Glossary · Ads
Cost per acquisition (CPA)
What the ads cost for each order they brought. The most an order can cost is what it contributes before ads.
- Orders68July 2026
- Ads per order€17.35if all came from ads
- Break-even CPA€60.38the most an order can cost
01 / How it is worked out
The formula
Formula
Ad spend ÷ orders from the ads · break-even CPA = contribution before ads ÷ orders
Example
The example store’s orders each left €60.38 before ads in July 2026; an order bought for more than that lost money.
02 / Why it matters
What it changes in a decision
CPA is break-even ROAS written in money: one says how many euros of sales each euro of ads must bring, the other how many euros of ads each order can bear.
A first order that costs more than it contributes can still pay if the customer comes back — that is a bet on lifetime value, and it should be made knowingly.
03 / Go further
Where it is used
Break-even ROAS calculator
The ROAS below which an ad loses money on every order.
Open →Customer lifetime value
What a customer is worth over every order they place, not just the first — best counted in what the orders kept, not in what they sold.
Open →Next: Average order value (AOV)
Sales divided by the number of orders. What one order is worth as the customer paid it — not what it left.
Open →
See every one of these on your own store.
Profflow works them out from your orders, ads and costs, order by order — read-only, in about ten minutes.