The Numbers Behind Growth.

Why sales increase while profits disappear. What your next customer actually costs. Where shoppers stop buying. Research, financial models and practical diagnostics built around the problems business owners face.

Calculate Your ProfitExplore the Research

Research led by Nenad Vasic, Founder & CEO, Fenix Network Media.

Figure 1. Where the money goes in one $100 saleHypothetical example. Not a client result.

0%Discount
$15Left after advertising
How a hypothetical $100 sale divides into costs, advertising and profit Regular price: the customer pays $100. Product cost $35 and other variable costs $20 leave $45 before ads. Advertising of $30 leaves $15.

Regular price: $15 of the $100 is left after advertising.

Scroll down or drag the slider. Same $30 acquisition cost throughout.

View the numbers as a table
Line Regular 20% off
Customer payment $100 $80
Product cost -$35 -$35
Other variable costs -$20 -$20
Contribution before ads $45 $25
Advertising (CPA) -$30 -$30
Remaining contribution $15 -$5
Client research

Real accounts, with the numbers and their limits

Ecommerce growth · 12 months

How SIKK Bicycles Reached $1.77M in Shopify Sales During Its First Year With Fenix

Rider-focused UGC, Meta, Google Shopping and Klaviyo, and why sales grew 182% while conversion rate fell 10%.

Shopify total sales
$1.77M
Year-over-year
+182%
Sessions
+153%
Read the case study Swimwear · 131 days

GigiZara's Shopify Sales Rose 235% in 131 Days. Here's What We Changed.

Meta, Klaviyo follow-up and seasonal pricing for a swimwear label with a deep creative library, and what the numbers can and cannot prove.

Shopify total sales
$73.3K
vs prior 131 days
+235%
Average order
$92.09
Read the case study Land sales · 20 months

How LandSpot Changed The Way It Sells Land Online

From deposits to completed sales, and why Google Ads and Shopify only tell part of that story.

Stripe-reported volume
$4.89M
Cash share, Phase 2
75.7%
Financing share
24.3%
Read the case study

Start with what's going wrong

Choose a problem to see matching research

Research library

32 articles

Start here

The six pieces we would read first.

Holiday Sales

Before You Offer 25% Off This Black Friday, Calculate What It Will Cost Your Store

A 25% Black Friday discount can cut order contribution by more than half. Calculate your margin, allowable CPA and the extra orders you need.

9 min readProfit and Cash Flow

ROAS vs ROI for Ecommerce: Why a 5x ROAS Can Still Lose Money

ROAS vs ROI for ecommerce explained with a worked order. Learn why a 5x ROAS can lose money, how to find break-even ROAS and what to measure instead.

9 min readProfit and Cash Flow

Shopify Sales Are Increasing. Why Is Your Business Running Out of Cash?

Shopify sales up but cash down? See how inventory deposits, payout timing, ad charges and refunds drain cash, and how to build a 13-week cash view.

7 min readQualified Lead Generation

Your Meta Ads Generated 100 Leads. Why Did Only 12 Become Real Conversations?

Meta lead ads reporting 100 leads but only 12 real conversations? Map each stage from submission to customer, find the drop-off and what it costs.

8 min readMeasurement and Attribution

Shopify Conversion Rate Changed in September 2026? Check the New Session Rules First

Shopify changed how it counts sessions and bots in September 2026. See why conversion rate can move with zero extra orders, and how to rebase your reports.

6 min readMeasurement and Attribution

Meta Says You Made $80,000. Google Claims $45,000. Shopify Shows $93,000. Which Number Matters?

Why Meta, Google Ads and Shopify report different revenue, and how to reconcile them with an order-level check instead of trusting one dashboard.

8 min read

Latest

  1. 20% Off, Free Shipping and a Welcome Code: How Shopify Discounts Can Stack Against Your ProfitHoliday Sales
  2. Your Shopify Store Is Ready for Black Friday. Is Your Checkout Ready to Take the Orders?Holiday Sales
  3. Should You Increase Your Ad Budget for Black Friday, or Are You Buying More Unprofitable Orders?Holiday Sales
  4. What Happens When Your Holiday Ads Sell Products You Cannot Deliver on Time?Holiday Sales
  5. Your Best-Selling Product Could Be Your Least Profitable Black Friday PromotionHoliday Sales
  6. Your Black Friday Sales Look Profitable. What Happens When the Returns Arrive in January?Holiday Sales

All research

Stop guessing. Run the numbers.

Free to use, no sign-up

Your store's economics are not an industry average. Use your numbers to see which decisions your business can support.

Example values are filled in. Replace them with your own. Taxes are excluded.

    Packaging, pick and pack, anything per order.
    A per-order dollar estimate. Leave 0 if unknown; it is then excluded.

    Every tool, linked to the article it belongs to

    Holiday sales can break a profitable business

    Open the holiday calculator

    More orders also mean more inventory commitments, shipping costs, returns and acquisition pressure. Plan for the total financial result, not the revenue screenshot.

    Discount economics

    What a price cut does to contribution, and how much extra volume it must create.

    A lead is not a customer

    Lead quality research

    Form submissions are easy to count. Qualified conversations, attended appointments and actual sales tell a different story.

    Hypothetical funnel: 100 leads, 38 contacted, 12 qualified, 7 booked, 4 attended, 1 closed.

    Figure 2. Hypothetical example of 100 leads. Not a client result. The same numbers are pre-filled in the lead calculator above.

    Calculate Your Real Cost per Customer

    From the field

    Client stores are not named

    Real client numbers sit inside the research they support. Each case shows the arithmetic, says what it does not prove, and uses net sales unless stated.

    Shopify total sales, straight from client stores

    Shopify total sales chart, April 1 to June 30, 2025, showing $954,950.11 and a 127% increase on the previous period
    $954,950.11, up 127%. April 1 to June 30, 2025, against January 1 to March 31, 2025.
    Shopify total sales chart, May 17 to August 14, 2025, showing $356,487.18 and a 44% increase on the same dates in 2024
    $356,487.18, up 44%. May 17 to August 14, 2025, against the same dates in 2024.
    Shopify total sales chart, May 29 to August 27, 2025, showing $377,315.68 and a 43% increase on the previous period
    $377,315.68, up 43%. May 29 to August 27, 2025, against February 27 to May 28, 2025.
    Shopify total sales chart, August 7 to 14, 2025, showing $40,809.37 and a 42% increase on the previous week
    $40,809.37, up 42%. August 7 to 14, 2025, against July 30 to August 6, 2025.
    Shopify total sales chart, July 28 to August 27, 2025, showing €37,634.18 and an 823% increase from a near-zero previous period
    €37,634.18, up 823%. July 28 to August 27, 2025, against June 27 to July 27, 2025. The earlier period was close to zero, so the percentage is large.

    Total sales is Shopify's own report measure. It is not the same as the net sales used in the cases above. Screenshots carry the FENIX watermark and are shown as exported.

    Portrait of Nenad Vasic, Founder and CEO of Fenix Network Media
    About the author

    Research led by Nenad Vasic

    Nenad Vasic is the Founder and CEO of Fenix Network Media. His work focuses on the economics behind customer acquisition, conversion, measurement and profitable growth. FENIX Research turns operating questions into practical analysis that business owners can examine and apply.

    Read the full profile
    LinkedIn Book: Ecommerce Profitability Book: ROAS vs ROI for Ecommerce Book: Google Ads Negative Keywords

    You already know something isn't adding up.

    Bring your current numbers, margins and biggest growth constraint. We'll examine whether there is a realistic opportunity to improve the system before discussing more advertising spend.

    Book a Meeting with FENIXRun the Numbers Yourself
    Logo

    Connect

    Quick Links

    Menu

    Copyright © 2026 FNM