Revenue rose this week, but profit by product fell. Opening a dozen reports to hunt for one “main reason” is tempting. A short reconciliation works better: compare like periods, the same SKUs, and five groups of changes.
1. Fix the comparison basis
Compare two completed weeks for one seller account and marketplace. Record when data was refreshed and which returns or adjustments arrived later. A week with incomplete costs cannot honestly be called more profitable.
2. Break the change into five lines
For each important SKU, record: price and discount; fulfilled sales and returns; marketplace commission; logistics and storage; advertising and cost of goods. Examine cost per fulfilled unit as well as total expense. Higher revenue can hide lower contribution on each order.
3. Test a simple example
Week A: 100 fulfilled units with 300 RUB contribution per unit after variable costs, or 30,000 RUB. Week B: 130 units, but only 200 RUB per unit remain after discount and higher logistics, or 26,000 RUB. Sales volume is up 30%, but contribution is down 4,000 RUB. This is an illustrative example excluding taxes, fixed costs, and late adjustments.
4. Find a cause, not a coincidence
Separate the volume effect from the margin effect. If price, advertising, and stock changed together, do not name one factor as the sole cause. Check source transactions and mark unknown costs separately. The report should show what is known and what needs investigation.
5. Finish with one action
Choose the three SKUs with the biggest negative contribution to the profit change. Assign an owner and due date for each check: recalculate the discount, inspect logistics charges, or update cost of goods. Next week, compare results using the same definitions.
Where ProfitVena helps
ProfitVena connects sales, returns, commissions, logistics, advertising, and configured cost of goods to SKU and period. Profit Engine traces revenue to profit, while source and data freshness help verify the conclusion: ProfitVena. The result depends on connected data and accurate cost settings. Supported Excel/CSV imports can add data from other marketplaces; check API availability for each source.
The technical part was updated in ProfitVena
ProfitVena is part of the Wicsora ecosystem: Wicsora
Which line do you check first when profit falls despite rising sales?
Related: the previous guide in this series.
