If you run a growing eCommerce brand, chances are your paid media is doing its job. Clicks are coming in, your CAC looks great, and your Meta creatives are converting. But behind the scenes, things feel tight. Margins are squeezed, cash flow is under pressure, and finance is waving red flags.

The marketing data looks healthy in isolation, but if you zoom out and look at the whole business picture – returns, cash delays, fulfilment costs, discounting, and customer lifetime value – suddenly, growth starts to look riskier.

So we started forcing an early alignment between marketing and finance. We made cost structures transparent, and began asking tougher questions up front.

Here are five critical questions we’ve seen smart D2C brands ask to align finance and marketing – before things go sideways.

1. Are we actually making money on this product after returns, discounts, and shipping?

It sounds basic, but you’d be surprised how often the answer is no.

One client had a top-selling product priced at $999. Meta campaigns were scaling nicely. On paper, it was a hit. But after applying a promotional discount, returns shot up to 30%. On top of that, fulfilment was costing $160 per order.

By the time the product reached the customer – or came back from one – profit had evaporated.

The problem wasn’t the media strategy. It was that no one had mapped the post-purchase costs into the performance model. Once finance flagged it, we restructured the offer entirely.

2. Where are we leaking revenue after conversion?

Another area often missed is what happens between a successful checkout and an actual cash-in-bank moment.

We saw multiple brands losing money to failed UPI transactions, COD cancellations, and return-to-origin (RTO) shipments – especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

These aren’t marketing or operations problems. They’re revenue leaks. And they were invisible to the growth team until finance pointed them out.

Now, we actively model these risks into our acquisition metrics. Because unless that money clears, it’s not revenue – it’s wishful thinking.

3. Which channels bring in customers who actually buy again?

Acquisition is only one part of the puzzle. Repeat purchase behaviour is where real profitability lives.

One client was thrilled with their Meta and WhatsApp conversions. Low cost, high volume. But when we looked at LTV across cohorts, email – especially seasonal campaigns – was delivering two to three times the repeat purchase value.

That insight completely changed how we allocated budget. We dialled back performance spend on channels driving one-time buyers and doubled down on retention-first strategies with better long-term yield.

Smart brands don’t just ask “How cheap can we acquire?” They ask, “Who sticks around?”

4. Are there pricing thresholds that improve cost efficiency?

Shipping thresholds and AOV-based fulfilment costs are another hidden lever for profitability.

One client noticed that shipping costs dropped significantly for orders over $1499. So we built bundles and structured upsell nudges around a $1500 threshold.

The result? A higher average order value, improved margins – and we didn’t have to touch product discounts to get there.

It’s a perfect example of where finance-informed insight can directly shape conversion strategy. The win wasn’t in spending less – it was in earning more per transaction without extra cost.

5. How long does it take to recover cash after a campaign?

Here’s one that too few brands model: cash lag.

COD orders, returns, and processing delays can mean you don’t actually get paid for 20 days or more after the sale. At scale, that can crush your working capital – especially if you’re reinvesting aggressively in paid campaigns.

Now, we don’t just model CAC and ROAS. We model cash recovery windows and pace budgets accordingly. This helps our clients avoid the classic D2C trap: scaling fast and running out of cash before the profit shows up.

The Bottom Line: Marketing requires financial know-how

Most growth problems aren’t creative. They’re commercial. If your marketing and finance teams are working in silos, you’re missing critical context.

What we’ve learned is this: performance marketing works best when finance is part of the conversation – not just the spreadsheet.

If you’re running paid media and struggling to understand why the numbers aren’t translating to healthier books, it might be time to bring finance to the strategy table.

Want help bridging that gap? Let’s talk.