Asttero

Promotion strategy

Store promotion planner

See how a percent off, an amount off, or free shipping changes contribution per order, and how much extra volume you need for monthly contribution to stay the same.

Calculations run in your browser. Asttero does not store the data you enter.

Average order

Affects amount formatting only.

Value before the promotion you are planning, excluding shipping.

Enter 0 if shipping is already free.

Enter net cost if you reclaim sales tax. The promo does not change this cost.

Used to turn the required lift into extra orders and monthly contribution.

Promotion

Applies to product value only, not to shipping paid by the customer.

Optional. 20 means 20% more orders than today. Leave empty to see only the lift you need.

How to read the result

A discount lowers what the customer pays. Product cost, packing, and outbound shipping usually stay the same. That is why contribution per order often falls faster than revenue. The planner shows the extra orders needed so that monthly contribution matches the baseline.

The result is a scenario on an averaged order. Real promotions also change mix, returns, ad cost, and who buys. It is not a forecast of campaign performance.

Compare discount levels

The table always shows percent-off scenarios so you can compare 10% to 30% off. Your selected promotion is highlighted when it differs from those rows.

Scenario Contribution / order Change Extra orders needed

How we calculate

Promo order = the same order economics after lowering product value or customer-paid shipping

Extra orders needed = current monthly orders × (baseline contribution / promo contribution − 1)

If promo contribution ≤ 0, extra volume cannot recover the discount.

Example calculation

With products at $300 gross, $10 customer-paid shipping, 23% tax, $90 product cost, and the other sample costs from the margin calculator, a 15% product discount leaves about $83.70 contribution per order instead of $116.68. At 500 orders per month you need about 39% more orders, roughly 197 extra orders, for monthly contribution to stay the same.

FAQ

What does the promotion planner show?

It compares an average order before and after the discount. You see how much contribution the promo consumes, and how many extra orders you need for monthly contribution to stay the same.

Which promotions can I model?

A percent off products, a fixed amount off products, and free shipping. Product cost and the store’s outbound shipping cost stay the same, because you still ship the same goods.

Why does more volume not always save a discount?

If variable costs exceed what is left from the discounted order, every extra order deepens the loss. Then you need to change the discount, price, or costs, not just chase volume.

Does the planner include advertising?

No. It shows contribution after variable order costs, before ads. Use the break-even ROAS calculator for the advertising threshold.

Where do I get the numbers?

The easiest path is to reuse the margin calculator, or enter average product value, customer-paid shipping, tax, product cost, and fulfillment costs. The result is an estimate on an averaged order.

Want to check whether a promo will pay off in your store?

We can review pricing, discounts, AOV, and the purchase flow on Shopify, then point out the changes with the biggest effect on contribution.

Book a free diagnosis

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