Building a Unified Revenue Language: GMV and NMV

A rising e-commerce company with both physical stores and a growing online presence partnered with Blyze Labs to define and implement two new foundational metrics: Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and Net Merchandise Value (NMV). These metrics gave the company a clearer view of its true revenue by factoring in returns, exchanges, and third-party app data. The result: better alignment across departments, accurate financial reporting, and a shared language around performance.

At Glance

• 2 new financial metrics (GMV & NMV) developed and implemented

• Integrated Shopify + 3rd-party apps for accurate return/exchange logic

• Partnered with CFO to redefine internal financial reporting

• Unified metric definitions across all business units

Industry: E-commerce / Omnichannel Retail

Tech Stack: Shopify · Third-Party Apps · Internal BI Platforms

Problem/Goal

The company lacked a consistent definition of revenue. Each team had its own interpretation of sales performance—creating confusion, reporting mismatches, and misaligned KPIs. The finance team, in particular, struggled to track true revenue after accounting for returns and exchanges from Shopify and external tools.

The objectives were clear:

• Define and implement GMV and NMV metrics

• Incorporate returns, exchanges, and discounts into calculations

• Standardize reporting logic across teams and platforms

• Align leadership and operational teams under shared definitions

Solution

Blyze Labs led the end-to-end development and implementation in close partnership with the company’s CFO and analytics team. Our work spanned four key initiatives:

Metric Definition & Alignment:

Developed robust GMV and NMV formulas, accounting for complexities like partial refunds, multi-channel sales, and app-driven exchanges.

Data Integration:

Mapped and combined data from Shopify and various third-party tools to ensure accuracy.

Platform Implementation:

Rolled out the new metrics across dashboards, reports, and self-serve tools used by operations, finance, marketing, and executive teams.

Cross-Team Training:

Conducted workshops and documentation sessions to help all teams adopt the new metric logic and apply it consistently.

dbt models built for the project

Result

The company now operates with a single version of the truth when it comes to sales and revenue, driving better decisions and internal trust:

• 📈 Two standardized metrics (GMV & NMV) adopted across the org

• 🔄 Automated logic for returns/exchanges, fully integrated with Shopify

• 🧑‍💼 CFO-level collaboration reshaped how revenue is reported

• 📊 Consistent reporting across teams, reducing confusion and misalignment
  
  
  

  

LookML file for consolidated model