In plain words
An offer option is one of the choices an offer puts in front of a visitor. Buy one, buy three and save, or subscribe: three options of one offer. The visitor picks one, and that choice decides what ships and what is charged.
The option is the level at which an offer earns money. Each has its own price and its own costs, so each has its own margin. An offer's profit is the sum of what its options earn, weighted by how many visitors pick each one.
Formula
- Offer profit per visitor = Σ (option margin × the share of visitors who buy that option)
Worked example
Two options, each shown on its own page. The single bag keeps $15.36 and 3.0% of visitors buy it: $0.46 per visitor. The three-bag bundle keeps $48.06 and 1.2% buy it: $0.58.
The engine ranks the bundle first. The single bag would need 25.2% more buyers to match it.
The example order
A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted
2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option
| Step | Grain | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | – | $40.00 |
| Cost of goods | per unit | −$12.00 |
| Pick and pack | per order | −$1.18 |
| Packaging | per parcel | −$0.50 |
| Shipping label | per parcel | −$7.50 |
| Card fee per order | per order | −$0.30 |
| Refunds | percent | −$2.00 |
| Card processing | percent | −$1.16 |
| Contribution margin | – | $15.36 |
| 2 kinds costing nothing | – | $0.00 |
Computed by the margin engine in Offer Suite's own code, in whole cents, from a $40.00 bag of coffee with a $12.00 unit cost.
An option is not a product variant
A variant is a version of a product: a size, a flavour. An option is a way of buying. One option can contain several variants, such as three bags and a gift mug, and one variant can appear in several options at different prices.
Using it
Report every figure per option: margin, conversion, share of buyers, refunds. An offer-level average hides the option that loses money behind the one that earns it. When you change an offer, say which option you changed, and watch whether buyers move between options as well as whether more of them buy.
In Offer Suite
In Offer Suite an option is one choice inside an offer that a visitor can buy. Every cart carries which offer, option and version it was built from, so each order is attributed to the option that sold it.
Source: Offer Suite's offer documents.