Profit leak checklist

Ecommerce profit leak checklist

Before scaling ads, review the costs and assumptions that can turn revenue into low-margin or unprofitable orders.

What this means

Profit leaks are costs or assumptions that reduce contribution margin. They matter because every leak lowers the CPA you can afford and raises the ROAS needed to break even.

Checklist

Average discount is reducing net revenue more than expected.

Product cost is above the margin level needed for paid traffic.

Shipping or packaging cost is too high for the order value.

Payment and transaction fees are not included in CPA targets.

Refund rate is reducing usable revenue before ads.

Current CPA is above break-even CPA.

Current ROAS is below break-even ROAS.

Target margin leaves no realistic room for ads.

Formula

contributionMargin = netRevenue - variableCosts

The larger the gap between net revenue and variable costs, the more room you have for CPA and target profit.

How to improve this number

  • Review the largest leak first instead of trying to optimize every line item.
  • Separate low-margin SKUs from paid acquisition campaigns.
  • Test price, bundles, or shipping thresholds before increasing budget.
  • Recalculate break-even ROAS after changing discounts or costs.

Calculator

SellMira ranks the top tracked profit leaks after you calculate a report.

Find profit leaks