Data & Benchmarks

Ecommerce Benchmarks 2026

Industry benchmarks for margins, costs, and profitability, based on mid-market Shopify Plus merchant data. Use these to evaluate your store's performance and identify where margin is leaking.

Profitability

7 benchmarks
Gross Margin %

What Is a Good Ecommerce Gross Margin in 2026? (By Category)

Real 2026 benchmarks: beauty 60-80%, supplements 55-70%, fashion 45-65%, electronics 15-30%. See where your category sits and why 20% of brands miss the floor.

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Net Profit Margin %

Shopify Plus Profit Margin Benchmarks 2026

Profit margin benchmarks for Shopify Plus stores by revenue tier, from $1M to $100M+ in annual GMV.

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Contribution Margin %

Contribution Margin Benchmarks for Ecommerce

Contribution margin benchmarks that account for COGS, shipping, fulfillment, returns, and payment processing: the true measure of ecommerce order profitability.

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Average Discount Rate %

Average Discount Rate & Margin Impact Benchmarks

Benchmarks for average discount rates across ecommerce and the compounding impact of promotions on realized profit margins.

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% of Profitable Orders

Order-Level Profitability Benchmarks

Benchmarks for order-level profitability distribution: what percentage of orders are profitable, break-even, or margin-negative.

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Margin Loss from Stacking %

Promotion Stacking Margin Loss Benchmarks

Benchmarks quantifying the margin impact of unintended discount and promotion stacking in ecommerce checkout.

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Net Margin %

DTC Net Margin Benchmarks 2026: What's Normal After CAC?

Median DTC net margin in 2026 is 3–10% — down sharply from the ZIRP era. CAC up 40–60% since 2021 compressed the margin that used to absorb promotional costs. See net margin benchmarks by vertical and why fashion ($66–72 CAC) and beauty ($61–68 CAC) brands are most at risk.

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Costs

5 benchmarks
Total Fee % of Revenue

Amazon vs Shopify Total Fee Comparison 2026

Side-by-side comparison of total selling fees on Amazon FBA vs Shopify Plus including platform fees, fulfillment, advertising, and payment processing.

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Shipping Cost % of Revenue

How Much Should Shipping Cost? 2026 Ecommerce Benchmarks

Shipping should be 5-10% of revenue for light items, 8-14% standard, 12-22% oversized, 15-30% cross-border. See why most brands overspend by 4 points.

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SaaS Cost % of Revenue

SaaS Tool Stack Cost Benchmarks (% of Revenue)

Benchmarks for SaaS and technology spending as a percentage of revenue for mid-market ecommerce merchants.

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Fulfillment Cost per Order ($)

3PL Fulfillment Cost Benchmarks per Order

Cost benchmarks for third-party logistics (3PL) fulfillment including pick, pack, ship, storage, and receiving fees.

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Processing Fee %

Payment Processing Fees by Method: 2026 Benchmarks

Stripe (2.9%+30¢), Shopify Payments (2.15-2.9%), PayPal (2.59-3.49%), Apple Pay, ACH benchmark fees. 2026 update with mid-market median rates.

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Operations

2 benchmarks
Return Rate %

Ecommerce Return Rate Benchmarks by Category

Average return rate benchmarks across major ecommerce categories and their direct impact on realized profit margins.

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Additional Margin Drag %

Cross-Border Commerce Margin Impact Benchmarks

Benchmarks for the margin impact of cross-border ecommerce including currency conversion, duties, tariffs, and international shipping.

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Growth

2 benchmarks
CAC ($)

DTC Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Benchmarks

Customer acquisition cost benchmarks for direct-to-consumer ecommerce by channel, vertical, and AOV tier.

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Conversion Rate %

Shopify Conversion Rate Benchmarks by Industry

Conversion rate benchmarks for Shopify stores across major industries, including mobile vs desktop breakdowns.

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How do you compare?

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