# Dema

> Commerce intelligence for direct-to-consumer and retail brands. Dema unifies commercial data — ad platforms, e-commerce, POS, ERP, inventory — into one profit-aware model, then measures marketing on contribution margin instead of revenue and acts on it through agents. Measurement combines ad platform attribution, multi-touch attribution, causal factor attribution, marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing rather than relying on any one method.

## Key facts

- Dema is a commerce intelligence platform for direct-to-consumer and retail brands, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
- The distinguishing claim is that measurement and optimisation run on **profit**, not revenue: contribution margin after cost of goods, fulfilment, marketing and expected returns.
- Dema's profit ladder: **Gross Profit 1** is net sales less cost of goods; **Gross Profit 2** additionally deducts fulfilment; **Gross Profit 3** additionally deducts marketing. The **Net** prefix (Net Gross Profit 1/2/3) means returns were deducted first. The number counts cost layers; the prefix counts returns.
- **epROAS** is expected profit return on ad spend: Net Gross Profit 2 divided by marketing spend.
- **Causal factor attribution** is Dema's term for applying explicit, inspectable weights to each attribution source — for example accepting 30% of an ad platform's claim and 70% of multi-touch attribution — where the weights come from the customer's own incrementality tests, or from Dema's cross-customer experiment benchmarks before any tests exist. Totals always conserve: correcting one channel's share moves another's, never the total.
- Incrementality test results feed the marketing mix model. Causal attribution and MMM are the intended end state; raw ad platform numbers and MTA are inputs.
- Marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing run on aggregate data, so they require no cookies, no user-level tracking and no consent.

## Product

- [Agentic Data Platform](https://www.dema.ai/agentic-data-platform): The underlying platform: unified commercial data model, agents, and the governance layer they run inside.
- [Chat](https://www.dema.ai/chat): Ask commercial questions in plain language and get answers from live modeled data through one semantic layer with team-defined metrics.
- [Agents](https://www.dema.ai/agents): Automated workflows described in plain language: scheduled reports, keyword exclusions, sheet syncs, feed segments — running on live data and executing in connected systems with approval.
- [Apps](https://www.dema.ai/apps): Working applications built by describing the workflow: planners, review queues and operating tools on live modeled commercial data, shared with the team.
- [Retail Analytics (self-serve)](https://www.dema.ai/self-serve-analytics): Explore any metric, dimension or time frame with real-time profitability built in. No SQL.
- [Causal Attribution](https://www.dema.ai/causal-attribution): Causal factor attribution: explicit weights applied to ad platform and MTA claims, derived from incrementality experiments, set per channel, funnel stage and market. Reported on contribution margin and new customers, not revenue.
- [Marketing Mix Modeling](https://www.dema.ai/marketing-mix-modeling): Continuous cookieless measurement of the whole mix from aggregate data, with response curves and an optimiser that runs on contribution margin.
- [Incrementality Testing](https://www.dema.ai/incrementality-testing): Geo-based experiments that measure what spend actually caused. Results calibrate both the marketing mix model and the causal attribution weights.
- [Product Feed Management](https://www.dema.ai/product-feed-management): Segment and prioritise the product feed on profit, so higher-margin products receive more spend.
- [Integrations](https://www.dema.ai/integrations): Ad platforms, e-commerce platforms, POS, ERP and warehouse connections.
- [Pricing](https://www.dema.ai/pricing): Module-based pricing.

## Documentation

- [Documentation](https://docs.dema.ai/welcome/home): Product documentation: setup, data model, metrics, dimensions, attribution and API.
- [Documentation llms.txt](https://docs.dema.ai/llms.txt): Machine-readable index of the full documentation site.
- [Documentation llms-full.txt](https://docs.dema.ai/llms-full.txt): Complete documentation as a single plain-text file.
- [Core data model](https://docs.dema.ai/guides/fundamentals/data-model.md): How Dema collects and enriches commercial data — orders, events, marketing cost, shipping rules and returns — into near real-time profitability.
- [Metrics](https://docs.dema.ai/guides/fundamentals/metrics.md): Every metric Dema calculates, what it represents and how it is derived.
- [Attribution](https://docs.dema.ai/guides/fundamentals/attribution.md): The supported attribution models: last-click, linear, ML-based multi-touch, ad-platform-reported, and causal factor attribution.
- [Setting up costs and returns](https://docs.dema.ai/guides/setup/setup-cost.md): Configuring rules-based fulfilment and return costs — shipping, toll, pick and pack, transaction fees — which is what makes profit reporting possible.
- [API access](https://docs.dema.ai/guides/api-access/overview.md): The Dema GraphQL API: authentication, endpoints, rate limits and examples.

## Use cases

- [Financial Controlling](https://www.dema.ai/use-case/financial-controlling): Real-time profit reporting down to the line item, with expected returns applied at order level.
- [Creative Testing](https://www.dema.ai/use-case/creative-testing): Measure creative performance on profit rather than platform-reported ROAS.
- [Sell-Through Forecasting](https://www.dema.ai/use-case/sell-through-forecasting): Forecast sell-through per size, and exclude stockout-risk products from ad platforms automatically.

## Glossary

- [Affiliate Marketing](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/affiliate-marketing): A system where you reward partners (affiliates) for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.
- [Attribution Model](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/attribution-model): An attribution model decides how credit for a sale is divided between the touchpoints a customer interacted with before buying. The model you choose changes which channels look profitable, which is why it drives budget decisions.
- [Average Order Value (AOV)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/average-order-value-aov): The average amount spent each time a customer places an order.
- [Break-Even Point](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/break-even-point): The Break-Even Point, is when all revenue minus all costs, yield no profit or loss. It's crucial for businesses to track as it indicates the minimum sales required to cover costs and start earning profit.
- [Broken Size Curve](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/broken-size-curve): A broken size curve happens when one or more of a product's sizes sells out while the rest remain in stock. Conversion rate drops, because the shoppers most likely to buy are the ones who can no longer find their size.
- [Cart Abandonment Rate](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/cart-abandonment-rate): The percentage of online shoppers who add items to their cart but leave without completing the purchase due to a change in mind, usually because of high hidden costs like shipping fee.
- [Churn Rate](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/churn-rate): The percentage of customers who stop using your online store during a certain timeframe.
- [Click-through-rate (CTR)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/click-through-rate-ctr): CTR, or Click-Through Rate, measures the proportion of users who progress from one stage to another in a process, such as from seeing an ad to clicking on it, or opening a newsletter to visiting a linked e-commerce site.
- [Contribution Margin](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/contribution-margin): The Contribution Margin, a crucial profitability metric, is the leftover from Gross Sales after deducting all the direct costs of fulfilling the orders. Some argue that it is the same as Net Gross Profit 3, taking marketing spending into account. In contrast, others say marketing spending should not be part of calculating the contribution margin.
- [Conversion Funnel](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/conversion-funnel): A customer's journey through a sequence of steps designed to lead to a desired action, typically a purchase.
- [Conversion Rate (CR)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/conversion-rate-cr): The percentage of visitors who take a desired action, generally making a purchase.
- [Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/cost-of-goods-sold-cogs): The cost of goods sold signifies the total expense of purchasing the products sold, meaning the cost appears first when you sell the product.
- [Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/customer-acquisition-cost-cac): Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring one new customer: acquisition spend divided by the number of genuinely new customers. It is distinct from cost per order, which includes returning customers and therefore flatters performance.
- [Data-Driven Attribution Model](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/data-driven-attribution-model): A data-driven attribution model derives credit weights from observed conversion patterns rather than a fixed rule. More sophisticated than last-click or linear, and still limited to touchpoints it can see.
- [Dropshipping](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/dropshipping): A fulfillment method in which an e-commerce business doesn’t keep the products it sells in stock. Instead, the e-commerce purchases the product after the customer has purchased the item from the e-commerce. The third party that the e-commerce buys the item from also ships it directly to the customer. This allows for low overhead costs and attention to fulfillment while putting more emphasis on paid marketing.
- [E-commerce Retention Rate](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/retention-rate): Retention rate in e-commerce measures the percentage of customers who continue to make purchases over a specific period of time. Depending on which e-commerce vertical you are in, your retention rate is more or less critical to assure sustainable and profitable growth since, typically, customer acquisition is more expensive than keeping existing customers.
- [Engaged Session](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/engaged-session): In the context of website analytics, an engaged session refers to a visitor's active interaction with a website for a given duration. This may include clicking on links, scrolling, or filling out forms. An engaged session usually implies that the visitor is actively interested in what your website has to offer and, therefore, exploring it.
- [epROAS](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/eproas): epROAS is expected Profit Return on Ad Spend. It divides Net Gross Profit 2 by marketing spend, so it accounts for both cost of goods and expected returns rather than measuring revenue against spend.
- [Fulfillment](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/fulfillment): The process of receiving goods from suppliers, packaging the items, branding it, and then shipping orders to customers. Fulfillment also handles the returning part of the process from the customer back to the warehouse.
- [Gross Profit 1](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/gross-profit-1): Gross Profit 1 is gross sales minus cost of goods sold. It is the first and broadest profit layer — useful for judging buying and pricing, but blind to fulfilment, marketing and returns.
- [Gross Profit 2](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/gross-profit-2): Gross Profit 2 is gross sales minus cost of goods and fulfilment costs — storage, picking, packing and shipping. It is the first layer that reflects the real cost of getting the product to the customer.
- [Gross Profit 3](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/gross-profit-3): Gross Profit 3 is gross sales minus cost of goods, fulfilment and marketing. It is the layer at which a product, campaign or channel is either genuinely contributing or not.
- [Impression](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/impression): Impression, or a view of something, is often used for ads. It answers the question, “How many times have my ad(s) been viewed?” The term used is not views but Impressions. Views are generally used when it's about video ads. An impression does not require any action by the viewer; one viewer can have many impressions of the same ad.
- [Influencer Marketing](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/influencer-marketing): A marketing strategy where brands partner with individuals with strong social media following to promote their products or services. These individuals, known as influencers, typically have a niche audience that aligns with the brand's target market. This acts as a paid acquisition of warm leads and increases brand awareness among the community.
- [Last-Click Attribution](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/last-click-attribution): Last-click attribution gives all credit for a conversion to the final touchpoint before purchase. Simple and stable, and systematically biased toward channels that appear late in the journey.
- [Linear Attribution Model](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/linear-attribution-model): The linear attribution model splits credit for a conversion equally across every touchpoint in the customer journey. It is the simplest way to avoid over-crediting a single channel, at the cost of treating every interaction as equally influential.
- [Machine Learning Attribution Model](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/machine-learning-attribution-model): A machine learning attribution model uses trained algorithms to assign conversion credit across touchpoints. Powerful pattern detection, but it inherits the blind spots of the data it learns from.
- [Net Gross Profit 1](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/net-gross-profit-1): Net Gross Profit 1 is gross sales minus returns and cost of goods sold. It is Gross Profit 1 corrected for the orders that came back.
- [Net Gross Profit 2](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/net-gross-profit-2): Net Gross Profit 2 is gross sales minus returns, cost of goods and fulfilment. It is the numerator in epROAS, and the most complete view of unit economics before marketing.
- [Net Gross Profit 3](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/net-gross-profit-3): Net Gross Profit 3 is gross sales minus returns, cost of goods, fulfilment and marketing — the fullest measure of operational contribution in the framework.
- [Net Sales](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/net-sales): Net sales is gross sales minus returns, discounts and allowances. It is the first figure in an e-commerce P&L that reflects money the business actually kept.
- [PnL](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/pnl): PnL stands for Profit and loss, and the more formal word is Income Statement.
- [Remarketing or Retargeting](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/remarketing-or-retargeting): Remarketing or retargeting is an online advertising strategy that targets users who have previously visited your website or shown interest in your products.
- [Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/return-on-ad-spend-roas): Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) measures how much revenue you make for each dollar spent on advertising. ROAS has severe limitations when used in isolation, which can hurt a company's profitability and brand.
- [Sell-Through Rate](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/sell-through-rate): Sell-through rate is the share of received inventory sold in a given period. It is the clearest early signal of whether a buy was right, and it drives markdown, replenishment and next-season decisions.
- [SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/sku-stock-keeping-unit): A unique identifier for each product variation in your store. Commonly referred to as variant. By having an organized and orderly way to track products, you will be able to track the sales of the products better and manage your inventory well.
- [Wasted Ad Spend](https://www.dema.ai/glossary/wasted-ad-spend): Wasted ad spend is budget that produced no incremental profit — spend on demand you would have captured anyway, on products that cannot convert, or on customers worth less than they cost to acquire.

## Customer stories

- [Aim'n](https://www.dema.ai/customers/aimn): Transforming Black Friday: How Aim'n Boosted Profitability and Margins
- [Aim'n](https://www.dema.ai/customers/aimn-agent): How aim'n Built 25 AI Skills to Run Performance Marketing, Creative Analysis, and Trend Intelligence
- [Axel Arigato](https://www.dema.ai/customers/axel-arigato): How Axel Arigato Used Incrementality Testing to Refine Their Growth Strategy
- [MIKUTA](https://www.dema.ai/customers/mikuta): Mikuta's Success Story: 2x Sales and Gross Profit 3
- [Mini Rodini](https://www.dema.ai/customers/mini-rodini): Taking Scandi Fashion Global with Dema's Insight
- [Myrqvist](https://www.dema.ai/customers/myrqvist): How Myrqvist Use Dema to Optimize for Profitable Growth
- [Ridestore](https://www.dema.ai/customers/ridestore): How Ridestore Scaled Smarter with Dema
- [Villoid](https://www.dema.ai/customers/villoid): Scaling Smarter: How Villoid Drove +139% Profit Growth
- [Tatti Lashes](https://www.dema.ai/customers/tatti-lashes): How Tatti Lashes Built an AI-Powered Planning System in Three Weeks
- [Wallism](https://www.dema.ai/customers/wallism): How Wallism Achieved a 34% Gross Margin 3 Lift
- [HSNG](https://www.dema.ai/customers/hsng): From Spend to Strategy: How HSNG Found Profit Clarity in Google PMAX

## Blog

- [What is a commercial data layer for retail & e-commerce data?](https://www.dema.ai/blog/what-is-a-commercial-data-layer-retail-ecommerce): Understand what a commercial data layer in retail & ecommerce is, and why fragmented marketing, product, and inventory data leads to bad results when using AI A
- [From BI to agent-native analytics: Dashboards weren't built for decision-making](https://www.dema.ai/blog/how-dashboards-have-failed-ecommerce): Dashboards weren't built for decision-making. Leading teams combine dashboards with AI agents to explore, diagnose, and act on data in real time.
- [How to scale and optimize Meta Ads for profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/how-to-scale-and-optimize-meta-ads-for-profitability): How to scale Meta Ads profitably by fixing structure, tracking, and creative performance using insights from Dema.
- [How to audit and scale google ads for true profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/how-to-audit-and-scale-google-ads-for-true-profitability): A step-by-step guide to auditing and scaling Google Ads for real profitability, not vanity ROAS, with insights powered by Dema’s platform.
- [Revenue-based measurement is a race to the bottom](https://www.dema.ai/blog/revenue-based-measurement-is-a-race-to-the-bottom): Revenue might look good, but is your marketing making you profitable?
- [The misalignment problem, part 1: Ad-spend's disconnect from profitable growth, sell-through, and the brand strategy](https://www.dema.ai/blog/the-misalignment-problem-part-1-ad-spend-s-disconnect-from-p): How ad spend, especially the feed-based, often misaligns with contribution margin, inventory, and D2C brands' strategies.
- [The latest on Marketing Measurement from Meta, Google, and Dema](https://www.dema.ai/blog/the-latest-on-marketing-measurement-from-meta-google-and-dem): Meta and Google’s latest on marketing measurement, + how Dema let their customers move to a smarter unified measurement, aligning with their business goals.
- [Behind the metrics: How Ridestore and Vervaunt leverage incrementality testing to drive growth](https://www.dema.ai/blog/behind-the-metrics-incrementality-testing): Explore how Ridestore and Vervaunt use incrementality testing to go beyond ROAS—aligning marketing with profit, improving spend efficiency.
- [Why traditional Marketing Mix Modeling is failing marketers](https://www.dema.ai/blog/traditional-puts-the-industry-at-risk): Your approach to MMM is outdated, and it’s costing you.
- [Stop Wasting Ad Spend with Incrementality Testing in Marketing](https://www.dema.ai/blog/incrementality-testing-marketing-ad-spend): Why understanding and measuring causal effects of marketing is the key to success in the current marketing landscape.
- [Pulse Rewind: How Acne Studios and Dema Operate in a Shifting Retail Landscape](https://www.dema.ai/blog/future-of-retail-growth-commerce-analytics): Discover key takeaways from Pulse London as Dema, Vervaunt, and Acne Studios explore how multi-channel commerce analytics.
- [Comparing attribution models vs Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)](https://www.dema.ai/blog/comparing-attribution-vs-mmm): Brands are wasting money on attribution. Here's how Marketing Mix Modeling can help you measure true incremental impact.
- [How to make sure your marketing spend is aligned with your inventory and brand strategy](https://www.dema.ai/blog/aligning-marketing-spend-with-inventory-and-brand-strategy-i): Step-by-step analysis for D2C leaders to avoid costly misaligned ad spend that hurt your brand and sell-through. If you're not doing this, you’re missing out.
- [Boost your e-commerce sell-through with these strategic performance marketing tips](https://www.dema.ai/blog/boost-your-e-commerce-sell-through-with-these-strategic-perf): Enhance your sell-through rate and profitability with strategic performance marketing tactics, such as advanced and agile budget allocation.
- [Stop shipping unprofitable orders: align marketing and buying](https://www.dema.ai/blog/stop-shipping-unprofitable-orders): When marketing and buying teams operate in silos, you end up promoting products you can't afford to sell. Here's how to fix the disconnect.
- [What is Customer Lifetime Value (CLV, LTV or CLTV)?](https://www.dema.ai/blog/what-is-customer-lifetime-value): Truly understand Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), its most important aspects, and related strategies to improve your profitable growth.
- [Why profitability can't be a side project](https://www.dema.ai/blog/why-profitability-cant-be-a-sideproject): Most e-commerce teams treat profitability as a reporting exercise. The brands that win treat it as an operating model.
- [Optimize your e-commerce marketing for maximum profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/optimize-ecommerce-marketing-profitability): Stop optimizing for ROAS. Start optimizing for contribution margin. Here's the framework that changes everything.
- [Contribution margin 1, 2, and 3: the key components of e-commerce profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/contribution-margin-explained): Understanding the three layers of contribution margin is essential for any e-commerce operator serious about profitable growth.
- [Why ROAS can't be trusted and what to use instead to maximize contribution margin](https://www.dema.ai/blog/why-roas-cant-be-trusted-and-what-to-use-instead-to-maximize): Explore the shortcomings of using ROAS as the sole metric for e-commerce success and discover "epROAS" as a superior metric of marketing efficiency. This post delves into practical and theoretical examples, offering insights into essential data requirements for aligning marketing strategies with true profitability.
- [Why e-commerce needs Marketing Mix Modeling](https://www.dema.ai/blog/why-ecommerce-needs-mmm): Mastering the art of marketing budget allocation is more crucial than ever. As someone who scaled a brand across 30+ markets, here's what I learned.
- [E-commerce retention explained: customer churn & why it matters](https://www.dema.ai/blog/e-commerce-retention-explained-customer-churn-why-it-matters): A comprehensive guide to e-commerce retention and churn. How to approach it, measure it, and how to continuously analyze it.
- [A comprehensive introduction to AI data analysis in e-commerce](https://www.dema.ai/blog/ai-data-analysis-ecommerce): AI data analysis enhances decision-making in e-commerce, offering rapid, precise insights for optimizing products, marketing, and profitability.
- [How visual merchandising can improve e-commerce profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/how-visual-merchandising-can-improve-e-commerce-profitabilit): Visual merchandising is essential to any successful e-commerce business and can improve your overall profitability.
- [How e-commerce companies should allocate marketing budget between markets to maximize profitable growth](https://www.dema.ai/blog/how-e-commerce-companies-should-allocate-marketing-budget-be): Why you should not use ROAS when allocating your marketing budget between markets: since variable costs naturally differ a lot between countries, you need to use a profit-based metric, such as Profit ROAS, which we call epROAS.
- [Optimizing discounts: A data-driven guide to profitable discounting in e-commerce](https://www.dema.ai/blog/a-guide-to-profitable-discounting-in-ecommerce): Learn how to implement effective discount campaigns that let you maintain profitability.
- [Unlocking profitable growth globally: A data-driven approach to selecting the markets to invest in](https://www.dema.ai/blog/unlocking-profitable-growth-globally-a-data-driven-approach): Dema's tips and tricks on successfully optimizing your budget allocation between different countries for your e-commerce business.
- [Set a free shipping threshold that boosts your profitability](https://www.dema.ai/blog/set-a-free-shipping-threshold-that-boosts-your-profitability): Set a free shipping threshold that boosts your profitability
- [Why vanity metrics in e-commerce is the secret to failure](https://www.dema.ai/blog/why-vanity-metrics-in-e-commerce-is-the-secret-to-failure): While traffic, revenue, and conversion rate may seem appealing, they don't measure your business's health or long-term sustainability.
- [Product page tactics for e-commerce profit optimization](https://www.dema.ai/blog/product-page-tactics-for-ecommerce-profit-optimization): Optimize your product pages to improve overall business profitability.
- [What is e-commerce profitability?](https://www.dema.ai/blog/what-is-e-commerce-profitability): This is an introduction to E-commerce Profitability: what it is—and what it's not—how to optimize for profitability—and why it is extra important in 2024.
- [Optimize your business with smart attribution](https://www.dema.ai/blog/optimize-your-business-with-smart-attribution): Learn about different kinds of attribution models and how your business can benefit from using a smarter attribution model.

## Optional

- [Changelog](https://www.dema.ai/changelog): Product release notes.
- [Careers](https://www.dema.ai/careers): Open roles.
- [Privacy policy](https://www.dema.ai/privacy-policy)