Membrane

Finance metric

Contribution margin after marketing

The share of your net revenue left after every cost of selling one more unit, ad spend included.

  1. 1 · How we calculate it

    Net revenue minus variable costs and ad spend, over net revenue.

    Contribution margin=Net revenue − variable costs − ad spend÷Net revenue

    From your net revenue we subtract cost of goods, channel fees, fulfillment, storage and ad spend. Then we divide by net revenue.

    It covers the last 12 complete months.

  2. 2 · Where the data comes from

    It needs 5 kinds of data, each from a system you connect.

    DataFrom
    Orders and refunds on every sales channelShopify, Amazon Seller Central, TikTok Shop
    Landed cost per unitShopify, QuickBooks, Xero
    Channel feesShopify, Amazon Seller Central, TikTok Shop, QuickBooks, Xero
    Fulfillment costsAmazon Seller Central, QuickBooks, Xero, ShipHero
    Spend on every ad platformAmazon Ads, Meta Ads, Google Ads
  3. 3 · What we compare it with

    Brands with 7- and 8-figure sales have a median of about 25%.

    25%Median · Finaloop

    Finaloop gives this median from the books it keeps for hundreds of these brands.1 Its definition is close to ours.

    Their definitionThey subtract every variable cost and the ad spend, but not fixed marketing fees such as agency retainers. They don’t name storage.
    Their periodTheir data covers 2023 to 2025. The article doesn’t say which months the median covers.
    Who they countHundreds of brands whose books Finaloop keeps.
    Example · Northwind Pet Co, an invented brand with an invented number
    25% medianNorthwind Pet Co · 18%
    0%30%

    Below their median

    Finaloop, Mar 1, 2026 →

Sources

Every page was read on Sep 30, 2026.

Published figures

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