Frequently asked questions

Yes, 100% free with no hidden costs or paywalls. We built these tools to help founders understand their numbers. There's no credit card required, no trial period, and no premium tier. Use them as often as you need.

Golden Digital is a growth marketing agency that's helped scale D2C brands with over $50M in combined ad spend. We built these tools based on the frameworks we use with our clients—now available free for everyone.

Our AI tools analyze your inputs (like your website URL or business details) using general-purpose AI models from Anthropic and Google, guided by the audit and planning frameworks we use with our clients. The AI generates personalized recommendations, marketing calendars, and ad concepts tailored to your specific business.

Your calculations run in your browser, and we don't store the numbers you type unless you choose to send them — by unlocking a benchmark, emailing yourself a report, or contributing an anonymous data point. We do record anonymous usage events, which tool was used rather than what you entered. The AI tools work differently: your store URL and the report or concepts we generate are saved so we can support you and so your share link keeps working. We never access your Shopify admin, your customer data, or any private account information.

No account, password or credit card for any tool. The nine calculators need nothing at all — not even an email. The AI tools do ask for your email: the Shopify audit needs it before it runs, so we can send your report link; the ad concept generator asks for it to open your concepts; and the marketing calendar shows your first month free and asks for it to open the rest. Some PDF downloads ask for your email to deliver the file.

Our tools are designed for direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce brands, particularly those on Shopify. Whether you're doing $10K/month or $10M/month, the calculators and AI tools help you understand your numbers and make better calls with your ad spend.

Start with the return needed to cover your costs. This calculator’s standard return on ad spend (ROAS) compares modeled revenue with ad spend; its product-cost-adjusted return removes product costs first. Neither includes shipping, payment fees, or overhead, so neither proves net profitability.

An industry average cannot set your break-even point. We’d use your product margin, acquisition costs, and other expenses to decide what return you need. Compare campaigns using the same revenue definition and reporting window.

Here, standard return is modeled revenue divided by ad spend. The product-cost-adjusted return subtracts product costs from that revenue before dividing by ad spend. Shipping, payment fees, and overhead are excluded. We’d check those separately before calling the ads profitable.

This calculator models revenue from the traffic, conversion rate, order value, and repeat-purchase multiplier you enter. Your ad platform uses its own sales attribution and reporting window. We’d align those assumptions before comparing the figures.

A useful target needs to cover the costs and cash demands of your business. This calculator estimates margin after the costs entered; omitted expenses remain omitted. Its bands are reference labels. We’d check a typical month and a lower-sales scenario before setting a target. Reference bands used on this page: Below 0% is negative, 0–15% is thin, 15–25% is healthy and 25%+ is strong. These are calculator labels, not measured industry averages.

They describe the same sale from two directions. Markup is measured against what the product cost you; margin is measured against what the customer paid. A $30 product sold for $100 is a 233% markup and a 70% margin on price — same $70, two very different-looking numbers. One thing to know on this calculator: its Gross Margin also takes out shipping and the transaction fee, so with $5 shipping and a 2.9% fee you’ll see a 62.1% gross margin beside that 233% markup. Those two figures are not measuring the same dollars. Margin is the one to run the business on, because it tells you what share of each sale you actually keep.

Divide your total monthly marketing spend by the number of orders that month. For example, $5,000 ad spend ÷ 200 orders = $25 marketing cost per sale.

The break-even point is the number of units you need to sell in a period to cover all fixed and variable costs — earning exactly $0 profit. Every unit sold above break-even generates contribution margin that becomes profit.

Calculate break-even units before launching to understand how many you need to sell to cover costs. This helps set realistic sales targets, marketing budgets, and inventory levels.

Contribution margin (price minus variable costs) shows how much each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs and generating profit. Higher contribution margin = fewer sales needed to break even.

This calculator estimates lifetime gross profit: average order value × purchases per year × customer lifespan × gross margin. It excludes acquisition costs and overhead. We’d use it as a planning estimate, not an amount you can safely spend to acquire every customer.

Compare estimated lifetime gross profit with customer acquisition cost (CAC), using compatible customer groups and periods. A ratio of 1:1 leaves nothing from that gross profit for overhead. A higher ratio alone does not justify more spend; cash timing and repeat-purchase assumptions still matter.

We’d look at why customers return, how often they buy, and what remains after product costs. Test a relevant reorder reminder, a useful bundle, or a better post-purchase experience, then check actual repeat purchases and margin.

The share of visitors who buy depends on traffic source, device, product, and price. We’d compare similar visitors over similar periods. Use the calculator to model a change in conversion rate or average order value, then check whether the estimate is realistic for your store.

A larger average order value (AOV) increases revenue per order, but extra product costs, discounts, or shipping can absorb the increase. We’d compare what remains per order before choosing a bundle or offer.

We’d start with the clearest observed problem: shoppers struggling to buy, or orders leaving too little after costs. Model each change separately, then compare the cost of the change and what you expect to keep. The calculator estimates impact; it does not predict a test result.

Yes. The automated audit and its recommendations are free. Your email is required to run it and receive the report link; no credit card is needed. Paid implementation help is optional.

AI reviews the public storefront pages it can access, then combines page-level findings into scores across six categories and a prioritized fix list. Recommendations can include inferred observations, so check the evidence and your store before making changes. A person does not review each report before it appears.

The audit starts with your homepage and attempts to discover a product page. You can provide product and collection URLs in the optional coverage step. Blocked or inaccessible pages can limit the report; check the scanned-page list to see what was included.

Most audits complete in two to seven minutes — the scrape, the page-by-page analysis and the final synthesis each take real time. Complex or slow-loading stores sit at the longer end. You'll see progress updates as the analysis runs.

No. It analyzes publicly accessible storefront pages without a Shopify app installation or admin login. It cannot inspect private sales data, customer records, ad accounts or the email flows running in your marketing account.

Results appear on this page when the audit completes. While it runs, the page tells you whether we will also email a report link to the address you entered. If it asks you to keep the tab open, the report is only on this page. You can use the report controls to share or print the results. If the email does not arrive, check your spam folder and keep the on-page report link.

It can flag storefront issues worth investigating, but it cannot prove what caused a conversion change. Combine the findings with your own funnel data and manual checks. Speed-related clues are not measured Core Web Vitals, and recommendations do not guarantee a revenue increase.

It reads your website (if you share it), your industry, your goal and any notes you add, then writes story-driven campaigns around holidays and seasonal moments with dates we check, not dates the AI remembers. Your budget sets how many campaigns each month carries and how much leans on paid social; it never splits your budget into dollar amounts.

The calendar is a strategic starting point, not a rigid plan. We recommend using it as inspiration and adapting campaigns to your specific products, audience, and brand voice. Export to CSV to modify in your preferred tool.

The calendar includes major holidays (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Black Friday, etc.), seasonal transitions, and industry-specific events. It adapts recommendations based on your industry and planning period.

Concepts are optimized for Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, and Google Ads. You select your platform and the AI tailors the hook, copy, and visual direction to that platform's best practices and format requirements.

Up to 5 ad concepts per product, each with a different angle: attention hook, body copy, call-to-action, visual direction, and recommended format. If a draft leans on proof your brand details don't include — a customer quote, a founder story, a results timeline — we hold it back and write a replacement. On the rare run where the replacement doesn't come through in time, you get the ones that passed.

Yes. Each concept is written to run, and the visual direction is something you can make without a studio. We count the hook, copy and call-to-action against the platform: a draft over Google's headline and description caps or TikTok's ad-text cap gets shortened, and on Meta, copy past the point where the feed cuts it off is marked. Each concept shows its counts, and anything still over is marked. Tune the wording to your voice, and check any concept marked "Check this claim" — it lists what your brand details didn't back up.

The playbook covers the 5 essential flows: Welcome Series, Browse Abandonment, Cart Abandonment, Post-Purchase, and Win-Back & Sunset. Each includes strategy breakdowns, subject-line formulas, timing recommendations, and real client teardowns.

Use them as examples to adapt. We’d check your signup promises, product buying cycle, and existing automatic emails before choosing a message or timing. What fits one store may not fit yours.

The playbook explains the strategy behind each email, not just the copy. Create flows in Klaviyo following the timing and structure shown, then adapt the templates to your brand. We show both what to do and why it works.

Yes, completely free. We create these resources to help D2C brands succeed. Enter your email to download the PDF instantly—no credit card, no trial, no catch.

The swipe file covers five essential page types: Homepage (10 annotated sections), Collection Pages, Product Detail Pages (PDPs), Landing Pages, and Cart & Checkout. Each includes section-by-section breakdowns with conversion strategies.

Yes. These are layout strategies and section recommendations, not theme-specific code. Whether you use Dawn, Prestige, or a custom theme, you can implement these principles using your theme's sections and blocks.

The swipe file includes annotated wireframes showing section structure, element placement, and conversion triggers. They're designed as strategic guides, not pixel-perfect designs—you'll apply your own brand aesthetics.

Yes, completely free with instant download. We offer these resources to help Shopify store owners build higher-converting stores. No credit card or purchase required.