E-Commerce Unit Economics

Our free E-Commerce Unit Economics helps you estimate costs based on 9 key business variables. The calculator provides 7 detailed outputs using vendor benchmarks and company-size adjustments.

Enter your business details to get market-adjusted estimates as of 2026.

What you'll learn:

• Accurate e-commerce unit economics estimates based on your specific inputs
• Low, average, and high cost ranges for budgeting
• How local factors impact pricing
• Tips for optimizing vendor selection and reducing total cost of ownership

Understanding the cost breakdown helps you budget effectively for your e-commerce unit economics project. Here are the typical cost components:

Our e-commerce unit economics uses a multi-variable formula that accounts for the following inputs:

1. Average Order Value ($) — Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.
2. COGS per Order ($) — Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.
3. Shipping / Fulfillment Cost per Order ($) — Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.
4. Payment Fees per Order ($) — Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.
5. Customer Acquisition Cost ($) — Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.
6. Expected Purchases per Customer — Required user-entered expected purchase count.
7. Assumption Source Name — Required source label for user-entered ecommerce unit economics assumptions.
8. Assumption Source Date — Required source/access date for ecommerce unit economics assumptions in YYYY-MM-DD format.
9. Assumption Source URL — Optional URL when external ecommerce unit economics assumptions are used.

Based on your inputs, the calculator provides:

• Contribution Margin per Order — Dollar amount based on current market rates
• Contribution Margin Percentage — Percentage value
• Break-Even Orders to Recover CAC
• Estimated Customer LTV — Dollar amount based on current market rates
• Deprecated alias: use cac — Dollar amount based on current market rates
• Deprecated alias: use contributionMargin — Dollar amount based on current market rates
• Deprecated alias: use ltv — Dollar amount based on current market rates

All calculations incorporate location-specific cost adjustments when a ZIP code is provided, using data from industry databases updated for 2026.

Several factors influence your e-commerce unit economics estimate:

Average Order Value ($)

Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.

COGS per Order ($)

Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.

Shipping / Fulfillment Cost per Order ($)

Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.

Payment Fees per Order ($)

Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.

Customer Acquisition Cost ($)

Required user-entered, source-dated assumption. No default is applied when a source-backed value has not been supplied.

Expected Purchases per Customer

Required user-entered expected purchase count.

Company Size & Scope

Enterprise pricing often differs significantly from SMB pricing. Vendor volume discounts, implementation complexity, and support tiers all scale with company size.

Market Timing

Vendor pricing changes quarterly or annually. End-of-quarter negotiations and competitive bids can reduce costs by 10-25%.

After you run the calculator, your results include interactive sections that help you make informed decisions:

Detailed Breakdown

Your results are broken down into individual components so you can see how each factor contributes to the total. Use this to identify the biggest cost drivers and focus your research or negotiation where it matters most.

Visual Chart

The chart provides a visual summary of your results, making it straightforward to compare components at a glance. This is helpful when sharing estimates with a spouse, business partner, or advisor — the visual format communicates the key story faster than numbers alone.

Save and Share Your Results

Download your complete results as a CSV spreadsheet or PDF report. The PDF includes all your inputs and key results — ready to share with contractors, service providers, or anyone else who needs to review the numbers. No account or signup required.