Why product-market fit matters
It’s the gate before scaling: spend poured on a product without fit buys revenue that churns, while the same spend after fit compounds. Most growth tactics assume fit exists; running them beforehand is the expensive way to learn it doesn’t.
What fit looks like in ecommerce
- Repeat purchases and referrals without bribes
- Reviews describing the exact problem solved, unprompted
- Retention curves flattening instead of sliding to zero
- Word of mouth showing up in “how did you hear about us”
Questions
How do you know fit is missing?
Everything is a push: acquisition costs climb, discounts do the converting, buyers don’t return, and reviews are polite rather than specific. The tell is that growth stops the moment spending does.
How do stores find fit faster?
Narrow and listen: a specific customer with a specific problem, small inventory bets, and obsessive reading of reviews, returns, and repeat behavior. Fit is found in the feedback, not the funding.