Merchant discount reduces cash
A platform subsidy is not a merchant discount
Freight and insurance stay separate
Settlement can lag the order
Estimate, then replace from the statement
The two amounts move net sales in opposite directions
A shopper pays 80 for an item listed at 100. If the 20 is a merchant coupon, the merchant receives 20 less. If the 20 is a platform subsidy, the merchant may still receive 100: 80 from the shopper and 20 from the platform. Booking the subsidy as a merchant discount makes that day’s net sales and profit too small, and the campaign looks worse the more the platform pays.
Write three lines: cash from the shopper, merchant discount, and platform subsidy. Net sales equal shopper cash plus the subsidy still expected, minus refunds. The merchant discount is already inside shopper cash. Do not subtract it again. The figures only show direction. IFRS 15 discusses the transaction price with a customer. Platform settlement rules still come from the platform statement, not from the standard alone.
The settlement file is often late
The order closes on Monday. The subsidy may appear on Wednesday’s statement. Counting it on Monday means the number is an estimate. Waiting until settlement makes Monday’s review look like pure discount. Keep two versions: an estimate on the order day, and a replaced figure after settlement. Label both with a date and a status. Do not silently change a daily report that already went out.
Say in advance whether the replacement rewrites the order day or the settlement day. Rewriting the order day changes history and suits a campaign review. Posting on the settlement day keeps history stable and suits a bank reconciliation. A monthly pack can use only one. dbt’s metrics guidance asks for a clear numerator. Here the numerator must say whether the subsidy is estimated or settled.
Freight, insurance, and service fees are not discounts
Freight paid by the shopper, a platform service fee, and shipping insurance are not merchandise discounts. Putting the service fee in the discount column makes product net sales move with fee policy. Keep those amounts in their own columns, and decide later whether gross profit deducts them. That choice belongs on the board.
When one order has a merchant coupon, a platform coupon, and insurance, all three lines should point at the same order. If they do not match, list the unmatched amount. Do not spread it across every product. An unmatched subsidy is neither zero nor pure profit.
Two review paths
Path one uses shopper cash. It suits conversion and order value. It does not suit profit. Path two uses shopper cash plus settled subsidy, minus refunds and the fees you chose to deduct. It suits a weekly profit view. Until settlement arrives, path two should say the subsidy is incomplete, not fill in zero. If a small team can keep only one table, split merchant discount and platform subsidy. Do not merge them into a single number called discount.
Do not freeze a new platform rule back onto every historical month. Old campaigns replay under the old rule. New campaigns use the new rule. Keep the version on the settlement batch.
Counterexamples, acceptance, and the boundary
Counterexamples: a platform subsidy booked as a merchant discount; a late statement that rewrites yesterday’s report with no mark; a service fee mixed into discounts so margin jumps; an unmatched subsidy stored as zero. Replay three orders: merchant coupon only, platform subsidy only, and coupon plus insurance plus a late statement. Check that the subsidy was not subtracted twice, and that both the estimate and the settled figure point back to the order.
BI0.AI can be a candidate place to take orders and settlement files into an operating view. This article does not show that the current release already separates platform subsidies, merchant discounts, and late settlement. Use the fields in the platform export you have.
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