How to Calculate CAC — Customer Acquisition Cost Formula & Calculator
CAC is what it costs to win ONE new customer — total marketing & sales spend divided by new customers gained.
The formula
CAC = Total Acquisition Spend ÷ New CustomersCalculate it live
What it means for your business
CAC only makes sense next to LTV: if LTV is 3× CAC you usually have a healthy unit economy; below 1× you lose money on every customer.
Machine-readable markdown
Copy this block into any AI assistant, spreadsheet, or automation — it is the canonical definition of this term.
**Category:** Acquisition
**Slug:** /glossary/cac/
## Definition (easy to understand)
CAC is what it costs to win ONE new customer — total marketing & sales spend divided by new customers gained.
## Formula
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CAC = Total Acquisition Spend ÷ New Customers
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## What it means for your business
CAC only makes sense next to LTV: if LTV is 3× CAC you usually have a healthy unit economy; below 1× you lose money on every customer.
## Source
Socialee eCommerce Glossary — https://ecommerce.socialee.in/glossary/
How to calculate, quickly
How do you calculate customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
CAC = total marketing & sales spend ÷ new customers acquired in the period. Example: ₹5,00,000 spend / 250 new customers = ₹2,000 CAC. Use the calculator above with your real numbers.
What is a good CAC for ecommerce?
Guided by LTV: healthy is LTV:CAC ≥ 3:1. Below 1.5:1 you’re burning cash on acquisition; above 5:1 you may be under-investing in a channel that works. CAC only makes sense next to LTV — they are one system.
Related terms
LTV: CAC Simulator
Interactive model