What Is Blended CAC and Why It Matters in E-commerce
Berry:Your Marketing Assistant
17 Apr 2025
5 min read
What Is CAC?
CAC stands for Customer Acquisition Cost. It tells you how much money you spend to get one paying customer. This includes all the money spent on marketing and advertising. For example, if you spend $1,000 on Facebook ads and get 50 customers, your CAC is $20. CAC is one of the most important numbers in e-commerce. It helps you understand how much it costs to grow your business.
What Does "Blended" CAC Mean?
Blended CAC is the average cost of getting a customer across all your marketing channels. This includes both paid and unpaid channels. So instead of just looking at Google Ads or Meta Ads, blended CAC includes email marketing, SEO, referrals, influencers, organic social media, and more. It gives you a bigger and more complete view of your overall marketing performance.
Why Is Blended CAC Important for E-commerce Brands?
Many e-commerce businesses use different channels to attract customers. If you only look at one channel, like paid ads, you might miss the full story. Blended CAC helps you understand the real cost of your entire marketing strategy. It’s useful for tracking profitability, especially when you want to scale your brand. If your blended CAC is too high, it means you are spending too much to acquire new customers and your profit will be lower.
How Do You Calculate Blended CAC?
The formula for Blended CAC is simple:
Total Marketing Spend ÷ Total Number of New Customers
Let’s say in one month, you spend $12,000 on marketing (ads, tools, team salaries, agencies, influencers, etc.) and get 600 new customers. Your blended CAC would be:
$12,000 ÷ 600 = $20
This number helps you compare how efficient your overall marketing is over time.
Blended CAC vs. Paid CAC
Paid CAC only looks at how much you pay per customer from ad platforms. Blended CAC includes everything—so it’s usually lower, because it also includes customers from organic channels like SEO or referrals. But both are useful. Paid CAC is good for testing ad performance. Blended CAC is better for understanding your full growth strategy and profit margins.
When Should You Use Blended CAC?
You should track blended CAC when you have multiple sources of customer acquisition. If you run paid ads, send newsletters, work with influencers, and post on social media, blended CAC will help you combine the data and get a clear number. It’s especially helpful for founders, marketers, and growth teams to see the big picture and avoid focusing too much on a single channel.
How to Improve and Lower Your Blended CAC
Lowering your CAC means you can get more profit per customer. Here are some ways to reduce your blended CAC:
Improve your website UX and conversion rate so more visitors buy.
Use email marketing automation to keep customers engaged.
Build strong organic content for SEO and social media.
Test creatives and targeting in your ad platforms.
Mistakes to Avoid with Blended CAC
One common mistake is not including all costs. Brands often forget to include salaries, tools, agencies, and production costs in their total spend. Another mistake is comparing blended CAC to individual ad performance, which can lead to wrong decisions. Always compare blended CAC to your average order value and customer lifetime value to see if your business is healthy.
How Blended CAC Helps You Make Smarter, Long-Term Decisions
Blended CAC is more than just a number—it’s a powerful tool for planning and growing your e-commerce business. When you understand your blended CAC, you can manage your marketing budget more wisely, set clear goals, and focus on the most effective channels. For example, if SEO brings lower-cost customers over time, you can invest more in content. Or if your email flows successfully bring back returning buyers, you can improve those campaigns. Instead of chasing short-term wins, Blended CAC gives you the insight to build long-term success. With Roasberry, you can easily track your blended CAC across all marketing channels in one simple dashboard. You’ll get real-time data without needing manual reports—so you can spend more time optimizing your strategy and less time in spreadsheets.