Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for Ecommerce: How to Calculate It and What’s a Good Number
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the average amount you spend to win one new customer. To calculate it, divide your total sales and marketing spend in a period by the number of new customers you gained in that same period. The number becomes useful when you compare it with what each customer is worth.
How to calculate customer acquisition cost
The formula is simple: CAC = total sales and marketing spend ÷ new customers. Use one period, such as a month, for both numbers.
Count everything you pay to win customers: ads, marketing tools, agency or freelancer fees, content creation and the salaries of the people who do the marketing. Shopify’s CAC guide also counts discounts and promotional offers.
A worked example for a small store in one month:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ad spend | $6,000 |
| Email tool and agency | $1,500 |
| Content and creative | $500 |
| Total acquisition spend | $8,000 |
| New customers | 160 |
| CAC ($8,000 ÷ 160) | $50 |
What is the average customer acquisition cost for ecommerce?
There is no single average. CAC varies by industry, price point and channel, and published figures differ widely.
One widely cited benchmark puts ecommerce CAC at $53 to $91 per customer, depending on the industry. First Page Sage, a US marketing agency, based its figures on data from more than 80 of its clients between 2020 and 2025: food and beverage at $53, fashion and apparel at $66 and jewelry at $91.
Source: First Page Sage, Average CAC for eCommerce Companies, 2025
A lifetime value (LTV) to CAC ratio of 3:1 to 5:1 is a common benchmark. Shopify says a ratio in that range means your acquisition is working efficiently. Treat it as a rule of thumb, not a law.
Source: Shopify, Customer Acquisition Cost guide (accessed September 2026)
Blended CAC vs. paid CAC, and a common counting mistake
Blended CAC divides all acquisition spend by all new customers, including those who found you through search, email or word of mouth. Paid CAC divides only ad spend by the customers those ads brought in. Paid CAC is usually higher, so track both.
The mistake to avoid is dividing by orders instead of new customers. Repeat orders inflate the count and make your CAC look better than it is. Count first-time buyers only.
Is your CAC good? Compare it with your margin
Compare CAC with first-order margin. If a first order earns $30 in profit after product and shipping costs, a $50 CAC means you lose $20 on the first sale.
Work out your payback. At $30 profit per order, this store needs about two orders to earn back $50. That works if most customers reorder within a few months, but not if they rarely return.
Check your LTV to CAC ratio. Divide the profit a customer brings over their lifetime by CAC. Around 3:1 is a popular target, but a lower ratio with fast payback can be healthier than a higher one with slow payback.
To find the minimum return your ads need to cover their cost, try the free break-even ROAS calculator.
How to lower your customer acquisition cost
Raise conversion rate. With the same spend, lifting conversion from 2% to 2.5% brings in 25% more customers, which cuts CAC by 20%. Start with our guide on how to increase conversion without more traffic and see how you compare in ecommerce conversion rate by industry.
Recover abandoned carts. Each recovered cart is a sale from a visitor you already paid to bring in. See abandoned cart emails that convert.
Build trust with reviews. Visible reviews help a lesser-known store convert first-time visitors. Read why reviews sell more than discounts.
Make each customer worth more. Bundles, a free-shipping threshold and follow-up emails raise profit per customer without new ad spend. This does not lower CAC, but it lets you afford a higher one.
CAC is not a number to push as low as possible. It is a number to compare with profit. A store that pays $50 for a customer worth $200 is healthier than one paying $10 for a customer worth $15.
About Patrik Vavrovič
Key takeaways
CAC equals total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers in the same period.
First Page Sage’s 2025 benchmarks put ecommerce CAC at $53 to $91 depending on the industry, but your own margins are the real benchmark.
Count first-time buyers only, and track blended and paid CAC separately.
Judge CAC against first-order margin and payback. A 3:1 LTV to CAC ratio is a rule of thumb, not a law.
FAQ
What is customer acquisition cost in ecommerce?
What is a good customer acquisition cost?
What is a good LTV to CAC ratio?
What is the difference between blended CAC and paid CAC?
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