What a Profit Autopsy looks like

Price correction is your biggest recoverable opportunity.

19 SKUs are priced below the net price required to reach your 20% target margin after cost and fees — that's where £7,271 of recoverable profit is concentrated.

First move: Start with the top 19 SKUs, which account for £2,525 of the opportunity. Raise each toward its required net price.

How to read this: Every report opens with one plain-English verdict: the biggest problem, why it matters in money, and what to do first — before any tables.

Conservative (value gate)

£7,271

capped assumptions, de-duplicated, 0.75 haircut

Expected (your inputs)

£7,271

report assumptions, 0.75 haircut

Upside (directional)

£9,695

no haircut — best case, never the gate

How to read this: Before you pay anything, the conservative figure must clear the value threshold — if it doesn't, we tell you instead of selling you the report. These are estimates from your file, not guaranteed recovered profit.

How to read this: Projection assumes corrected prices hold at the conservative volume. Not guaranteed — but every input behind it is shown below.

• Gross sales£196,606
• Discounts− £638
• Refunds− £756
• Net sales£195,212
• Cost of goods− £111,033
• Marketplace fees− £24,351
• Shipping− £8,743
• Contribution profit£51,085

How to read this: Gross to contribution, step by step: discounts, refunds, cost of goods, marketplace fees, shipping. This is where "we're profitable on revenue" goes to die — and where each leak below comes from.

Every segment the engine can detect, with real example SKUs from this sample. Your report shows every affected SKU in each segment.

• Underpriced vs required net price19 SKUs · £7,271 recoverable

  Current net price is below the price required to reach the target margin after cost and fees.

  Do: Raise net price toward the required net price, starting with the highest-value SKUs.

  • LS-03£11.40 → £16.67£573
  • LS-02£11.40 → £16.67£521
  • UP-03£11.04 → £12.50£481
• Loss-making SKUs3 SKUs · £474 loss to stop

  These SKUs sell below break-even after cost, fees, and shipping.

  Do: Reprice above break-even or stop selling.

  • LS-03£173
  • LS-02£158
  • LS-01£142
• Low margin but positive contribution1 SKU · £619 contribution at stake

  Contribution margin is positive but below the 20% target.

  Do: Review cost inputs and consider modest price increases.

  • RF-01£3,125
• SKUs missing cost data3 SKUs · £3,876 net sales unverified

  No unit cost was found for these SKUs, so their margin and contribution EXCLUDE product cost and are overstated.

  Do: Add unit costs via the cost fallback file, then re-run the analysis.

  • NC-03£1,428
  • NC-02£1,272
  • NC-01£1,176
• Selling but out of stock1 SKU · £394 sales at risk (30d, est.)

  These SKUs were selling in the analysed window but show zero stock — every day out of stock loses contribution.

  Do: Restock the fastest movers first; the estimate is contribution at risk over the next 30 days (Low confidence).

  • SO-01£394
• Slow-moving stock (cash, not profit)2 SKUs · £2,870 cash at risk

  Stock cover exceeds 180 days at the observed sales rate — cash is sitting in inventory.

  Do: Consider clearance pricing, bundles, or halting reorders. The figure is trapped CASH, not recoverable profit.

  • SM-02£1,470
  • SM-01£1,400
• Fee leakage2 SKUs · £1,457 above baseline

  Fee leakage is above the within-file baseline on these SKUs (no external benchmark).

  Do: Review the higher-burden SKUs/channels.

  • FB-02£766
  • FB-01£691
• Shipping leakage2 SKUs · £1,288 above baseline

  Shipping leakage is above the within-file baseline on these SKUs (no external benchmark).

  Do: Review the higher-burden SKUs/channels.

  • SH-02£678
  • SH-01£610
• Refund / return leakage2 SKUs · £756 refunds

  Refunds reduce net sales on these SKUs.

  Do: Investigate return drivers (sizing, quality, listing accuracy).

  • RF-01£378
  • RF-02£378

How to read this: One SKU can leak several ways; the recoverable total counts only each SKU's single biggest opportunity, so nothing is double-counted. Cash figures (stock) are kept strictly separate from profit figures.

£4,570

cash trapped in slow-moving and dead stock

• DS-01 no sales in the window£980 trapped
• DS-02 no sales in the window£720 trapped

How to read this: From your optional stock file: out-of-stock bestsellers (lost sales), 180-day-plus slow movers, and dead stock that never sold. Cash, never added to the profit headline.

How to read this: The same contribution economics, sliced by sales channel and (via the optional customer/channel file) by customer group — this is where B2B discounts and channel fees get exposed.

Next 7 days

1. 1. Raise prices on your top 5 underpriced SKUs. UP-03: £11.04 → £12.50 · UP-07: £11.04 → £12.50 · UP-02: £11.04 → £12.50 · UP-06: £11.04 → £12.50 · UP-10: £11.04 → £12.50
2. 2. Apply the changes with the price-update CSV. Download the price-update file below — it lists every corrected SKU with its current and required net price.
3. 3. Pause or reprice 3 loss-making SKUs. Start with LS-03, LS-02, LS-01 — each sells below break-even today.

Next 30 days

1. 1. Add unit costs for 3 SKUs. These SKUs have no cost data, so their profit is overstated and they are excluded from opportunity analysis. Use the cost fallback template.
2. 2. Review 1 low-margin SKU. Positive but below your target margin — check cost inputs, then apply modest increases where the market allows.
3. 3. Investigate return drivers on 2 SKUs. Refunds are reducing net sales on these SKUs — review sizing, listing accuracy, and product quality.
4. 4. Re-run your autopsy. After applying changes, upload a fresh export to measure the before/after and catch new leaks.

How to read this: The report ends in instructions, not charts: exact price moves with a ready-to-upload price-update CSV for week one, then data and margin hygiene for the month.

• Target profit margin20%default
• Expected discounting0.3%from your data
• Forward sales volume14,931 unitsfrom your data
• Conservatism factorkeep 75% of calculated gains

How to read this: Nothing is invented: every assumption shows its source (your data, a stated default, or a fixed conservatism factor), and you can adjust them — the unlock decision always uses the capped, conservative values.

Net sales

£195,212

Contribution profit

£51,085

Margin

26.2%

SKUs analysed

47