Thomas Gleeson: “ROAS Is Lying—Profit-First E-commerce Wins”

Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands & Links with Linkifi!
Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder & CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs.

In this episode we welcome Thomas Gleeson — StoreHero co-founder and former Shopify Merchant Success lead — who helps e-commerce brands grow profitably by prioritizing contribution margin, LTV, and cashflow over vanity metrics like ROAS.

 

Key Talking Points

✅ Why ROAS Misleads — Ad costs up, attribution messy, ops + COGS + returns rising; profit ≠ revenue, and ROAS ignores VAT, discounts, shipping, fees
✅ Contribution Margin First — Net revenue (ex-tax) minus COGS minus marketing = the North Star for budget and channel decisions
✅ The “Allowable CAC” Mindset — Winners engineer higher CAC ceilings via pricing, bundles, and offer structure—so they outbid competitors
✅ Offer Structure > Blanket Discounts — Use bundles, threshold free shipping, GWP (free gift with purchase), selective promos to protect margin
✅ Black Friday Playbook — Pull last year’s SKU-level data: target higher-AOV, high-margin items; test tiered offers; don’t copy “site-wide 30%” by default
✅ Reality of Margin Compression — Discounts, free shipping/returns, BNPL, transaction fees can halve gross margin if you’re not tracking the math
✅ Small Catalogs Can Win — Build a simple break-even ROAS calculator per offer; know fees, returns, shipping, taxes, and COGS before scaling spend
✅ Cohorts & Retention — Nov/Dec buyers often gift-led and less loyal; use Shopify cohort charts to set realistic LTV expectations
✅ LLMs as a Channel — Early signals that ChatGPT/Gemini can drive discovery; solid SEO + authority increases likelihood of being cited

 

Quotes from Thomas Gleeson

📢 “There’s an industry-wide obsession with ROAS. It’s flawed. Your P&L pays the bills, not ROAS.”
📢 “If gross margin drops, your marketing must overperform just to stand still.”
📢 “The game isn’t ‘lowest CAC’—it’s highest allowable CAC. Engineer offers that let you spend more than rivals.”
📢 “In Black Friday planning, increased revenue doesn’t automatically mean increased profit.”
📢 “Be honest about COGS and fees. That ‘80% margin’ often becomes 40–50% once reality is added back.”

 

Actionable Insights

 

🧮 Know Your Numbers (Before BFCM)

• Build a per-offer break-even ROAS: RRP → discount → COGS → VAT/tax → shipping/returns → payment fees → expected return rate.
  
  
• Track contribution margin weekly; tie ad budget increases to profit deltas, not revenue.
  
  

🧰 Offer Engineering

• Prefer bundles, GWP, and free-shipping threshold tweaks over blunt site-wide cuts.
  
  
• Surface SKUs with above-average AOV and margin; push with creative + merchandising, not just discount.
  
  

💸 Budgeting by Margin

• Improve gross margin (trim “conversion candy” that erodes it) to unlock 2–3× more ad budget at the same profit target.
  
  
• Separate goals: one motion for profit, another for top-line—don’t let revenue targets force margin-killing promos.
  

 

📈 Cohorts & Segmentation

• Expect lower LTV from Nov/Dec new customers; design tailored post-purchase flows and realistic payback windows.
  
  
• Reward loyal segments; avoid penalizing them while testing new-customer carrots.
  
  

🔎 LLM Visibility

• Solid SEO foundations, authoritative mentions, and clear USP language increase odds of LLM citations (early but growing opportunity).
  
  

 

About Thomas Gleeson

Thomas Gleeson is the co-founder of StoreHero and former Shopify Merchant Success lead. He helps brands centralize e-com, marketing, and finance data to make profit-first decisions—shifting teams from ROAS worship to unit economics and contribution margin.
📬 Connect with Thomas: 

LinkedIn: Thomas Gleeson · storehero.ai

 

🚀 Build Your Brand with Real Links

 

At Linkifi, we help ambitious brands scale organic visibility through digital PR, brand storytelling, and SEO strategy. Book your FREE strategy session today:
🔗 https://calendly.com/linkifi/pr

 

👋 Connect with your hosts:
👉 Chris Panteli on LinkedIn
👉 Nick Biggs on LinkedIn

 

🎧 Listen to more Market Movers episodes:
🌍 https://marketmoverspod.com