Four levers of revenue, and the two nobody pulls

The formula

Revenue = traffic × conversion × basket × repeat

• Traffic: how many people see you.
• Conversion: how many of them buy.
• Basket: how much they spend each time.
• Repeat: how often they come back.

Where the ideas go

On one client project we sorted a brand’s growth ideas by the lever each one pulled. Nearly all of them sat on traffic and conversion: more ads, more creators, better listings, sharper images. Basket size and repeat purchase had one or two ideas between them.

That is not unusual, and it is not carelessness. Traffic and conversion are the levers every platform dashboard puts in front of you, and the ones every tool and agency sells. Basket and repeat are quieter.

Every seller is fighting over traffic. Two of the four levers are sitting there untouched.

Why the quiet levers matter

The levers multiply, so small gains compound. Ten per cent better on all four is not forty per cent more revenue. It is about forty-six per cent, because 1.1 × 1.1 × 1.1 × 1.1 = 1.46.

And the last two do not ask you to pay to win the customer again. They work on people who have already bought.

What pulling them looks like

Basket

• Bundles and multi-packs of things people already buy together.
• On your own store, a free delivery threshold set just above your typical order.
• The right add-on, shown at the moment someone is already buying.

Repeat

• Products people run out of, with a reminder timed to when they do.
• Follow-up after the first order that helps them use the product, not just sells them the next one.
• Subscribe and save, where the platform offers it.

A service business has the same four under different names: enquiries, win rate, deal size and retention.

Try it on your own plan

List every growth idea on your plan. Tag each with one lever. Count them. If one or two levers hold nearly everything, the open ground is in the others.