LexiconChannels
Channel contribution
مساهمة القناة
Definition
Channel contribution is what an order leaves after the costs specific to its channel: commission, brand-funded discounts, packaging, payment fees and channel labour, deducted from its gross margin. Every channel, from dine-in to aggregator delivery, is judged by contribution after commission rather than revenue, and reported to the board monthly, door by door.
In plain words
What is left of an order after everything the channel takes, such as a delivery app.
Also searched as
- channel margin
- contribution after commission
- delivery app profitability
- aggregator contribution
- channel P&L
- مساهمة القناة
Formula
Channel contribution per order = OV × GM% − OV × (c% + d% + p%) − L
Variables
- OV
- order value
- GM%
- gross margin
- c%
- commission
- d%
- brand-funded discount
- p%
- payment and packaging
- L
- channel labour per order
Canonical thresholds
| Threshold | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Commission % + Discount % + Payment and packaging % ≤ Gross margin % − Group contribution floor % | Order acceptable; if it fails: reprice, redesign or stop, never grow |
Source: Doctrine §7 · Channel contribution · Playbook §2 · Gate 7: Channels and delivery economics at scale
Example
Illustrative example · hypothetical figures
Using the example inputs of the Doctrine's calculator: order value SAR 85, gross margin 62%, commission 20%, discount 5%, payment and packaging 4%, channel labour SAR 3. Contribution = 52.70 − 24.65 − 3 = SAR 25.05 per order.
Where it is used
In the Doctrine and the Playbook
- Doctrine §2 · Definitions
- Doctrine §7 · Channel contribution
- Doctrine §7 · Rules
- Playbook §2 · Gate 7: Channels and delivery economics at scale
In the Channel Ledger
- Ledger §3 · Fully loaded channel contribution
- Ledger §3 · Fully loaded channel contribution · The formula
- Ledger §10 · Channel governance · The monthly channel P&L
In Beneath Marketing
- Your customer isn't falling down a funnel. They're circling a roundabout.Beneath Marketing · Episode 0 · Six questions instead of four stages
- Why isn't 29 riyals on HungerStation the same as 29 riyals at the branch?Beneath Marketing · Episode 1 · Where the money leaks
- Why isn't 29 riyals on HungerStation the same as 29 riyals at the branch?Beneath Marketing · Episode 1 · The Sunday-morning question
- The lunch customer isn't the late-night customer, even when it's the same manBeneath Marketing · Episode 5 · Where the money leaks
Related terms
How to cite this definition
Alhajj, S. (2026). “Channel contribution”. In The Revenue Engineering Lexicon, version 1.0. Riyadh. https://seiflden.com/lexicon/channel-contribution/