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NC CM1 per Order is the gross margin, in dollars, on a typical customer’s first order. It shows how much product margin a new customer hands you before shipping, payment fees, and the cost of acquiring them.

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Formula

NC CM1 per Order = NC CM1 ÷ New Customer Orders

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Formula Components

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How It Works

The denominator counts new customer orders. Upstack flags exactly one order per customer as the new customer order: the earliest non-cancelled order it has for that Shopify customer ID. So the order count also matches the number of customers whose first order is in the range. A customer who orders twice in the same week contributes their first order here and the second to the returning segment. Orders without a Shopify customer have no flag and are left out of both the numerator and denominator. The numerator is the first orders’ gross revenue less their discounts, refunds, product cost, and any COGS-category order fees.

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Example

A pet supply store acquires 1,480 new customers in a month. Most use a 15% welcome code. Without the welcome code, NC CM1 per Order would be $44.01. The discount costs $10.50 of gross margin on every first order.

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How to Interpret It

The useful comparison is against CAC. If CAC is $45 and NC CM1 per Order is $33.51, the first order doesn’t cover acquisition even before shipping and payment fees. That is common for brands that rely on repeat purchases, but it means payback depends on customers coming back. Compare it with RC CM1 per Order too. A large gap usually comes from first-order discounts or from new customers buying entry-level products.
  • Rising often follows a smaller welcome offer, a higher-margin hero product, or bundles aimed at first-time buyers.
  • Falling with steady AOV points to deeper first-order discounts or a shift toward low-margin starter items.

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Common Pitfalls

  • Incomplete order history. If Upstack doesn’t have a customer’s earlier orders, their next order is treated as their first. Returning buyers then land in this metric and blur the first-order picture.
  • Refund timing. First-order refunds follow the dashboard’s Refunds setting. With Refund date (matches Shopify), a refund issued this month for last month’s first order lowers this month’s value.

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FAQ

Only if your model needs first-order profitability, for example a one-time purchase product. If customers reorder, compare CAC against expected margin over several orders instead, using Cohort CM1 or Cohort CM2.
It also subtracts Other COGS (COGS-category order fees) and uses net revenue after refunds. Both lower it relative to a quick AOV calculation.
See all Contribution Margin metrics →