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CAC benchmarks for ecommerce brands only make sense when margin and repeat purchase are included.
CAC means customer acquisition cost. If a store spends 12,000 on marketing and gets 300 new customers, CAC is 40. That number is healthy only if the customer creates enough gross profit over time.
Example: A brand with 65% gross margin and strong repeat purchase may support a higher CAC than a brand with 30% margin and one-time purchases.
Benchmarks should also be separated by channel. Branded search, paid social prospecting, affiliate, influencer, and retargeting campaigns do not carry the same acquisition job.
Use the CAC Calculator at /tools/cac-calculator, then compare with LTV at /tools/ltv-calculator and Payback Period at /tools/payback-period-calculator.
CAC benchmarks for ecommerce brands
CAC benchmarks for ecommerce depend on margin, repeat purchase, paid channel mix, and customer lifetime value.
CAC means customer acquisition cost. If a store spends 12,000 on marketing and gets 300 new customers, CAC is 40. That number is healthy only if the customer creates enough gross profit over time.
Example: A brand with 65% gross margin and strong repeat purchase may support a higher CAC than a brand with 30% margin and one-time purchases.
Benchmarks should also be separated by channel. Branded search, paid social prospecting, affiliate, influencer, and retargeting campaigns do not carry the same acquisition job.
Use the CAC Calculator at /tools/cac-calculator, then compare with LTV at /tools/ltv-calculator and Payback Period at /tools/payback-period-calculator.
CAC
ecommerce
Paid Marketing
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Useful tools
CAC Calculator
Calculate customer acquisition cost from total sales and marketing spend and the number of new customers acquired.
LTV Calculator
Calculate customer lifetime value from average order value, purchase frequency, customer lifespan, margin, and CAC.
Payback Period Calculator
Calculate customer acquisition payback period from CAC, monthly revenue per customer, and gross margin.
MER Calculator
Calculate marketing efficiency ratio from total revenue and total marketing spend for blended paid marketing performance.
CPA Calculator
Calculate cost per acquisition from ad spend and acquisitions or conversions for paid marketing campaigns.
AOV Calculator
Calculate average order value from total revenue and number of orders for ecommerce, ads, and store performance reporting.