SKU Profitability

Know exactly which products actually make you money.

Most DTC and marketplace brands have 15–25% of SKUs quietly losing money once every cost is loaded in. We surface the truth and turn it into pricing, marketing and inventory decisions – usually in 2–3 weeks. Pairs with our Management Reporting engagement.

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Read the guide: how to do SKU profitability analysis Try the break-even calculator

Who it's for

DTC brands $1M–$20M with 20+ SKUs and ad spend over $30K/month.
Multi-channel sellers (Shopify + Amazon + wholesale) where allocation is unclear.
Brands planning a raise or sale that need investor-ready unit economics by SKU.

Symptoms you need this

If more than two of these sound familiar, this is the service to start with.

›Gross margin looks healthy but net profit stays flat as revenue grows.

›Promos and discounts run without a per-SKU break-even floor.

›Top-line hero products don't survive fully-loaded cost analysis.

›Amazon and Shopify P&Ls are compared apples-to-oranges.

›You can't answer which 20% of SKUs generate 80% of true profit.

What you get

Fully loaded P&L per SKU

9 cost layers: net price, landed COGS, 3PL, shipping, payment fees, returns, ad allocation, platform fees, overhead.

Ranked profitability table

Top and bottom performers by true contribution, with kill/reprice/double-down flags.

Discount floor per SKU

The lowest price each SKU can be promoted at without going below break-even.

Turn × profitability matrix

Inventory velocity crossed with contribution – see where cash is trapped.

Channel allocation view

Same SKU, comparable P&Ls across Shopify, Amazon and wholesale.

Monthly refresh dashboard

Automated update your team runs after month-end close.

Included

Data extraction from Shopify, Amazon, 3PL, ad platforms and bookkeeping
9-layer cost model built to your channel mix
Per-SKU contribution table with recommendations
Discount policy and kill-list workshop
Handover of the live dashboard (Google Sheets or Lightdash)
30-day support to action the first wave of decisions

Not included

Monthly bookkeeping / accounting close (ask about Management Reporting)
PPC campaign management or creative production
Amazon FBA reimbursement filing (referred to specialist partners)
Tax planning or filing

How it runs

Week 1

Data pull

90 days of orders, COGS, 3PL, ads and payment data extracted and normalised.

Week 1–2

Cost loading

Build the 9-layer cost model and per-SKU allocation logic.

Week 2

Profitability table

Deliver the ranked SKU table with discount floors and recommendations.

Week 3

Decisions sprint

Workshop with founders to action prices, kills and ad reallocations.

Artifacts we deliver

SKU profitability table

Sortable Sheets/Excel file with 9 cost columns and net contribution per SKU.

Discount floor sheet

Per-SKU minimum promo price to stay contribution-positive.

Channel comparison

Same SKU across Shopify, Amazon and wholesale, comparable P&L.

Refresh runbook

Step-by-step doc so your team keeps the dashboard live monthly.

Where this played out

All cases

Remilia Hair

Investment-Ready Financial Infrastructure

From cash crunch to investor-ready finance

N1 Home

Cash Flow Diagnostics & Investor Readiness

Investor-ready in 8 weeks

Alps2Alps

Investor-Ready Holding Structure

+35% historical EBITDA

This is an e-commerce-specific analysis package. For end-to-end monthly reporting, pair it with our Management Reporting service.

Check your numbers first

GuideHow to do SKU profitability analysisStep-by-step contribution margin per SKU, with a worked five-SKU example.Open CalculatorBreak-even calculatorFind the sales volume each product needs to cover its costs.Open CalculatorTrue ROAS calculatorSee whether your ad spend is profitable once real margins are loaded in.Open

SKU profitability FAQ

What is true SKU profitability?+

It is the contribution each product leaves after every variable cost is loaded in: landed COGS, 3PL, shipping, payment fees, returns, platform fees, allocated ad spend and a share of overhead. Gross margin alone hides most of these.

How long does the analysis take?+

Usually 2–3 weeks: one week to pull and clean the data, one to build the cost model and ranked table, and a final decisions workshop.

What data do you need from us?+

Around 90 days of orders, COGS or supplier invoices, 3PL and shipping bills, ad platform spend, payment processor fees and your bookkeeping export. Read-only access is enough.

Does it work for Amazon and multi-channel sellers?+

Yes. We build comparable P&Ls for the same SKU across Shopify, Amazon and wholesale, so channel decisions are based on like-for-like numbers.

What happens after the first analysis?+

You get a live dashboard and a refresh runbook so your team can update it after each month-end close. We also support you for 30 days while you act on the first decisions.

Can I check my numbers before booking a call?+

Yes. Start with our guide on calculating true SKU profitability and the break-even and True ROAS calculators linked on this page.