What is AI-ready data? The data AI can actually understand
AI-ready data is business data an AI can reason about without you in the room. Every number has one written definition, a labeled source and period, and a link to the products, orders, customers and spend it belongs to. Facts only you know, like unit cost, are written down and approved. Answers are checked against the source of record before anyone acts on them.
Read the guideWhy ChatGPT and Claude get your Amazon and Shopify numbers wrong
Paste an export into ChatGPT or Claude and the answer sounds right but is not. Ten ways AI misreads Amazon and Shopify data, and what fixes each one.
ComparisonsTriple Whale and Polar alternatives for Amazon-heavy brands
Most Triple Whale and Polar alternative lists assume a Shopify store. Five questions to ask if Amazon is a big share of your sales, and six tools compared.
AI-ready dataSemantic layer vs ontology vs context layer: what a consumer brand actually needs
A semantic layer defines metrics, an ontology models the business, a context layer briefs the AI. One Amazon order shows what each adds and what to build first.
Brand structureProduct hierarchy for consumer brands: from company down to the SKU
How to structure a consumer brand's catalog from company to brand, product family, variant and SKU, and why Amazon and Shopify listings do not do it for you.
Unit economicsHow to calculate COGS and landed cost for Amazon and Shopify
The monthly COGS formula, landed cost per unit, what is not COGS (FBA and referral fees, ads), freight allocation and FIFO vs average, with a worked example.
MeasurementDo Meta ads drive Amazon sales? How to measure it
Meta shows almost no purchases for ads that send shoppers to Amazon. Here are the three ways to measure what those ads really sell, and where each one breaks.
Unit economicsContribution margin for Amazon and Shopify: CM1, CM2 and CM3 by channel
How to calculate contribution margin for ecommerce when you sell on Amazon and Shopify: CM1, CM2, CM3, a per-unit waterfall, and break-even ROAS per channel.
Unit economicsBreak-even ROAS and MER for Amazon brands: the formulas, and where they mislead
Break-even ROAS is 1 divided by contribution margin before ads. How to set it per channel, why MER misleads when Meta sells on Amazon, and what to track.
AI-ready dataBest MCP servers for Amazon and Shopify brands: three kinds, and a 20-minute test
Platform MCP servers, data-pipe connectors and a joined brand model each do a different job. What each is good for, where it stops, and a 20-minute test.
AmazonAmazon settlement report vs orders report: which revenue number is right?
Amazon's orders report shows what customers bought. The settlement report shows what Amazon paid you. Here is when to use each, and how to reconcile the two.
AmazonAmazon customer lifetime value: how to calculate LTV you can trust
How to calculate customer lifetime value on Amazon without the usual traps: cohorts, margin at fixed ages, buyer-data gaps, and a fair comparison with CAC.
AmazonWhy your Amazon ad sales and ACoS keep changing after the week ends
Amazon keeps crediting ad sales to a week for days after it ends, so ACoS falls as the week ages. How much it moves by ad type, and how to compare weeks fairly.