What is cost of good sold (COGS) in e-commerce?
Cost of goods sold (COGS) in e-commerce is a central, key metric that affects a business’s profitability. For any online store owner or marketer, understanding COGS is essential as it directly impacts the bottom line and overall financial health of the company.
COGS in e-commerce
COGS refers to the direct costs involved in producing or buying the goods a company sells. This includes costs like raw materials, labour, and location or manufacturing overheads. COGS is especially important for calculating the profitability of individual products or product ranges. It may vary from product line to line, if you have to buy your stock from one supplier but can do sale or return on others. If you don’t have a physical store you will still have overheads, such a the costs of building and maintaining your website. (And even if you built your website yourself there is still a time cost, remember!)
To work out gross profit margin, you need to calculate your cost of goods sold. Gross profit margin is found by subtracting COGS from total revenue, then dividing the result by total revenue. This tells you how efficiently your business generates profit from sales.
Understanding COGS in e-commerce helps with decisions on pricing, stock management, and product development. By calculating COGS accurately, businesses can price products competitively while still maintaining healthy profit margins.
Tracking COGS also highlights areas where costs can be cut or processes improved. Analysing e-commerce COGS data might reveal opportunities to save money, such as negotiating better deals with suppliers or making production more efficient.
COGS is also useful for deciding which products to promote or discontinue. By comparing the COGS of different items, businesses can see which products are most profitable and focus their marketing on those.
Additionally, monitoring COGS helps businesses spot trends in production costs and pricing. By tracking COGS over time, companies can adjust their prices to stay competitive in the market.
In summary, COGS is a vital metric for e-commerce businesses. Accurately calculating and tracking COGS enables better decisions around pricing, inventory, and product strategy. This leads to higher profitability and long-term success.