Free tool
What is your store leaking?
The stack-gap estimate is a free, eleven-question tool for ecommerce founders. From your category, revenue band, ad spend and channels, how budget is decided, return rate, stack and connections, manual hours, what breaks when ads work, margin visibility and who fixes breaks, it estimates the annual cost of the gaps between your tools — as a range, in four lines — and names the leaks it can already see.
Published September 5, 2026 · Middle Research and Development
In short
The estimate runs one or two questions at a time and shows a range, never a single figure, because every constant is a stated assumption. Manual hours are priced at $38 an hour fully loaded over 50 working weeks. Each unconnected pair of tools is assumed to leak 0.35% of revenue, capped at 3%. Disconnected ad tracking is assumed to misallocate 6–12% of spend, more when budget is decided on the platform’s own ROAS, less with an attribution tool. Returned orders that never leave the ad signal count 35% of the spend that bought them. As you answer, the tool names the leaks it can already see — the founder being the integration, two platforms claiming the same sale, margin known only at month end — and the module that closes each. A typical $2M fashion store spending $25,000 a month lands around $154,000 a year, likely between $123,000 and $185,000.
Your number
What is it actually costing you?
Eleven questions, one or two at a time. You get a dollar range, the leaks we can already see from your answers, and every assumption behind both. The diagnostic is where it becomes a fact.
What are the assumptions behind the number?
Every constant is visible and fixed:
- Manual hours at $38/hr fully loaded, 50 working weeks.
- Each unconnected tool pair costs 0.35% of revenue in leakage, capped at 3%; connected stacks keep 25–60% of that.
- Disconnected ad tracking misallocates 6–12% of spend; deciding on the platform’s ROAS adds 2 points, gut adds 3, an attribution tool removes 2, a second channel adds 1. Bounded 4–15%.
- Returned orders stay in the ad signal: 35% of the spend that bought them is counted as misallocated. Unknown return rates use a category default (fashion 24%, beauty 8%, supplements 5%, home 10%, electronics 12%, pets 5%).
- The range is ±20% around the midpoint, ±30% when an answer was “don’t know”. Rounded to $1,000. An estimate, never a quote.
What should I do with the result?
If it clears $25,000, apply for a diagnostic — the call is free and ends in a yes or a no. If it doesn’t, and your gut says the number is wrong, the call is still free and we will tell you either way.
Questions
Is the estimate a quote?
- No. It is an estimate of scale built on stated assumptions, shown as a range for that reason. The diagnostic prices your actual gaps.
Why does it ask what I sell?
- Return rates and ops load differ by category. A fashion store returns around a quarter of orders; supplements around 5%. If you don’t know your rate, the category default is used — and not knowing is itself one of the leaks the tool will name.
Do you store my answers?
- No. Answers stay in your browser for the session. If you ask for the breakdown by email, the summary is sent and the answers are discarded.
Find out what your store is leaking.
One call. If we can’t point at $25k, we pass. If we can, we install the system in 21 days. Apply for a diagnostic.