Ecommerce store business plan with unit economics that add up
Selling online looks cheap to start, but ads, payment fees, shipping and returns can eat the whole margin on each order. This prompt has your todo.is agent research your niche and competitors, work out the profit on a single order, compare fulfillment options and forecast sales from traffic, conversion rate and order value.
The prompt
- Write a business plan for my online store, [STORE NAME AND PRODUCTS], selling to [TARGET CUSTOMER AND COUNTRIES]. It is for [WHO WILL READ IT]. My situation: [PLATFORM, SUPPLIERS, STOCK AND BUDGET]. Research 6 competing stores and marketplace listings with links: prices, shipping offers, reviews and how they advertise. Write: summary, products and why customers buy, target customer, competitors, pricing, unit economics per order (product cost, packaging, shipping, payment fees, returns, ad cost), fulfillment comparing [FULFILLMENT OPTIONS], marketing channels (ads, email, SEO, creators), customer service and returns policy, risks, and financials. Build an Excel forecast with monthly traffic, conversion rate, average order value, repeat customers, ad spend, cost per acquisition, contribution margin per order and cash for 18 months. Mark assumptions. Send a Word plan and the Excel file.
What to change
- [STORE NAME AND PRODUCTS]: E.g. "Culture Jar, home fermentation kits and accessories".
- [TARGET CUSTOMER AND COUNTRIES]: Who buys and where, e.g. "home cooks in the US and Canada".
- [WHO WILL READ IT]: E.g. "an online business loan", "investors" or "just me".
- [PLATFORM, SUPPLIERS, STOCK AND BUDGET]: E.g. "Shopify, a supplier in Ohio, 500 kits in stock, $20,000 budget".
- [FULFILLMENT OPTIONS]: E.g. "packing myself vs a 3PL warehouse" or "Amazon FBA vs my own site".
Example result
- Summary
- Culture Jar sells home fermentation kits (sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha) and accessories to home cooks in the US and Canada, on its own Shopify store. Kits come with glass weights, airlock lids and short video guides. Customers come back for refills and accessories.
- Unit economics per order (illustrative assumptions)
- • Average order value: $58
- • Product cost: $17.40
- • Packaging: $2.10
- • Shipping (free over $50): $8.90
- • Payment fees: about 3% plus a fixed fee, $2.05
- • Returns and breakage allowance: $1.25
- • Ad cost per order (blended): $12.00
- • Contribution margin: about $14.30 per order (25%)
- Customer acquisition and repeat
- • Year 1 blended cost per new customer: $22 (assumption)
- • 30% of customers buy again within 6 months (refills and accessories)
- • Email flows: welcome series, fermentation day-7 check-in, refill reminder at day 45
- Fulfillment comparison
- • Self-fulfillment: lowest cost under 400 orders a month, but takes the owner about 15 hours a week
- • 3PL warehouse: fixed and per-order fees, faster shipping across the US, frees time
- • Plan: pack in-house until month 8, then move to a 3PL
- Marketing channels
- • Short recipe videos with food creators (seeded kits, affiliate code)
- • Search ads on high-intent terms like "sauerkraut kit"
- • SEO blog: fermentation guides that link to kits
- • Email and SMS for repeat orders
- Forecast logic (illustrative assumptions)
- • Traffic: 6,000 visits in month 1, growing to 38,000 by month 18
- • Conversion rate: 1.8% rising to 2.4%
- • Year 1 sales: $214,000
- • Cash low point: month 4 (stock reorder before holiday season)
- Risks
- • Glass breakage in shipping: tested packaging, insured shipping on large orders
- • Ad costs rising: build email list and SEO so ads are not the only channel
- • Supplier delays: 8 weeks of safety stock before November
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and add your store, products, customers and fulfillment options to the [brackets].
- Paste it into todo.is or send it to your agent on WhatsApp or Telegram. Attach a product cost sheet if you have one.
- Your agent researches competitors with links and sends a Word plan plus an 18-month Excel forecast.
- Change any input, like "conversion rate 1.5%" or "free shipping over $75", and ask for an updated forecast.
Tips for a better result
- Do the math on one order before anything else. If the margin after ads, shipping and fees is thin, more traffic only makes losses bigger.
- Plan for repeat customers. Consumables, refills and accessories make customer acquisition costs much easier to carry.
- Model your cash around stock reorders. Ecommerce stores often run short of cash right before their busiest season.
- Ask your agent for a weekly to-do that checks competitor prices and shipping offers and sends you a short summary.
ecommerce store business plan: FAQ
- What should an ecommerce business plan include? Products, customers, competitors, pricing, unit economics per order, fulfillment, marketing, returns, and a forecast built from traffic, conversion rate and order value.
- What is a good conversion rate for an online store? It varies by product, price and traffic source. Many stores convert a small percentage of visitors, so the forecast lets you test low and high cases.
- When should I use a 3PL? Many stores switch when packing takes too much of the owner's time or when faster shipping across regions would lift sales. Compare costs at your order volume.
- Can todo.is build my store? It can publish a simple static page with a public link, but for a full store with checkout you would use a platform like Shopify. Your agent can write product pages and emails for it.
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