---
title: "Revenue per visitor: definition and formula"
description: "Revenue divided by the visitors who saw an offer: price times conversion. Better than conversion alone, and still blind to what the orders cost."
url: https://offersuite.io/glossary/revenue-per-visitor
updated: 2026-10-13
---

# Revenue per visitor

Revenue divided by the visitors who saw an offer: price times conversion. Better than conversion alone, and still blind to what the orders cost.

## In plain words

Revenue per visitor is the revenue an offer brings in for each person who sees it. It multiplies how many visitors buy by how much they spend, so it does not reward an offer simply for being cheap.

It stops one step short. Two offers can bring in the same revenue per visitor and keep very different amounts, because one ships a gift, a second unit or a free parcel and the other does not. Revenue per visitor counts none of that.

## Formula

- Revenue per visitor = revenue ÷ visitors = average order value × conversion rate
- Profit per visitor = margin per order × conversion rate

## Worked example

The $40.00 bag converts 3.0% of visitors: $1.20 of revenue per visitor. Add a free mug and suppose conversion rises to 3.6%: $1.44 per visitor. On revenue, the gift wins.

The engine puts the two orders' margins at $15.36 and $10.91. Profit per visitor is $0.46 without the gift and $0.39 with it. On profit, the gift loses.

### The example order

A $40.00 bag of coffee, shipped free, every cost counted

Revenue $40.00 to contribution margin $15.36 (38.4%)

Revenue

$40.00

Cost of goods

−$12.00

Pick and pack

−$1.18

Packaging

−$0.50

Shipping label

−$7.50

Card fee per order

−$0.30

Refunds

−$2.00

Card processing

−$1.16

Contribution margin

$15.36

2 declared kinds cost nothing on this option

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.

## Revenue per visitor is not profit per visitor

It treats every dollar of revenue as equally good. A dollar from a full-price single and a dollar from a discounted bundle with a gift are not the same dollar. A test decided on revenue per visitor will favour whichever arm gives the most away.

## Using it

Use it when you have no cost data at all, and say so. As soon as you know what each option costs to fulfil, switch to profit per visitor. If the two metrics disagree about a test, look at what the winning arm on revenue gives away: that is usually the whole explanation.

## In Offer Suite

Offer Suite's experiments decide on profit per visitor. Conversion, buyers, average order value and refunds are shown beside it to explain the result, and none of them decides it.

Source: Offer Suite's experiment design.

## Related

- [Glossary **Glossary of offer economics** The terms behind offer profit, defined plainly with their formulas and a worked number: contribution margin, profit per visitor, break-even lift and more.](https://offersuite.io/glossary)
- [Calculator **Offer option calculator: profit per visitor** Compare up to three offer options on profit per visitor, margin per order times conversion, and see the conversion lift each one needs to match the best.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/offer-option-profit-per-visitor)
- [Calculator **Gift with purchase profit calculator** What a free gift costs per order, after its unit cost, its extra pick and its handling, and how much conversion it has to add to pay for itself.](https://offersuite.io/calculators/gift-with-purchase-profit)
- [Glossary **Profit per visitor: definition, formula and example** The profit an offer earns for every visitor who sees it: margin per order times conversion rate. It weighs a lower price against more buyers fairly.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/profit-per-visitor)
- [Glossary **Conversion rate: definition, formula and example** The share of visitors who buy. An offer test's most reported number and its least sufficient: a better-converting offer can earn less.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/conversion-rate)
- [Glossary **Average order value (AOV): definition and formula** Total order revenue divided by the number of orders. Useful for spotting a trend, misleading for setting thresholds because it hides the shape of your orders.](https://offersuite.io/glossary/average-order-value)