Find the real profit per online order after shipping, fees, and returns
A per-order profit waterfall for an online store that tests your free-shipping threshold and shows which cost levers matter most.
The prompt
Help me calculate the true contribution margin per order for my online store.
Average order: [AOV, units per order, typical product mix]
Product cost: [LANDED COST - including inbound freight, duties, and tariffs]
Discounts: [AVERAGE DISCOUNT %, free-gift costs]
Shipping: [what customers pay vs. what I pay per order, free-shipping threshold]
Fulfillment: [pick and pack, packaging, 3PL fees per order and per unit, storage]
Payment and platform fees: [processing %, fixed fee per transaction, marketplace or platform fees, app subscriptions spread per order]
Returns: [RETURN RATE, cost per return, % resold]
Marketing: [blended customer acquisition cost; share of orders from new vs. returning customers]
Do this:
1. Build a per-order waterfall from gross revenue to contribution margin after marketing, line by line.
2. Compare a first order from a new customer with a repeat order.
3. Find the break-even AOV and say whether my free-shipping threshold sits above or below it. If it is below, show the margin lost on orders between the two and options to fix it (raise the threshold, flat-rate shipping, minimum basket).
4. Show the three levers that move margin most (e.g. return rate down 5 points vs. shipping cost down $2 vs. AOV up 10%).
5. Calculate how many repeat orders a new customer needs before acquisition cost pays back.
Return:
- The waterfall as a table.
- The formulas, so I can rebuild it in a spreadsheet.
- Plain-language takeaways.
Mark any missing input [ADD] instead of guessing. This is for internal decisions, not tax or accounting advice; confirm accounting treatment with a qualified accountant.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Finance & Accounting prompts
What to fill in
- AOV, units per order, typical product mix
- LANDED COST - including inbound freight, duties, and tariffs
- AVERAGE DISCOUNT %, free-gift costs
- RETURN RATE, cost per return, % resold
- ADD
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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