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The average cost of goods sold per unit sold.

Formula

Cost Per Unit = COGS ÷ Units Sold

Formula Components

MetricDefinition
COGSTotal cost of goods sold including manufacturing or purchase costs
Units SoldTotal quantity of individual product units sold
Metadata
TypeCurrency
Data SourceShopify
AggregationAverage

Example

Your store sold 8,500 units this month with a total COGS of $42,500:
MetricValue
Total COGS$42,500
Units Sold8,500
Cost Per Unit$5.00

How It Works

Cost Per Unit divides your total cost of goods sold by the number of units sold. This gives you the average cost to produce or acquire each unit in your catalog. Unlike COGS Per Order, this metric focuses on individual items rather than order baskets.

When to Use

ScenarioAction
Evaluating product marginsCompare cost per unit against selling price
Pricing decisionsEnsure prices cover unit costs plus target margin
Supplier negotiationsBenchmark against industry standards
Inventory optimizationIdentify high-cost products to prioritize

MetricRelationship
COGSNumerator—total cost divided to get per-unit average
Units SoldDenominator—count of items sold
COGS Per OrderSimilar metric but per order instead of per unit
Gross ProfitRevenue impact after subtracting product costs
See all Performance metrics →