Foundation · 2 min
What you need to know
What does it really cost to run an ecommerce store?
The real cost includes platform, payments, apps, labor, development, infrastructure, fulfillment, support, returns, compliance, downtime, and inefficiency.
What are the major ecommerce operating costs?
Major categories are technology, payment, people, merchandising, acquisition, fulfillment, shipping, service, returns, risk, and administration.
Fixed vs variable ecommerce costs: what’s the difference?
Fixed costs remain broadly stable within a capacity range; variable costs change with orders, revenue, transactions, shipments or usage.
Direct vs indirect ecommerce costs: what’s the difference?
Direct costs can be traced to a product, order or activity; indirect costs support the operation and need a consistent allocation rule.
Which ecommerce costs increase with sales?
Payment fees, packaging, pick-and-pack, shipping, support contacts, returns and usage-priced services commonly rise with sales activity.
Which ecommerce costs increase with complexity?
Apps, integrations, specialized staff, approvals, reconciliation, market rules and exception handling often rise with products, channels and operating variants.
How should ecommerce costs be tracked?
Use a cost taxonomy, owner, source and allocation method, then reconcile totals to accounting and analyze by order, market, channel and process.
A quick store check
Reconcile one month of technology, payment, labor, fulfillment, service, and return cost to the accounting total.
Foundation · 2 min
Frequently asked questions
Should every cost be allocated to an order?
Some decisions need unit allocation; others are clearer as fixed capability or period costs.
Can accounting categories replace operational cost drivers?
No. Reconcile to accounting, then add activity details needed for decisions.