Moving volume to marketplace channels to protect revenue growth permanently reduces contribution margin.

Wholesale pricing concessions create reference points that degrade full-price expectations on owned channels.

Brands absorbing tariff cost increases rather than passing them through are resetting their margin floor permanently.

Brands that trained customers to buy on promotion cannot raise prices without material volume loss.

Marketplace channels carry return rates materially higher than DTC, a cost differential that rarely enters channel mix decisions.

High gross margin SKUs frequently generate negative contribution margin once variable costs are applied at the unit level.

Revenue growth and margin compression occur together when acquisition costs, channel mix, and input costs compound.

Revenue growth and cash depletion occur together when the cash conversion cycle outpaces available working capital.

Gross margin ignores the variable costs of fulfillment, acquisition, and returns. Contribution margin reveals the true unit economics of an ecommerce brand.

Measuring acquisition cost against revenue instead of margin scales revenue and destroys cash simultaneously