Attribution & Analytics
How to Calculate CAC for a Shopify Store
A practical CAC calculation answers: how much did we spend to acquire each new customer?
Basic formula
Customer Acquisition Cost = acquisition costs ÷ new customers acquired
If you spend $30,000 on acquisition during a month and acquire 600 first-time customers, CAC is $50.
Decide which costs belong in the numerator
A narrow paid-media CAC might include only advertising. A fully loaded CAC might include:
- Meta/Google spend
- agency fees
- creative production
- marketing payroll
- acquisition software
- sales commissions where relevant
Use the version that matches the business question and label it clearly.
Use new customers, not orders
If 800 orders came from 600 new customers and 200 returning customers, dividing by all 800 understates new-customer acquisition cost.
Compare CAC with contribution and LTV
CAC is not good or bad in isolation. A $100 CAC can be excellent for a customer who generates $500 lifetime contribution and terrible for one who produces $70.
Track CAC over time and by channel where attribution allows, but keep a blended company view too.
Want to know what the number actually means?
If you know your ad CPA but not your true new-customer CAC, contact us. We can connect Shopify customer data with marketing cost.