1) Profit Per Order (PPO)

This is the real king metric.

Profit per order =
Revenue – product cost – shipping – COD fees – ad cost – returns/RTO loss – payment fees

If PPO is weak, scaling is pointless.

2) Break-even CPA

Break-even CPA tells you:
“How much can I spend to get a sale and still not lose money?”

If your CPA is above break-even → you’re burning cash.

3) Conversion Rate (CVR)

CVR is the multiplier.

Even a small CVR increase changes everything:

• Better profitability

• Lower CPA

• Higher ROAS

• Easier scaling

  
  

4) AOV (Average Order Value)

AOV increases your margin safety.

Improve AOV with:

• Bundles

• Upsells

• Quantity breaks

• Add-on products

Higher AOV = higher break-even CPA.

5) Refund / RTO / Delivery Rate

Especially for India COD, these decide survival.

Even with good ads:

• High RTO kills profit

• High refunds kill cashflow

• Low delivery rate kills scaling

  
  

Conclusion

Dropshipping is not about ads.
It’s about numbers that protect your business.

Track these:
✅ Profit per order
✅ Break-even CPA
✅ Conversion rate
✅ AOV
✅ Delivery/RTO/Refund rate

Everything else is secondary.