Steps to Increase Profitability in ECommerce

If I were brought in to drive growth at a $10M+ DTC brand, here’s how I’d approach it: No fluff. No vanity plays. Just high-impact moves that shift the bottom line. (It's tempting to dive into rebranding or launching new channels. However, impactful growth often stems from focusing on foundational elements.) Here's how I'd approach it: Step 1: Figure out where the money’s made → Which products drive the highest margins, LTV, and repeat purchases? → What SKUs actually scale profitably with paid media? I’m not touching the ad account until this is crystal clear. Step 2: Clean house on performance marketing → Audit every dollar spent across Meta, Google, and email. → Consolidate campaigns, kill what's not working, double down on proven angles. → Creative is the lever. Not targeting. Step 3: Choose 1 hero product to lead acquisition → Ideally something high-margin, low return rate, with a story. → This becomes the core of all TOF messaging + landing pages. → Simple scales. Complexity kills. Step 4: Rebuild top ads with new content → Take the top 5 hooks and redo them with fresh UGC, statics, and cutdowns. → Launch 10+ ad variations ASAP. → Start developing a creative strategy process. Paid media dies without fresh creative input. Step 5: Patch the leaky funnel → Is the site fast? → Are PDPs clear? → Are we using urgency, bundling, cart optimizers? → Are email flows even sending? You don’t need more traffic if you’re wasting the traffic you’ve got. Step 6: Get email working while you sleep → Start with flows: welcome, cart abandonment, post-purchase, winback, VIP. → Then layer in 1-2 campaigns a week that don’t feel like a sale but still convert. Step 7: Test 3 offers in 30 days → Think: gift with purchase, bundle + save, free shipping thresholds, subscription perks. → Speed is leverage. You don’t need months to validate an offer. Growth isn’t about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things in the right order—with urgency. Curious—what would your first 3 moves be? If you’re a brand doing $1M+ in revenue and need help with growth, please DM me and let’s chat.

After 5 years of growing Obvi into an 8-figure brand, we have boiled down our essential financial ops into 10 commandments for DTC finance. Here’s how we achieve clarity and profitability... 1. I WILL NOT optimize for vanity metrics like topline revenue  We’re not in the ZIRP or Pandemic era anymore. First purchase profitability is a must. Hockey stick graphs are sexy, but they only matter if you’re keeping more than you spend. 2. I WILL understand my total cost to ship Don’t just look at COGS. Packaging, freight, warehousing, shipping, discounts, returns, chargebacks, seller fees, marketing…you have to price-in all of these to understand your contribution margin. 3. I WILL NOT use a boilerplate P&L The profit and loss is your business bible. It needs to be tuned to reflect e-commerce and shouldn’t just be some off-the-shelf template from QBO. It won’t deliver insights at a glance otherwise. 4. I WILL set up a process to report on daily contribution margin and profit With thousands of orders per day, different cost structures, and multiple departments… things can go off the rails fast. Create a process that summarizes all of these inputs and reports on net dollars- each and every day. 5. I WILL find ways to reduce my cash conversion cycle You want to shrink this as much as possible. The smaller your CC, the less you have to stretch your cash with loans or a line of credit. Negotiate with suppliers, apply for 60-day payback period credit cards, etc. 6. I WILL NOT confuse profit and cash flow Variability in fixed expenses, accounts receivable, and inventory issues can all cause major setbacks in the amount of cash you have on hand.  Even with great margin, your company can run out of cash and be forced to liquidate or fundraise if you aren’t careful. 7. I WILL always have a realistic and up-to-date cash window “CASH IS KING” Is that a cliché? Yes. But it’s true. You don’t want an empty bank account when major expenses hit. 8. I WILL NOT “set and forget” operational expenses like SaaS Subscriptions A robust tech stack is a must in DTC, but don’t let tools stack up on your credit card. Review things regularly and be ruthless in your ROI calculations. Make sure you’re doing MONTHLY expense audits.  9. I WILL NOT forget that sometimes the cheapest option can actually be the most expensive... Hire right or hire twice. Reducing costs and expanding your margin is great, but poor vendors, shoddy platforms, and low-quality hires can actually end up costing you more in the long run. 10. I WILL take the time to review, update, and forecast my business monthly, quarterly, and annually. Failure to plan is planning to fail. Growing and scaling brands need thorough planning to manage increasing fixed costs and risks. Establish a comprehensive annual plan with regular quarterly evaluations. Conduct monthly P&L reviews and expense audits to stay aligned with your long-term goals 📊

💡 How do you drive profitability on Amazon? It’s not just about growing revenue, it’s about growing the right revenue. 👉 80% of sales often come from 20% of your SKUs—so where you focus matters. But it’s not just about the current top performers… 🔄 Past winners and seasonal SKUs can be tomorrow’s revenue drivers if you prepare for them. Here’s how I approach profitability across the full ecommerce lifecycle: ✅ 1. Double Down on Top Performers I prioritize the high-margin, high-volume SKUs—the 20% that fuel 80% of results. Think bundles, multipacks, and retention plays like Subscribe & Save. ✅ 2. Don’t Sleep on Seasonality Plan ahead for seasonal peaks and past high-performers with a proven track record. A SKU that crushed last Q4 needs attention before it’s trending again. ✅ 3. Eliminate Ad Waste I cut inefficient spending, tighten targeting, and increase investment where conversion and margin are strong. 📌 Bid rules, margin-based segmentation, and keyword refinement are key. ✅ 4. Smart Promotions, Not Just Discounts I use targeted, margin-aligned promotions—not sitewide cuts that drain profit. UMAP enforcement protects long-term pricing power. ✅ 5. Control Operational Costs I work with the supply chain to reduce FBA fees, optimize packaging, and address low-margin SKUs with high return rates. ✅ 6. Track Contribution Margin by ASIN Each product gets a mini P&L. We monitor true profitability, not just top-line sales. ✅ 7. Grow LTV with Retention Strategies Lower CAC, improve CLV. I use post-purchase flows, upsells, and loyalty tools to drive repeat business, especially for consumables. 🚀 Bottom line: Focus on the 20% driving results, but don’t forget the past winners and seasonal sleepers. Profitability comes from working smarter, not just harder. #AmazonFBA #Profitability #EcommerceStrategy #SeasonalSales #SellerCentral #Amazon #ParetoPrinciple #MarketplaceManager #RetentionMarketing #FBAOptimization

How to Achieve First Purchase Profitability in 2024: A 3-Step Framework With ad costs rising, intent dropping, and competition heating up, becoming first purchase profitable has never been harder. Here’s how we cracked the code: 1. Nail Down Your Offer Before you even think about creatives or media buying, your offer needs to be bulletproof. It's not just about pricing, it’s about creating something irresistible that works for everyone. And that looks like three ‘people’. - Your Customer: The offer must be a no-brainer. If it doesn’t instantly appeal and it’s hard to justify the purchase  it won’t convert. - Facebook: The offer should fit within your target CPA and a part of the it should focus on volume of conversions making it easy to generate data without blowing your budget. As an example: Trial pack, 40% off for a first purchase etc etc.  - Your Brand: Your unit economics must hold up long-term. High margins and repeat purchases are key. 2. Build a Solid Customer Journey Once the offer is locked in, your next focus should be the customer journey. Match your offer’s dynamics to the right funnel: - Advertorial Funnel: Ideal for educating customers on complex products. We turned a 20-minute read into a $250k ad spend that consistently acquired customers for $80. Before it was 40k spend and acquired customers for $250. Extra tip: we were selling trial packs through advertorial and just because they were aware of ins and outs of the solution conversion rate was crazy high and retention was the highest across all the funnels. - Quiz Funnel: Perfect for high-awareness markets where personalization makes the difference. Capture attention differently and guide your audience to the right solution. Extra tip: backend email & offers are gonna add another 40-60% to the performance. - Landing Page: Great for high-intent, urgent needs. Take them from a well-targeted ad straight to a simple, persuasive page. - Evergreen PDP: Keep it evergreen, keep it for your top performing ads and their iterations. Think of your offer as the digital equivalent of the retail store experience. Whilst we can’t capture the scent or the lighting, we can understand our customers' journey, their intent, their needs. 3. Scale with Volume (Once You’re Ready) Now that you’ve perfected your offer and customer journey, it’s time to think about volume of ad creatives. But remember: volume without strategy is just noise. With a solid foundation, your ad creatives will perform better, spend will be optimized, and you’ll avoid the pitfalls of churning out assets that don’t move the needle. So, don’t jump to pump out hundreds of creatives. First, get your fundamentals right. Once you do, the volume will follow—and it will drive profitable growth. Extra tip: keep a healthy mix of 60% iterations, 40% new concepts whenever you feel the momentum. This framework has helped us scale brands (and our own brands) into first purchase profit, and it can do the same for you in 2024.