Notes on store profit.
Practical notes for online stores in Egypt and the Gulf: returns, cash on delivery, ad spend and the real profit per order.
- 01 How to measure an online store's success, week by week and month by monthOrders and revenue look good long before the bank does. The numbers that tell you whether a cash-on-delivery store is really working: which to check every week, which every month, and how to work each one out.
- 02 Break-even ROAS for cash on delivery: the formula after confirmation and deliveryThe usual break-even ROAS formula assumes every order pays. Under cash on delivery some are cancelled and some are refused, so the ROAS you need in Ads Manager is higher. The formula, and one Egyptian store's real numbers.
- 03 Is COD order confirmation worth what it costs? Calls vs WhatsAppConfirming every cash-on-delivery order costs salaries or WhatsApp fees. It pays for itself only if it stops enough refusals. How to work out whether it does, with no made-up benchmarks.
- 04 Contribution margin and break-even for an online store, worked throughWhat each delivered order leaves you after the costs that grow with every order, and how many orders a month cover your fixed costs. Worked through on one Egyptian COD store's real numbers.
- 05 Courier statement reconciliation: making sure every COD payment reached youUnder cash on delivery, the courier holds your money between the customer's door and your bank. How to check every payout against your orders: what to match, what goes wrong, and where to find each file.
- 06 What a returned COD order really costs youOne Egyptian store, one month: 1,759 orders placed, 1,235 paid. The formula for what each returned order costs, and the costs most stores leave out.