Total cost as a percentage of new customer net revenue, filtered to first-time buyers only.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|
| New Customer Total Cost | Sum of all costs allocated to new customer orders (COGS, fulfillment, marketing, overhead) |
| New Customer Net Revenue | Revenue from new customers after discounts and refunds |
| customer_type = new_customer | Filters to orders from customers making their first purchase |
| Metadata | |
|---|
| Type | Percentage |
| Data Source | Shopify, Upstack Costs |
| Aggregation | Ratio |
Example
Your store spent 62% of new customer net revenue on total costs in Q1:
| Cost Category | Amount | % of NC Revenue |
|---|
| COGS | $18,500 | 37% |
| Variable Costs | $6,250 | 12.5% |
| Marketing | $5,000 | 10% |
| Other | $1,250 | 2.5% |
| Total Cost | $31,000 | 62% |
How It Works
New Customer Total Cost % sums all costs attributed to first-time buyer orders—including product costs (COGS), variable fulfillment costs, marketing spend, and overhead—then divides by net revenue. This shows how much of each new customer dollar is consumed by costs before profit.
When to Use
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
| Acquisition cost analysis | Identify cost drivers eating into new customer margins |
| Budget planning | Determine sustainable CAC based on total cost burden |
| Efficiency benchmarking | Compare total cost % against returning customers |
| Profitability alerts | Flag when costs exceed acceptable thresholds |
| Metric | Relationship |
|---|
| New Customer Contribution Margin % | The inverse—profit remaining after costs (100% minus cost %) |
| New Customer Net Revenue | The denominator for this calculation |
| Returning Customer Total Cost % | Same metric for repeat buyers—compare to evaluate customer economics |
| Total Cost % | All customers combined (this metric filters to new only) |
