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D2C ROAS & Break-Even CAC Calculator
Calculate your exact break-even ROAS, maximum allowable CAC, and target profit margin per order.
D2C ROAS & Unit Economics Calculator
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The maths, in the open.
Gross contribution margin dictates sustainable customer acquisition cost. In Indian D2C, Return to Origin (RTO) on Cash-on-Delivery orders often adds 14% to 22% in fulfillment drag. See Benchmarks.
Questions, answered first
How is Break-Even ROAS calculated?
Break-Even ROAS is calculated as: 1 ÷ (1 - COGS% - Shipping% - Payment Fee%). For example, if your product costs 25%, shipping & RTO is 15%, and payment fees are 2.5%, your direct costs are 42.5%. Your remaining contribution margin is 57.5%. Your break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.575 = 1.74x. Any ROAS above 1.74x generates operational profit.
What is the difference between Break-Even ROAS and Target ROAS?
Break-Even ROAS is the minimum return required to cover manufacturing, logistics, and ad spend without losing money (0% net profit). Target ROAS accounts for your desired bottom-line net profit margin (e.g. 15% to 20%), giving your media buyers an explicit performance target to scale campaigns profitably.
How does Return to Origin (RTO) affect e-commerce ROAS?
Cash-on-Delivery (COD) orders in India frequently experience 15% to 30% RTO rates. When a package is returned, you still pay forward and reverse shipping costs, packaging damage, and the ad spend used to acquire the order. Factoring realistic RTO drag into your shipping inputs prevents scaling campaigns that appear profitable on ad manager dashboards but bleed cash in bank accounts.
Why does blended CAC matter more than platform ROAS?
Ad manager attribution (Meta Pixel or Google Ads) often double-counts conversions or claims credit for organic repeat customers. Blended CAC (Total Ad Spend ÷ Total New Customers) provides your true commercial acquisition cost and guards against signal loss from iOS privacy changes and ad-blockers.
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