ILLUSTRATIVE CASE · HYPOTHETICAL FIGURES · FOOD MANUFACTURER · 40–60 STAFF · 4 WEEKS
The ad dashboard said 310% return, the accountant said a 40% loss; both were right, the table was wrong.
An illustrative case written with hypothetical figures; no client, brand or product names. Real cases from December 2026.
CONTEXT
A food manufacturer selling on its own e-commerce site and two marketplaces. The agency report shows ROAS (revenue per 1 unit of ad spend) at 4.1; the owner says “the ads work but no money is left”. The audit question: are the ads losing money, or is the accounting?
MEASUREMENT
Ad dashboard, e-commerce back end, marketplace reports and accounting were brought onto one table by channel; every row carried ad cost, marketplace commission, shipping and returns. Growth 360 before: Attract 3.8 · Capture 3.2 · Close 3.0 · Measure 1.6. Broken link: Measure and Retain.
FINDINGS
01
The agency’s ROAS credits marketplace sales to ads; 73% of marketplace sales arrive without an ad click. True ROAS on the own site is 2.2, not 4.1.
02
Unit margin on the marketplace channel after commission, shipping and returns: –8%; on the own site: +31%. 60% of the ad budget drives marketplace traffic — the losing channel.
03
Three reports show three different “sales” figures for the same month (ordered, invoiced, collected); the management minutes don’t even say which one was discussed.
ACTIONS
AFTER 90 DAYS
Own-site ROAS 2.2 → 2.9; marketplace margin –8% → +3%. Total revenue down 6%, net contribution up 22%. Unchanged: the agency report still shows its own ROAS; two numbers live in parallel until the contract renews. Growth 360 after: Measure 1.6 → 3.0.
Run the same measurement on your company.
The three findings here are Quick Scan questions 13, 1 and 15.