Ecom CFO publishes P&L benchmarks for private DTC brands in three revenue cohorts: under $10M, $10M–$50M and over $50M. The numbers come from the books we keep for our clients, normalized line by line, and are released as quarterly and annual benchmark reports. This page holds the current medians and percentiles for seven metrics, how we define each one, and the full report archive.
The short version for full-year 2025: the median brand under $10M grew 15%, the median $10M–$50M brand shrank 4%, and the median brand over $50M grew 33%. Gross margins sat near 70% in every cohort. Median contribution margin ran 30% for small brands, 27% in the mid-market and 13% for large brands. Median EBITDA was 7% under $10M, 8% in the mid-market and 5% over $50M. If your gross margin is below 65% or your EBITDA is below zero, you are trailing roughly 95% of peers at any size.
Headline benchmarks: full-year 2025 medians by cohort
| Metric | Under $10M | $10M–$50M | Over $50M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue growth vs 2024 | +14.7% | −4.2% | +33.1% |
| Gross margin | 70.5% | 70.1% | 78.6% |
| Contribution margin | 29.7% | 27.3% | 13.0% |
| Return on ad spend (ROAS) | 7.25x | 3.60x | 3.17x |
| G&A as % of net revenue | 22.4% | 15.0% | 10.8% |
| Fixed marketing as % of net revenue (cohort average) | 5.0% | 4.6% | 1.7% |
| EBITDA margin | 7.2% | 8.1% | 4.8% |
Source: Ecom CFO 2026 Annual Benchmark Report (18 private DTC brands, Jan–Dec 2025 vs Jan–Dec 2024). Fixed marketing is shown as the cohort average because the report publishes its percentiles in dollars only. Each figure is calculated per brand, then aggregated, so ROAS will not equal cohort revenue divided by cohort ad spend.
Latest read: May 2026 vs May 2025
Since Q1 2026 we publish a monthly benchmark report that tracks year-over-year change for the same calendar month across 25 brands (9 under $10M, 12 in the $10M–$50M cohort, 4 over $50M). The May 2026 edition is the most recent public data point.
| Metric | Under $10M | $10M–$50M | Over $50M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue growth | +7.2% | +0.6% | +13.7% |
| Gross margin change (median level) | +4.4 pp (63.1%) | −0.5 pp (70.6%) | +3.5 pp (77.4%) |
| Contribution margin change (median level) | +3.1 pp (33.9%) | +2.0 pp | +2.2 pp (24.0%) |
| ROAS change (median level) | −0.15x (9.34x) | +0.42x (3.84x) | +0.43x (3.31x) |
| G&A % of revenue change (median level) | +5.9 pp (24.2%) | +2.5 pp (21.3%) | −1.0 pp (4.6%) |
| EBITDA margin change (median level) | +6.4 pp (9.3%) | +0.4 pp | +2.6 pp (19.4%) |
Source: Ecom CFO May 2026 P&L Benchmark Report. “pp” is percentage points. In the monthly series G&A includes fixed marketing, so it is not directly comparable with the annual G&A line above.
| Cohort | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | −15.1% | −3.2% | +2.5% | −3.6% | +7.2% | +2.4% |
| $10M–$50M | +9.4% | +19.0% | +29.1% | +13.0% | +0.6% | +7.3% |
| Over $50M | +44.3% | +55.7% | +22.9% | +31.3% | +13.7% | +31.8% |
April 2026 values are as restated in the May report. The May report’s EBITDA margin bridge attributes each cohort’s margin move to gross margin, selling costs, G&A dollars and G&A leverage; see EBITDA Margin Bridge: Why Your Bottom Line Moved for how to read it.
1. Revenue growth
Definition. Net revenue is gross revenue from Shopify, Amazon, wholesale and other channels, plus shipping income, insurance and gift cards sold, minus discounts, returns and refunds. Growth is each brand’s own year-over-year change, then aggregated by cohort.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 revenue | Avg 2025 revenue | Avg growth | 5th pct | Median | 95th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | $4.66M | $5.78M | +24.2% | −8.1% | +14.7% | +40.5% |
| $10M–$50M | $21.44M | $20.46M | −4.6% | −35.4% | −4.2% | +17.9% |
| Over $50M | $85.84M | $121.21M | +41.2% | +8.1% | +33.1% | +135.7% |
What a CFO reads into it. Growth has split by size. Small brands and large brands grew; the typical mid-market brand shrank for the second year, with a 53-point spread between the best and worst $10M–$50M performers. For Q3 2025 alone the mid-market median was −13.7%, and after a strong start to 2026 the cohort’s median growth fell back to +0.6% by May 2026. Founders still planning against 2020–2021 growth rates should reset: in this market, 35–40% growth puts you in the top 5% of your cohort. A $5M brand budgeting 25% growth is above the median but well short of best-in-class, so the budget should say which initiatives close that gap.
2. Gross margin
Definition. Gross profit divided by net revenue, where cost of goods sold includes inventory and inventory scrap, packaging, inbound freight and production. Fulfillment and merchant fees are not in COGS; they are variable selling costs below gross profit.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | 5th pct | Median | 95th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 67.4% | 67.1% | 53.1% | 70.5% | 74.8% |
| $10M–$50M | 71.3% | 69.8% | 49.5% | 70.1% | 88.4% |
| Over $50M | 77.5% | 79.3% | 73.4% | 78.6% | 86.1% |
What a CFO reads into it. Gross margin is the great filter. Nearly every 8- and 9-figure brand we work with holds 70% or better, and the over-$50M cohort is tightly clustered between 73% and 86%. Below 65% you trail most peers at any size. The year-over-year moves were small, about two points at most, so if your P&L deteriorated in 2025 the cause is almost always below the gross margin line: ad efficiency, fulfillment cost or overhead. Tariff pressure first showed up in mid-market landed costs in the second half of 2025.
3. Contribution margin
Definition. Gross profit minus variable selling costs, divided by net revenue. Variable selling costs are ad spend (Meta, Google, Amazon, TV, influencer and affiliate commissions) plus non-advertising variable costs: merchant fees, pick-pack-ship including 3PL and FBA fees, and reverse logistics. See how to calculate contribution margin for the worked example.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | 5th pct | Median | 95th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 30.4% | 30.9% | 23.7% | 29.7% | 40.8% |
| $10M–$50M | 27.8% | 27.2% | 17.9% | 27.3% | 34.8% |
| Over $50M | 18.1% | 19.1% | 11.2% | 13.0% | 35.4% |
What a CFO reads into it. A mid-market brand above 28% contribution margin is beating the median; below 18% it is near the bottom of the pack. Large brands run thinner contribution margins and make it up in volume, which is why their G&A has to stay near 10% of revenue. Contribution margin tracks ROAS almost one for one: when ad efficiency fell through 2025, contribution margin fell with it, and the mid-market, which cut ad spend and still saw the biggest ROAS decline, ended up with the widest spread.
4. Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Definition. Net revenue divided by total paid advertising for the same period, calculated per brand. Fixed marketing costs (salaries, agencies, software) are excluded here and counted in G&A, so ROAS overstates true marketing efficiency for brands with large in-house teams.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | 5th pct | Median | 95th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 5.63x | 6.56x | 2.90x | 7.25x | 9.80x |
| $10M–$50M | 4.35x | 3.96x | 2.01x | 3.60x | 7.19x |
| Over $50M | 7.53x | 6.87x | 2.30x | 3.17x | 16.61x |
What a CFO reads into it. ROAS fell about 9% for both larger cohorts in 2025, in line with what Meta reported about ad efficiency on its own earnings calls. The under-$10M cohort improved, but partly because those brands shifted spend and cut fixed marketing. Do not evaluate ROAS in isolation: the brands winning on profit track total customer acquisition cost, paid media plus the fixed team and tools that support it. A rising ROAS with a rising fixed marketing line is not an efficiency gain.
5. G&A as a percentage of revenue
Definition. General and administrative costs: payroll, rent and office, software subscriptions, product development, travel, and outsourced operations or professional services such as legal and accounting. Fixed marketing is a subset of G&A and is also broken out separately below.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | Leanest 5% | Median | Heaviest 5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 25.4% | 23.0% | 15.2% | 22.4% | 31.1% |
| $10M–$50M | 16.6% | 18.1% | 7.9% | 15.0% | 30.7% |
| Over $50M | 9.3% | 9.5% | 3.8% | 10.8% | 13.4% |
What a CFO reads into it. Scale is the only real defense against overhead. Large brands added 65% more G&A dollars in 2025 and revenue growth absorbed it; the mid-market added overhead while revenue fell, which compounds. The encouraging sign from the second half of 2025 is that G&A growth cooled to 2–4%, roughly inflation, after several years of 10–20% jumps. If EBITDA is going to recover, this is the line that gets it there, because it is the one line a founder fully controls.
6. Fixed marketing as a percentage of revenue
Definition. The fixed portion of marketing cost: marketing salaries, contractors and agencies on retainer, and marketing software. Paid media is excluded (it sits in contribution margin above).
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | Median change | Q3 2025 leanest 5% | Q3 2025 median | Q3 2025 heaviest 5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 6.3% | 5.0% | −25.7% | 0.8% | 4.4% | 9.3% |
| $10M–$50M | 3.5% | 4.6% | +38.0% | 0.9% | 3.8% | 12.7% |
| Over $50M | 1.7% | 1.7% | −8.0% | 0.9% | 2.2% | 5.4% |
Percentiles are from the Q3 2025 report (Jul–Sep 2025); the annual report publishes fixed-marketing percentiles in dollars only.
What a CFO reads into it. This is where the ROAS story closes. Mid-market brands pushed fixed marketing from 4% to 5% of revenue while their ROAS fell 9%: more money into the marketing machine, worse results out of it, and one of the biggest drivers of the cohort’s EBITDA decline. Small brands did the opposite, cutting fixed marketing by a quarter while improving ROAS. Judge marketing on ad spend and fixed cost together.
7. EBITDA margin
Definition. Contribution margin dollars minus G&A, divided by net revenue. We treat it as operating income; interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are below the line.
| Cohort | Avg 2024 | Avg 2025 | 5th pct | Median | 95th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $10M | 5.0% | 7.9% | −1.2% | 7.2% | 22.3% |
| $10M–$50M | 10.0% | 7.3% | −3.1% | 8.1% | 17.5% |
| Over $50M | 8.0% | 9.0% | −1.1% | 4.8% | 25.1% |
What a CFO reads into it. Above 8% EBITDA you are at or above the median in every cohort; below 0% you are in the bottom 5% regardless of size. Averages mislead at the top: the over-$50M average rose 12% while the median fell 1%, because two outliers pulled the average up. Across our client base EBITDA still hovers around 5% give or take 3 points, and the brands that improved in 2025 did it through overhead and fixed marketing discipline, not through gross margin. Our Q1 2026 report adds an EBITDA bridge that shows exactly which of the four lines moved your margin.
A 30-minute call with an Ecom CFO fractional CFO maps your last 12 months to the cohort percentiles above and tells you which line to fix first.
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Quarterly reference: Q3 2025 medians
For readers comparing a single quarter rather than a full year, these are the Q3 2025 (July–September) medians from the same cohorts.
| Metric | Under $10M | $10M–$50M | Over $50M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue growth vs Q3 2024 | +2.6% | −13.7% | +11.1% |
| Gross margin | 70.7% | 72.1% | 78.2% |
| Contribution margin | 30.5% | 26.5% | 14.7% |
| ROAS | 7.95x | 3.74x | 3.04x |
| G&A % of net revenue | 22.9% | 17.7% | 9.5% |
| Fixed marketing % of net revenue | 4.4% | 3.8% | 2.2% |
| EBITDA margin | 4.2% | −0.9% | 11.8% |
Source: Ecom CFO Q3 2025 Benchmark Report (18 private DTC brands). Full quarterly tables with 5th and 95th percentiles are in the downloadable report.
How we build these benchmarks
Who is in the data. Private, founder-owned DTC brands whose books Ecom CFO keeps or reviews, with annual net revenue from the low seven figures to more than $100M. The 2025 reports cover 18 brands; the 2026 monthly series covers 25. Brands are grouped into cohorts by trailing annual net revenue: under $10M, $10M–$50M and over $50M. No brand is identified and no single brand’s data is published.
How the numbers are normalized. Every P&L is re-mapped line by line into the same seven buckets (net revenue, COGS, non-advertising variable selling costs, ad spend, G&A, fixed marketing, EBITDA) using the definitions above, so a brand that books shipping in COGS is compared on the same basis as one that books it in fulfillment. Each metric is computed per brand first, then the cohort average, median and percentiles are taken.
Reading the percentiles. The 95th percentile means 95% of brands fell below that value; treat it as best in class. The 50th percentile is the median brand. The 5th percentile is a realistic worst case. For cost ratios such as G&A, we label the columns leanest and heaviest so lower spend reads as better.
Cadence and partners. We publish an annual report comparing full calendar years, and through 2025 a quarterly report comparing the same quarter year over year. Since March 2026 the report is monthly: each edition compares the latest month with the same month a year earlier, shows the year-to-date trend, and includes an EBITDA margin bridge. The benchmark report series is produced in partnership with A2X.
Using the data. Benchmarks are one of three inputs to a budget, alongside your own history and public-company filings. See how to actually use benchmark data in your brand and a CFO’s guide to learning from SEC filings.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good gross margin for a DTC ecommerce brand?
In Ecom CFO’s 2025 benchmark data the median gross margin was 70.5% for brands under $10M, 70.1% for $10M–$50M brands and 78.6% for brands over $50M, with COGS defined as inventory, packaging, inbound freight and production. Below 65% trails most peers at any size; the best-in-class 95th percentile ranged from 75% to 88%.
What is a good contribution margin for an ecommerce business?
Median contribution margin in 2025 was 29.7% under $10M, 27.3% for $10M–$50M brands and 13.0% over $50M, after ad spend, merchant fees, pick-pack-ship and returns. A mid-market brand above 28% is beating the median; below 18% it is near the bottom 5%.
What EBITDA margin should a $10M to $50M ecommerce brand expect?
The median $10M–$50M brand earned an 8.1% EBITDA margin in 2025, down from about 10% in 2024. The bottom 5% were below −3% and the top 5% above 17.5%. Across all cohorts, above 8% is at or above median and below 0% is bottom 5%.
How much should an ecommerce brand spend on G&A or overhead?
Median G&A was 22.4% of net revenue for brands under $10M, 15.0% for $10M–$50M brands and 10.8% for brands over $50M in 2025. The leanest 5% of mid-market brands ran under 8%. G&A here includes payroll, rent, software, product development, travel and outsourced services, with fixed marketing as a subset.
What is a typical ROAS for DTC brands?
Median blended ROAS in 2025 was 7.25x under $10M, 3.60x for $10M–$50M brands and 3.17x over $50M. ROAS fell roughly 9% year over year for both larger cohorts. Because fixed marketing cost is excluded from ROAS, compare it alongside fixed marketing as a percentage of revenue (about 5%, 4.6% and 1.7% by cohort).
Where can I find ecommerce P&L benchmarks by revenue size?
This page publishes Ecom CFO’s current cohort medians and percentiles for seven P&L metrics, split into under $10M, $10M–$50M and over $50M. The full quarterly and annual reports with every table, year-over-year dollar changes and CFO analysis are free to download below.
Where does Ecom CFO’s benchmark data come from?
From the normalized financial statements of 18 to 25 private DTC brands (18 in the 2025 reports, 25 in the 2026 monthly series) that Ecom CFO serves as fractional CFO or accountant. Every P&L is re-mapped to the same definitions before cohort statistics are calculated, and no individual brand is identified.
How do I benchmark my own P&L against these numbers?
Re-map your last 12 months into the seven buckets defined on this page, compute each ratio, and place it against the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile for your revenue cohort. Start with gross margin, then contribution margin, then G&A, because that order isolates whether the problem is product cost, acquisition efficiency or overhead. Ecom CFO does this mapping on the first call with a prospective client.
Benchmark report archive
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- May 2026 Monthly Benchmark Report (August 2026). May 2026 vs May 2025 and the Jan–May 2026 trend, 25 brands, with EBITDA margin bridge.
- April 2026 Monthly Benchmark Report (June 2026). April 2026 vs April 2025 and the Dec 2025–Apr 2026 trend.
- March 2026 Monthly Benchmark Report (May 2026). First edition of the monthly series, covering Q1 2026. Summary: EBITDA Margin Bridge: Why Your Bottom Line Moved.
- 2026 Annual Benchmark Report (February 2026). Full-year 2025 vs 2024, 18 brands. Summary: Full-Year 2025 vs 2024 Revenue, Margins and EBITDA by Cohort.
- 2026 Revenue Planning Guide (January 2026). Macro indicators, Shopify GMV trends and same-store revenue growth benchmarks. Summary: Key insights from the 2026 Revenue Planning Guide.
- Q3 2025 Benchmark Report (November 2025). Jul–Sep 2025 vs 2024, 18 brands. Summary: Q3 2025 Ecommerce Benchmark Report: Revenue and Profit Trends.
- Q2 2025 Benchmark Report (September 2025). Summary: Key insights from the Q2 2025 report.
- Cash Unlocks Benchmark Analysis (August 2025, with Highbeam). Where DTC brands have cash locked up in inventory, receivables and payables. Read the analysis.
- Q1 2025 Benchmark Report (June 2025). Summary: Key insights from the Q1 2025 report.
- 2025 Annual Benchmark Report (January 2025). Full-year 2024 vs 2023, private and public companies. Read the archived report.
New reports are added here on release. Report releases are also announced in Sam Hill’s weekly newsletter, the Ecom CFO Notebook.