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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.upstackdata.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Upstack calculates four tiers of contribution margin so you can optimize on profit, not vanity metrics like revenue or ROAS. Each tier subtracts an additional layer of costs:
LevelWhat’s subtractedWhat it tells you
CM1COGS (cost of goods sold)Gross margin
CM2+ Fulfillment, transaction fees, shippingPost-logistics margin
CM3+ Marketing spendContribution margin (most commonly used)
CM4+ Fixed costs / OpExOperating profit

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Setup

1

Enter COGS in Shopify

Go to Shopify Admin → Products and select a product. For each variant, enter the Cost per item field. If you sell a product for 30anditcosts30 and it costs 5 to produce, enter $5.Upstack pulls this data automatically — no manual sync required.
If you don’t maintain per-product costs, set a flat margin default in Upstack (e.g., “60% margin across all products”) under Settings → Custom Costs → Default Margin. This applies to any product without an explicit cost-per-item in Shopify.
After configuring COGS, allow approximately 4 hours for historical data to backfill. CM1 values for past orders will populate automatically once the backfill completes.
2

Configure custom costs in Upstack

Navigate to Settings → Custom Costs and configure each cost type:Gateway / transaction costs — set as a percentage of order value. Example: Shopify Payments at 2.9% per transaction.Per-order costs — set as a flat dollar amount per order. Example: pick-and-pack fee of $2 per order.Shipping profiles — configure based on weight ranges and destination countries, or enter a flat average shipping cost.Each cost is assigned to a CM level:
Cost typeCM level
COGSCM1
Fulfillment / transaction feesCM2
Marketing spendCM3
Fixed costs / OpExCM4
3

Connect marketing spend

Connected ad platforms (Meta, Google, TikTok) — spend data flows automatically from your connected sources. No manual entry needed.Non-connected channels (AppLovin, influencer spend, podcast ads):
  1. Go to Settings → Fixed Costs → Marketing Spend
  2. Enter as a recurring monthly amount with start and end dates, or enter manually each month
  3. Daily cost is averaged across the month
4

Enter fixed costs (optional, for CM4)

For operating expenses like rent, salaries, and SaaS subscriptions:
  1. Go to Settings → Fixed Costs → Operating Expenses
  2. Enter as monthly recurring amounts
This enables CM4 calculations — full operating profit visibility.

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P&L dashboard

Two views are available:
  • Summary — aggregate P&L across a date range
  • Daily breakdown — granular day-by-day performance
Key metrics include Net Revenue, COGS, CM1, CM2, CM3, CM4, MER, and NCCM3. Over 250 measures are available and fully customizable.
NCCM3 is net revenue minus COGS, marketing spend, and transaction/shipping costs — calculated for new customers only. This is the single most useful metric for evaluating whether your prospecting spend is profitable after all variable costs.
The LTV Cohort Dashboard shows customer lifetime value by acquisition cohort. Use it to measure how quickly cohorts pay back acquisition cost and identify your highest-value customer segments.This replaces standalone LTV tools like Lifetimely — the data is built directly from your Upstack event pipeline, so cohort metrics stay consistent with your P&L and attribution data.

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Next step

Verify end-to-end delivery

Confirm the complete pipeline works — from storefront event through attribution to destination delivery.

Attribution and reporting

Learn how Upstack attributes conversions and calculates reporting metrics across channels.

Attribution reporting dashboard

Explore the attribution reporting dashboard and available metrics.

Custom events

Configure NC Purchase, subscription events, and order source exclusions for ad platform optimization.

Connect a destination

Set up Meta CAPI as your first server-side destination for high-quality conversion events.