Understanding Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) on Amazon

Understanding Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) on Amazon

Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) on Amazon is a critical metric used to evaluate the effectiveness of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. It calculates the ratio of advertising spend to sales revenue generated through PPC campaigns, providing insights into campaign efficiency and profitability. ACOS helps Amazon sellers assess the performance of their Sponsored Products ads and make informed decisions about advertising strategies.

While achieving high sales volume and a low ACOS may seem ideal, there are nuances to consider that affect campaign success. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the significance of Amazon ACOS, its role in advertising campaigns, and why it's essential for Amazon sellers to prioritize and optimize this metric effectively.

Calculating ACOS

The process of determining Amazon ACOS involves dividing the advertising spend by the advertising revenue generated and converting the result into a percentage.

image1 | Understanding Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) on Amazon | Winclicks: Amazon Seller Tools
For instance:

if your ad campaign expenditure amounted to $50 and it yielded $100 in revenue, your Amazon ACOS would be 50%.

ACOS = (ad spend ÷ ad revenue) x 100

Additionally, Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) is computed by dividing the advertising revenue by the advertising spend.

Understanding ROAS

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) represents the inverse of Amazon ACOS. It is computed by dividing the advertising revenue by the advertising spend. Using the example provided earlier, the ROAS would be 2.

Understanding the Distinction between ACOS and ROAS

ROAS provides insight into the anticipated revenue generated by an ad campaign, while Amazon ACOS indicates the percentage of increase. Although both metrics measure the same parameters, they present the information in slightly different formats. Therefore, examining both metrics can offer a holistic understanding of the performance of your ad campaigns.

Determining a Favorable ACOS

Pinpointing a specific benchmark for a favorable Amazon ACOS is elusive. It varies based on factors such as industry, company size, and campaign frequency, among others. Rather than fixating on a predetermined figure, evaluating a favorable Amazon ACOS entails considering the following components.

Grasping Profit Margins

For companies, the objective is to either break even or generate profits from their products or advertising efforts. The profit margin represents the disparity between these two aspects—it signifies the earnings exceeding the costs of product production and any other associated expenses incurred by your brand.

Break-even ACOS

The break-even ACOS is intricately tied to your profit margin. To sustain profitability, your Amazon ACOS must be lower than your profit margin. Otherwise, you risk spending more on advertisements than you're earning, which could impact your bottom line negatively.

How to Lower ACOS

If your expenditure on ad campaigns exceeds your earnings, it's essential to work on reducing your Amazon ACOS or increasing your revenue. Analyzing successful and unsuccessful ad campaigns can pinpoint areas for optimization and cost reduction. Additionally, ensure that you're targeting the right keywords to broaden your campaign's reach. For Sponsored Brands advertising, it's advisable to incorporate a minimum of 25 keywords, including phrases, broad keywords, and specific product or brand names. Utilizing a diverse range of keywords will help you reach your target audience more effectively.

Evaluating Appropriate Metrics

While Amazon ACOS serves as a vital key performance indicator (KPI) for businesses, there are several other advertising metrics worth considering. These include impressions, conversion rate (CVR), and click-through rate (CTR). While Amazon ACOS provides a solid starting point, it's advantageous to analyze multiple metrics to ascertain what strategies work best for your business and identify areas for further enhancement.

Establishing Target ACOS

Every brand is unique and will have its own target ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales). However, the initial objective should be to attain a break-even ACOS and juxtapose it with your profit margin. Subsequently, you can ascertain which goal holds the utmost significance for your brands and campaigns: Is it boosting sales? Is it enhancing brand awareness? Upon making a decision, you can then gauge the significance of Amazon ACOS within your marketing strategy.

Why Avoid Excessive Focus on ACOS

Once more, it's essential not to overly fixate on Amazon ACOS as the primary metric for your campaigns. It represents just one aspect of advertising endeavors for Amazon sellers and fails to account for the variations among different campaigns. For instance, new campaigns often exhibit higher ACOS due to their novelty. However, this doesn't signify a failure; rather, it underscores the importance of considering diverse Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

FAQ
  • A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving its key business objectives. KPIs are used to evaluate the success of an organization in reaching its strategic and operational goals. They provide valuable insights into various aspects of performance and enable businesses to track progress, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. KPIs can vary depending on the nature of the business and its objectives but typically focus on critical areas such as revenue, profitability, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.


  • Advertising metrics are quantitative measurements used to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of advertising campaigns. These metrics provide insights into various aspects of advertising performance, helping businesses assess the impact of their marketing efforts and optimize their strategies for better results. Common advertising metrics include:


    • Impressions: The number of times an ad is displayed or viewed by users.
    • Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on an ad after seeing it, calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions and multiplying by 100.
    • Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form, after clicking on an ad.
    • Cost Per Click (CPC): The average cost paid for each click on an ad.
    • Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): The average cost incurred to acquire a customer, calculated by dividing the total advertising spend by the number of conversions.
    • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated from advertising campaigns compared to the amount spent on those campaigns, often expressed as a ratio or percentage.
    • Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS): The ratio of advertising spend to sales revenue generated through advertising campaigns, typically used in e-commerce contexts like Amazon.

    These metrics help advertisers measure the performance, effectiveness, and return on investment (ROI) of their advertising efforts, allowing them to optimize campaigns, allocate budgets more effectively, and achieve their marketing objectives.

  • The Conversion Rate (CVR) is a key performance metric that measures the percentage of website visitors or users who complete a desired action or goal, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form. It is calculated by dividing the number of conversions (desired actions) by the total number of visitors or interactions, and then multiplying by 100 to express it as a percentage.

    CVR = (Number of Conversions / Total Number of Visitors or Interactions) x 100

    image1 | Understanding Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) on Amazon | Winclicks: Amazon Seller Tools
    For example:

    if a website receives 1,000 visitors in a month and 50 of them make a purchase, the conversion rate would be calculated as:

    CVR = (50 / 1000) x 100 = 5%

    A higher conversion rate indicates that a larger proportion of visitors are taking the desired action, which is typically indicative of a more effective website or marketing campaign. Conversely, a lower conversion rate may suggest that there are barriers or issues preventing visitors from completing the desired action, and optimization efforts may be needed to improve performance.


  • Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a digital marketing model in which advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It is a way of buying visits to a website rather than earning those visits organically. PPC ads are displayed on search engine results pages (such as Google or Bing) or on websites and social media platforms where advertisers bid on specific keywords or target audiences.

    In PPC advertising, advertisers set a maximum bid amount they are willing to pay for a click on their ad and compete with other advertisers bidding on the same keywords or targeting similar audiences. Ad placement is typically determined through an auction-based system, with factors such as bid amount, ad quality, and relevance influencing ad rank and visibility.

    PPC advertising offers advertisers several benefits, including:


    • Immediate Results: PPC campaigns can drive targeted traffic to a website almost instantly, making it an effective strategy for generating leads and sales quickly.
    • Targeted Advertising: Advertisers can target specific keywords, demographics, interests, and behaviors to reach their desired audience, ensuring that their ads are seen by relevant users.
    • Measurable ROI: PPC platforms provide detailed analytics and reporting tools that allow advertisers to track the performance of their campaigns in real-time, including metrics such as clicks, conversions, and return on investment (ROI).
    • Budget Control: Advertisers have control over their advertising budget and can set daily or monthly spending limits to ensure they don't exceed their budget.
    • Flexibility and Optimization: PPC campaigns can be easily adjusted, optimized, and scaled based on performance and changing business goals, allowing advertisers to continually improve their campaigns for better results.

      Overall, PPC advertising is a cost-effective and efficient way for businesses to reach their target audience, drive website traffic, and achieve their marketing objectives.


    Successful Amazon SEO optimization helps products get more attention from buyers and increase their sales on the platform.

  • Sponsored Products is a type of advertising program offered by Amazon that allows sellers to promote their products directly within Amazon's search results and product detail pages. It operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where advertisers bid on specific keywords or product categories to have their ads displayed to relevant shoppers.

    Here's how Sponsored Products works:


    • Ad Creation: Sellers create ad campaigns by selecting the products they want to promote and choosing the keywords or product targets they want to target. They also set a budget and bid amount for each keyword or target.
    • Keyword Targeting: Advertisers can target their ads based on specific keywords that shoppers are likely to use when searching for products on Amazon. They can choose from broad match, phrase match, or exact match targeting options to control the relevance and specificity of their ads.
    • Product Targeting: In addition to keyword targeting, advertisers can also target their ads based on specific products or categories. This allows them to show their ads to shoppers who are browsing or purchasing similar products on Amazon.
    • Ad Placement: Sponsored Products ads appear in relevant search results and product detail pages on Amazon. They are labeled as "Sponsored" to distinguish them from organic search results.
    • Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Bidding: Advertisers only pay when shoppers click on their ads. They bid on keywords or product targets, and the cost of each click is determined by the bid amount and the competition for that keyword or target.
    • Performance Monitoring: Advertisers can track the performance of their Sponsored Products campaigns in real-time using Amazon's advertising dashboard. They can monitor metrics such as clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and advertising cost of sales (ACOS) to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

    Sponsored Products is a powerful advertising tool for sellers looking to increase visibility and sales for their products on Amazon. By strategically targeting relevant keywords and products, sellers can reach shoppers at the moment they are ready to make a purchase, driving traffic and conversions for their listings.