E-commerce
Retail acquisition is decided by the distance between what a customer costs to acquire and what the first order actually contributes, then by whether they come back.
Product margin sets the ceiling before a single campaign is built. A category with thin margin and no repeat behaviour can only support a narrow acquisition cost, and no amount of creative work changes that arithmetic.
Demand also moves. Seasonal peaks, promotional periods and competitor discounting change auction prices within days, so a media plan built on a stable average is usually wrong at the two moments that matter most.
What we work on in e-commerce.
Six areas that decide whether retail media keeps working once the budget behind it grows.
Acquisition cost against margin
Targets set per product group rather than one blended number that hides the categories losing money.
First order and repeat value
What the business can afford depends heavily on whether a second purchase is likely, and how soon.
Product level demand
Feed structure, availability and category priority treated as media decisions, because they behave like media decisions.
Conversion on the path
Product page, basket and checkout reviewed as part of media performance rather than someone else’s problem.
Promotional cycles
Budget planned around peaks and discount periods, including what happens to efficiency in the weeks after one.
Media efficiency at volume
Where the cost per order starts climbing as budget rises, identified before the peak trading period rather than during it.
Measurement that matters here.
These are the figures we would expect to report on, agreed with the client before a campaign starts.
- Contribution after product cost, discount and returns
- Cost per new customer separated from cost per order
- Repeat purchase rate by acquisition source
- Efficiency tracked through promotional periods
- Platform reported revenue reconciled with the order record
Services applied in e-commerce.
Working in e-commerce?
Send the target cost per order, the margin you are working with and the categories that matter. We will tell you what looks reachable.