Gross merchandise value

The total value of goods sold through a marketplace, before any deduction. It is not the platform's revenue.

A marketplace with ₹8,500 crore of gross merchandise value and a take rate of 8% earns ₹680 crore of net revenue.

The distinction matters because valuing a marketplace on gross merchandise value values somebody else's sales. A platform can double this figure by subsidising the customer, and several Indian consumer internet companies did exactly that while their contribution margin stayed negative, which is growth bought rather than earned.

Definitions are elastic. Some companies include cancelled orders, some include returns, some include the value of goods sold by their own inventory arm alongside third-party sales.

Value the take, not the flow.

It is not revenue. It is somebody else's sales.