00.02 Core Metrics Definition Dictionary (North Star Metrics & Unit Economics)
Governance metadata | Owner: Knowledge Base Administrator | Last reviewed: 2026-10-22 | Next review: 2027-01-31
Core insight: metrics are the single shared language of cross-department GTM collaboration. This document converges the key metrics scattered across 01.07 GR1 Gate, 02.03 Business Model & Subscription, 06.04 User Operations & Repurchase, and 07.06 Full-Lifecycle SKU P&L, eliminating for good the cross-department decision disputes and distorted financial data caused by "same name, different meaning".
💡 Primary case anchor note: every figure in this document uses the AstroNext USD 399 smart astronomical telescope field projection as the unified benchmark (see 08.02 AstroNext Telescope Projection, the geek-category walkthrough). The specific amounts are industrial-grade projection parameters; when citing them, substitute your own product's bill of materials and channel structure into the formulas.
1. Three Conceptual Corrections & Foundational Discipline
Correction 1: the North Star is never a single GMV metric. Each lifecycle stage must anchor a different north star: the kickoff stage looks at genuine-demand validation and willingness to pay (WTP); the launch stage looks at first-batch sell-through rate and first-pass yield; the steady-state stage looks at blended net margin and repurchase; the end-of-life stage looks at the recovery rate of clearance residual value.
Correction 2: gross margin must strictly distinguish three different bases (mixing them is strictly forbidden).
- Basis A (kickoff BOM gross margin): used at kickoff to assess the physical cost envelope of the product hardware;
- Basis B (landed gross margin): the red-line assessment standard of the GR1 commercial kickoff gate;
- Basis C (channel shipment blended gross margin): the final review standard for channel operations and the P&L income statement.
Correction 3: LTV must explicitly state whether it is on a "profit contribution" or a "revenue" basis. The full-lifecycle net profit contribution of hardware + accessories (the basis of 06.04 User Operations and 07.06 P&L Model) and the gross profit of use-case subscriptions (the basis of 02.03 Business Model) must never simply be added together without discounting.
2. Standard Definitions for the North Star Metrics Across the Six Lifecycle Stages
| Business Collaboration Stage | Core North Star Metric | Exact Formula (Numerator / Denominator) | Statistical Time Window | Authoritative Data Source | Healthy Benchmark & Red Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 Insight & Kickoff | Demand Conversion Willingness Rate (WTP Rate) | (Number of crowdfunding deposit pre-payers ÷ unique visitors to the core landing page) × 100% | T-90D~T-60D before kickoff | DTC site backend / email marketing system | 🟢 ≥3.5% 🔴 <1.5% |
| Stage 2: Strategy & Order Lock | BEP dual gate (A baseline coverage / B pessimistic survival) | A = approved sellable order quantity ÷ BEP; B = pessimistic weighted quantity ÷ BEP (same denominator) | GR2 tooling review (T-60D) | 03.04 Three-Factor Order Calculator | 🟢 A ≥1.25 AND B >1.00 (both) 🔴 A <1.0 (no tooling) or B ≤1.00 |
| Stage 3 Launch Preparation | Launch readiness pass rate | Number of items actually meeting standard ÷ the 21 items on the GR3 gate checklist in total × 100% | T-14D before first launch | 01.12 Gantt Board | 🟢 100%, every item must be cleared 🔴 Any P0 blocker present |
| Stage 4 Launch & First Sales | First-month sell-through rate | (Actual omnichannel sales in month one ÷ total first-batch units actually received and passed QC) × 100% | The first 30 days of selling (W1~W4) | ERP / Amazon and each channel backend | 🟢 ≥40.0% 🔴 <25.0% (triggers a production–sales alert) |
| Stage 5 Operations & Production–Sales | Full-lifecycle LTV:CAC | Blended single-customer full-lifecycle net profit contribution ÷ customer acquisition cost CAC | Rolling quarterly | Financial management system / BI attribution model | 🟢 ≥3.0x 🔴 <2.0x (customer acquisition is loss-making) |
| Stage 6 End of Life | Slow-moving inventory clearance residual value rate | (Actual realized revenue from B-Stock and tail inventory ÷ the corresponding purchase value of the original goods) × 100% | The exit and liquidation period (GR5 stage) | RMA warehouse management system / finance department | 🟢 ≥65.0% 🔴 <35.0% (large asset impairment) |
3. Unified Standards for the Three Unit-Economics Gross Margins & Core Metrics
1. Comparison Matrix of the Three Gross Margin Bases That Must Be Strictly Distinguished
| Gross Margin Basis | Strict Formula | Core Business Use | Primary Case AstroNext Real Calculation | Decision Red-Line Standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basis A: kickoff BOM gross margin | (MSRP − BOM cost) ÷ MSRP × 100% | Measures the hardware cost envelope and the headroom for stacking in the early R&D stage | (399.00 − 105.00) / 399.00 ➔ 73.7% | Direct-sales plan ≥65% Distribution plan ≥55% |
| Basis B: landed gross margin (Landed GM) | (Net revenue − landed cost) ÷ net revenue × 100% | 01.07 GR1 Gate the statutory review metric for commercial kickoff (the baseline gross margin after deducting the ex-factory price, ocean freight and tariffs) | (367.08 − 137.00) / 367.08 ➔ 62.7% | Direct-sales channel ≥60.0% Distribution agent ≥50.0% (the primary case at 62.7% clears the line) |
| Basis C: channel shipment blended gross margin | (Net revenue − landed cost − platform commission − last-mile fulfillment) ÷ net revenue × 100% | 07.06 P&L Model the final review basis for single-SKU operations (after deducting landed cost, the e-commerce platform's 15% commission and the 18.50 fulfillment fee) | 156.52 / 367.08 ➔ 42.6% (39.2% if computed against the tagged MSRP of 399) | ≥35.0% green / 28%~35% observe / <28.0% circuit breaker. The denominator is fixed at net revenue; the MSRP basis is ×0.92 (39.2% is the MSRP basis). The floor is a function of planned volume: 10% + marketing + RMA + tooling ÷ (Q × net revenue) — see 07.06 §1.1 |
2. Other Key Unit Economics Metrics
Customer acquisition cost (CAC): total actual omnichannel marketing investment ÷ total number of newly won paying customers.
- Primary case: marketing cost per unit is USD 55.86, 14.0% of the suggested retail price MSRP (399.00) and 15.2% of net revenue (367.08).
Customer lifetime net value (LTV):
- Hardware and accessories side: initial hardware net profit per customer (USD 73.69) + expected accessory contribution profit (USD 34.65) = USD 108.34 (see 06.04 User Operations);
- Subscription service side: monthly subscription ARPU × subscription gross margin ÷ monthly churn rate (see 02.03 Business Model).
Days of supply (DOS): actual qualified goods in stock at period end + locked in-transit inventory ÷ weighted average daily shipments over the last 7 days.
- Traffic light: <20 days = critical stockout risk, 45~75 days = healthy and stable, >110 days = severe overstock and slow-moving stock.
Break-even volume (BEP): total upfront fixed investment NRE (USD 70,000) ÷ per-unit pre-tax contribution margin (USD 88.69) ≈ 789 units.
4. Quick Reference: RAG Thresholds for Core Operational Metrics
| Metric Name | 🟢 Healthy (Green) | 🟡 Warning (Yellow) | 🔴 Hard Circuit-Breaker / Severe Deviation (Red) | Monitoring Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-SKU pre-tax net margin (EBIT Margin) | ≥15.0% | 10.0%~15.0% | <10.0% (loss or minimal profit) | CFO / Finance Director |
| ACOS (on-platform ad share at maturity) | <18.0% | 18.0%~30.0% | >30.0% (ad spend is eating into profit) | Amazon Operations Lead |
| Days of supply (DOS) | 45~75 days | 20~45 days or 75~110 days | <20 days (stockout) or >110 days (overstock) | SCM Supply Chain Planner |
| Monthly subscription churn | ❤️.5%/month | 3.5%~6.0%/month | >6.0%/month (users abandoning the product) | Software & SaaS Lead |
| BEP dual gate | A ≥1.25 AND B >1.00 | A between 1.0 and 1.25, or B close to 1.00 | A <1.0 or B ≤1.0 (volume cannot cover tooling) | GTM Lead |
| Omnichannel return rate | <5.0% | 5.0%~8.0% | >8.0% (triggers the hard production–sales circuit-breaker) | After-sales / Quality Lead |
Dual-gate note: A answers "is my order wide enough relative to break-even"; B answers "if it sells badly, do I survive". Different numerators — not comparable. Main case A=1,000÷789=1.27, B=837÷789=1.06; both gates pass. The industry's usual "1.2~1.5×" is a rule of thumb and cannot gate a review — the review form must state a single value. Derivation and misreading examples: 07.06 and 08.02 Lesson 1.
Two-tier net margin: <10.0% is the charter hard line in 01.07 GR1 and 07.06 (fail = veto); ≥15.0% is the operating green band. The 10~15% band may proceed but must go on the quarterly improvement list.
ACOS three tiers: <18% healthy at maturity / 18~30% warning (acceptable during new-product ramp) / >30% circuit-break. Promo periods use a separate, looser basis — see 05.05.
5. Metric Authority Registry (Single Source of Truth)
How to use this (read first)
- Each metric has exactly one authoritative owner in this registry. Threshold values are maintained only at that owner; every other article must write "see 00.02 §5" instead of repeating numbers.
- When another article needs to label a case (e.g. it happens to fall in the green band), it may cite the band name (healthy / warning / circuit-break) but must not restate the numeric range.
- Channel-specific thresholds (KA return rate, promo ACOS, regional first-year bands) must be registered here as derived bases, stating whether they are tighter or looser than the baseline and where they apply.
check-metrics.mjs(part ofpnpm run check) scans the library: a managed metric appearing with a value + comparator + band word outside its owner fails the build. If a restatement is genuinely required, register that line in the script'sEXEMPT_LINES(file + a substring identifying the line). Do not use HTML comments as markers — Feishu's markdown import drops them, so the marker disappears after one sync.
5.1 Core metric registry (15 items)
| # | Metric | Authority | Definition (single source) | 🟢 Healthy | 🟡 Warning | 🔴 Circuit-break / hard line | Owner role | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EBIT Margin | §4 here + 07.06 | EBIT ÷ net revenue | ≥15.0% | 10.0%~15.0% | <10.0% (GR1 charter hard line) | CFO | Monthly |
| 2 | Channel gross margin (Basis C) | 07.06 §1.1 | (net revenue − landed cost − platform fee − fulfilment) ÷ net revenue | ≥35.0% (at Q ≥ ~1,880 units) | 28.0%~35.0% | <28.0% (variable cost not covered) | CFO | Monthly |
| 3 | Landed-to-warehouse GM (Basis B) | §3.1 here | (net revenue − landed cost) ÷ net revenue | DTC ≥60.0% / distribution ≥50.0% | 55.0%~60.0% | <50.0% (GR1 veto) | CFO | At charter |
| 4 | BOM GM (Basis A) | §3.1 here | (MSRP − BOM) ÷ MSRP | DTC ≥65% / distribution ≥55% | 60%~65% | <55% | Product + Finance | At charter |
| 5 | ACOS (mature on-platform ads) | §4 here | Ad spend ÷ ad-attributed revenue | <18.0% | 18.0%~30.0% | >30.0% | E-commerce ops | Daily |
| 6 | TACOS (store-wide ad share) | 00.01 glossary | Store ad spend ÷ store net revenue | ≤15.0% | 15.0%~20.0% | >20.0% | CMO | Weekly |
| 7 | CAC | §3.2 here | Total marketing ÷ new customers (dual-denominator statement required) | <14.0% MSRP (≈15.2% net revenue) | 14.0%~25.0% MSRP | >25.0% MSRP (≈27.2% net revenue) | CMO | Weekly |
| 8 | LTV:CAC (steady state) | §2 stage 5 here | Lifetime net-profit contribution per customer ÷ CAC | ≥3.0× | 2.0×~3.0× | <2.0× | CFO | Quarterly |
| 9 | DOS | §4 here | (sellable on-hand + locked in-transit) ÷ 7-day weighted daily shipments | 45~75 days | 20~45 or 75~110 days | <20 stockout / >110 overstock | SCM | Weekly |
| 10 | Annualised inventory turns | 01.13 | Annual COGS ÷ average inventory capital tied up | ≥6.0×/yr | 4.0~6.0×/yr | <4.0×/yr | SCM | Monthly |
| 11 | All-channel return rate | §4 here | Returned units ÷ delivered units | <5.0% | 5.0%~8.0% | >8.0% production-sales circuit-break; >10.0% quality veto | After-sales + Quality | Weekly |
| 12 | First-month sell-through | 01.13 | First-month units sold ÷ first-batch sellable units | ≥40.0% | 25.0%~40.0% | <25.0% (supply warning) | Sales | Weekly in month 1 |
| 13 | Customer-service first response | 06.02 §1 | Contact → first human/bot response (by channel) | Live chat ≤5 min; ticket <12h; negative review within 6h | Ticket 12~24h | Ticket >24h | Customer service | Daily |
| 14 | NPS | 06.02 metric table | Promoters% − detractors% | ≥50 | 30~50 | <30 | Customer service | Monthly |
| 15 | BEP dual gate | §4 here + 03.04 | A = approved lock qty ÷ BEP; B = pessimistic weighted ÷ BEP | A ≥1.25 and B >1.00 | A 1.0~1.25 | A <1.0 or B ≤1.00 | GTM lead | At GR2 |
5.2 Derived bases (allowed to deviate, but the boundary must be declared)
| Metric | Derived basis | Source | Relation to baseline | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return rate | KA channel ≤4% / 4~7% / >8% | 05.03 | Tighter than the all-channel baseline | Judging whether a single KA renews; overall brand health still uses #11 |
| ACOS | Promo period: <30% controllable / 30~50% "buying rank" / >50% stop | 05.05 | Looser than baseline (buying rank during promos) | Promo window only; 30~50% needs prior CFO approval |
| LTV:CAC | Blended basis (incl. hardware give-away) ≥1.2 to proceed | 02.03 | Different numerator (includes subsidised loss) | Charter approval for the "subsidise hardware to sell subscriptions" model only; steady state still uses #8 |
| Net margin | Post-provision ≥10% | 07.06 §5 | Same hard line as #1 but after a 5% invisible-risk provision | GR1 final review; stricter than #1 |
| DOS | <20 days is normal during the pre-launch stocking ramp | 03.05 | Structural exception (goods not yet arrived) | First 8 weeks of launch stocking only; steady state stays 45~75 days |
5.3 Adjudicated disputes (so they are not re-argued)
| Dispute | Ruling | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Is the gross-margin redline 35% or "a function of Q"? | A function: floor(Q) = 28.5% + tooling ÷ (Q × net revenue); 35% only holds at Q ≥ ~1,880 units | Derivation in 07.06 §1.1 |
| Is BEP a "1.2~1.5×" band or a single value? | Single-value dual gate: A ≥1.25, B >1.00; the band is experience only and cannot gate a review | 03.04 §4 |
| CAC denominator: MSRP or net revenue? | Both must be stated: 14.0% MSRP ≡ 15.2% net revenue; one alone counts as a missing basis | §3.2 here |
| Is 10% or 15% net margin the pass mark? | 10% is the hard line (veto), 15% is green; 10~15% may proceed but must go on the quarterly improvement list | §4 here |
| NPS healthy line: 45 or 50? | ≥50 (06.02 confirmed) | 06.02 |
| First response: 2h / 12h / 24h / 5min? | By channel; no single number exists | 06.02 §1 |
6. Metric Implementation & Execution Discipline Checklist
[ ] 1. Basis consistency check: in kickoff and commercial negotiations, state explicitly whether you are citing "Basis A (BOM)", "Basis B (landed)" or "Basis C (channel blended)"; mixing bases is strictly forbidden.
[ ] 2. Gate metric alignment: the gross margin red line in the 01.07 GR1 Gate review has been strictly computed on "Basis B (landed ≥60.0%)".
[ ] 3. Denominator disclosure discipline: whenever reporting CAC and marketing expense ratios, you must also state explicitly whether MSRP is the denominator (14.0%) or net revenue is the denominator (15.2%).
[ ] 4. Circuit-breaker escalation: at the weekly S&OP meeting, the DOS and return rate metrics are strictly mapped to the 01.13 KPI board; the moment a red light is triggered, corrective action starts immediately.