, according to your definition. Keep the same denominator in your comparisons. A conversion recorded before payment validation does not have the same status as a completed and not canceled sale.
A funnel test must also look at tickets, refunds, and claims. Increasing conversion by making the subscription confusing or the price hard to understand is not healthy optimization. Sales tracking and support help to detect these problems before they become a hidden cost.
6. Use the calculator as a working hypothesis
The calculator on this page illustrates a unit contribution. It does not address taxation, seasonality, the duration of PSP reserves, financing costs, or any incidents. Enter your own figures and maintain a conservative scenario. A positive value does not constitute an audit of your activity.
When making the call, bring the proposed price, the cost of the product, the country of delivery and your target of CPA . We can frame the tunnel and the data to be instrumented. The decision to invest in acquisition must remain linked to your actual costs, budget and observed performance.
Your numbers. Your offer. Your scope.
The call allows you to bring these benchmarks closer to your actual project, without any promise of automatic results.
Flex Nutra is carried by Kevin Meunier . This guide is attributed to the editor, not presented as a personal or independent publication.
Discover the founder · Sound LinkedIn