Contribution margin
Contribution margin is what an order or product leaves after all variable costs: revenue minus cost of goods, marketplace commission, shipping, payment fees, returns and the advertising spent to win the sale. It is usually shown as an amount and as a percentage of revenue. For marketplace sellers it is the clearest sign of whether a product earns money once every channel cost is counted. See Order Profitability.
POAS (profit on ad spend)
POAS divides the profit generated by advertising by the ad spend: POAS = gross profit from attributed sales ÷ ad spend. A POAS above 1 means the campaign returned more profit than it cost. Unlike ROAS, it accounts for cost of goods, commission and shipping, so it separates campaigns that sell from campaigns that make money. See why ROAS alone misleads.
ROAS (return on ad spend)
ROAS divides revenue attributed to advertising by the ad spend: ROAS = attributed revenue ÷ ad spend. It is the standard efficiency measure reported by Google Ads, Meta Ads and marketplace ad tools. Because it ignores costs, a high ROAS on a low-margin or heavily discounted product can still lose money; read it next to POAS or contribution margin.
Stock days (days of cover)
Stock days, or days of cover, estimate how long current inventory will last at the expected sales rate: days of cover = units on hand ÷ average daily units sold. Low cover warns of a stock-out, which on a marketplace can cost ranking as well as sales. High cover ties up cash and may call for a promotion or a price change.
Sell-through rate
Sell-through rate is the share of available stock sold in a period: sell-through = units sold ÷ (units sold + units remaining), or units sold ÷ units received. It shows how quickly a product or collection converts inventory into sales. Sellers use it to decide what to reorder, what to discount and when a campaign has done its job.
Remittance / marketplace payout (hakediş)
A remittance or marketplace payout is the amount a marketplace transfers to the seller for a settlement period, after deducting commission, shipping, service fees, returns and other charges. In Türkiye this is called hakediş. Checking each payout against the orders and deductions behind it shows whether every charge was correct and whether any order was left unpaid. See Remittance.
Marketplace commission
Marketplace commission is the fee a marketplace charges on each sale, usually a percentage of the selling price that varies by category. It is typically one of the largest costs in a marketplace order. Because rates differ by marketplace and category, the same product can carry a very different margin on Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon or N11.
Return rate
Return rate is the share of sold units or orders that come back: return rate = returned units ÷ units sold for the same period. A return costs more than the lost sale: shipping in both directions, handling and sometimes stock that can no longer be sold. Tracking it by product and channel shows where a listing, size guide or product issue is eroding profit.
AOV (average order value)
Average order value is revenue divided by the number of orders in a period. It shows how much a typical basket is worth and moves with bundles, free-shipping thresholds and discounts. On marketplaces, fixed per-order costs such as shipping weigh more heavily on small baskets, so AOV affects margin as well as revenue.
COGS (cost of goods sold)
Cost of goods sold is the direct cost of the products sold in a period: purchase or production cost, plus inbound freight and duties where they apply. Sellers usually hold it in their ERP. Without an accurate COGS, every margin and POAS figure built on top of it is wrong. See integrations for the ERPs DataSync reads.
Gross margin vs net margin
Gross margin is revenue minus COGS, divided by revenue. Net margin is what remains after all costs, including commission, shipping, advertising, staff, overheads and taxes, divided by revenue. A product can show a healthy gross margin and still lose money at net level once marketplace fees and ad spend are added.
Price elasticity
Price elasticity of demand measures how sales volume responds to a price change: elasticity = % change in quantity ÷ % change in price. When demand is elastic, a small discount moves volume a lot; when it is inelastic, discounts mostly give away margin. It helps decide which products to promote and how deep a campaign discount should go. See SmartPricing and the Promotion Calculator.
SKU velocity
SKU velocity is the rate at which a single SKU sells, usually expressed as units per day or per week. It separates fast movers from slow movers and feeds reorder points, days of cover and assortment decisions. Comparing velocity across channels shows where a product actually sells, not just where it is listed.
Attribution
Attribution is the method used to assign credit for a sale to the marketing touchpoints that preceded it, such as last click, first click, data-driven or position-based models. Each ad platform applies its own model and window, so the same sale can be claimed by more than one channel. Sellers who compare ROAS or POAS across channels need to know which attribution rules sit behind each figure.
See these metrics on your own data
DataSync connects your marketplaces, ERP and ad accounts so margin, POAS, stock cover and payouts are calculated from one model.