What is customer acquisition cost?
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total you spend on sales and marketing to win one new customer. $20,000 of spend that brings 400 new customers is a $50 CAC. Compare it with what a customer returns (LTV) and how fast (payback) to know whether growth spend is working.
What to include in CAC
| Include |
Exclude |
| Ad spend across all channels |
Coste de los productos |
| Agency and freelancer fees |
Payment processing |
| Marketing and sales salaries |
Retention and loyalty spend (keep separate) |
| Marketing software and tools |
Customer support |
| Creative production |
Brand spend with no acquisition goal (debatable) |
| Discounts and promo costs on first orders |
|
Blended CAC (all spend ÷ all new customers) is the honest number for finance. Paid CAC (paid spend ÷ customers from paid channels) is the useful number for channel decisions. Report both.
CAC benchmarks
Ecommerce, apparel$45 to $130 Ecommerce, beauty$50 to $150 Consumer electronics$100 to $250 Subscription boxes$60 to $200 Benchmarks vary widely by channel and ticket. The better test is the ratio: a $150 CAC is fine on a $600 LTV and ruinous on a $200 LTV.
CAC payback and why net margin matters
Payback is CAC divided by the gross margin a customer generates each month. The calculator computes that margin net of refunds and chargebacks when the toggle is on, because an order that comes back pays down none of the acquisition cost.
Monthly margin per customer
$36
$60 × 60% margin
Net of refunds and disputes
$34.74
3% refunds, 0.5% disputes
Payback
1.4 months
target under 12 for subscriptions
12 months
Common CAC payback ceiling for subscription businesses
Ecommerce with repeat purchases often targets 3 to 6 months. First-order profitability (payback under 1 month) is rare outside high-margin categories.
The calculator also shows how many customers the period's spend needs to break even within a year: spend ÷ (monthly net margin × 12). On the example, $20,000 ÷ ($34.74 × 12) is 48 customers. Everything above that is growth the spend paid for.
Customers who charge back were never acquired
CAC divides spend by new customers. A first order that is refunded or charged back adds a customer to the denominator who returned nothing. Count them and CAC looks better than it is.
400
new customers reported
$50.00 CAC
−12
first orders refunded
3% refund rate
−2
first orders charged back
0.5% dispute rate
386
customers kept
$51.81 CAC per kept customer
The gap is small at average rates and large in categories where first-order disputes run high: digital goods, trials that convert to paid, and anything sold on discount-heavy paid social. A charged-back first order also carries a dispute fee and counts against the dispute ratio card networks monitor, so the lost customer costs more than the unrecovered CAC.
Common CAC mistakes
| Mistake |
Effect |
Corregir |
| Counting repeat buyers as new |
CAC understated |
Count first orders only; track blended and new CAC separately |
| Spend and customers from different months |
CAC swings month to month |
Match the period, or use a 90-day lag for long consideration cycles |
| Leaving out salaries, tools and creative |
Paid CAC mistaken for fully loaded CAC |
Report both, label which one you quote |
| Ignoring first-order discounts |
CAC understated by the discount |
Add the discount or free-shipping cost per first order |
| Counting refunded or disputed first orders |
CAC understated, payback overstated |
Divide by customers kept, as above |
| One blended number for every channel |
Hides a channel that lost money |
Paid CAC by channel, monthly |
How to lower customer acquisition cost
Fix conversion rate before buying trafficA 2.5% to 3% lift on the same spend cuts CAC by 17% with no new budget.
Shift budget to channels with better LTV, not just lower CACSearch customers often cost more and return two to three times the LTV of paid social.
Grow referral and organic shareReferred customers typically cost a third of paid CAC and churn less.
Raise first-order AOVPayback happens on margin; a higher first order shortens it immediately.
Cut post-purchase lossesRefunds and chargebacks on first orders are CAC with no return. Clear policies and fast support are the cheapest fix.
Measure by cohort monthlyBlended CAC hides channel drift. Track paid CAC by channel by month.
Preguntas frecuentes
How do you calculate customer acquisition cost?
Divide total sales and marketing spend in a period by the number of new customers acquired in the same period. $20,000 ÷ 400 = $50 CAC.
What is a good customer acquisition cost?
One that is a third or less of customer lifetime value (LTV:CAC of 3:1 or better) and pays back within 12 months for subscriptions, or within a few orders for ecommerce.
What is CAC payback period?
The months it takes a customer's gross margin to repay their acquisition cost. $50 CAC ÷ $36 monthly margin = 1.4 months.
Should CAC include salaries?
Fully loaded CAC includes marketing and sales salaries, tools and agency fees. Paid CAC includes only media spend. Use fully loaded for finance and paid for channel decisions.
How do refunds and chargebacks affect CAC?
They do not change CAC itself but they reduce the margin that pays it back. A first order that is charged back leaves the full CAC unrecovered plus a dispute fee.
What is the difference between CAC and cost per acquisition (CPA)?
CPA usually measures the cost of any conversion (a lead, a trial, an order), often per channel. CAC measures the cost of a new paying customer across all spend.
What is a good CAC percentage?
Two versions are common. CAC as a share of lifetime value should be 33% or less, which is the 3:1 ratio. CAC as a share of first-order revenue shows whether the first order pays for itself: a $50 CAC on a $75 first order is 67%, so payback depends on repeat orders. Keep the first-order version under 100% unless repeat rates are proven.
What is a typical customer acquisition cost?
Ecommerce CAC usually lands between $30 and $150 per customer, with apparel and beauty at the low end and electronics and subscription boxes higher. SaaS runs from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Published benchmarks are survey-based and vary by channel mix, so treat them as a sanity check, not a target.
Fuentes
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