Glossary · Ads
ROAS (return on ad spend)
The sales a platform says its ads brought, divided by what the ads cost. It measures revenue, not profit.
- Ad spend€1,180July 2026, example store
- Sales€7,940all channels
- Break-even ROAS1.93×the line ROAS has to clear
01 / How it is worked out
The formula
Formula
Sales attributed to the ads ÷ ad spend
Example
A campaign that spent €1,000 and is credited with €3,000 in sales has a ROAS of 3.00× — whether those sales made money depends on their margin.
02 / Why it matters
What it changes in a decision
Each platform counts the sales it believes it caused, by its own rules, so one order can be claimed by Meta and Google at once. The sales also include the VAT in Europe and the UK, which the store does not keep.
ROAS is useful only next to the line it has to clear: the break-even ROAS of the products the ads sell.
03 / Go further
Where it is used
Break-even ROAS
The ROAS below which an ad loses money on every order.
Open →Ads on margin
Every campaign judged on what its orders kept, not on what the platform claims.
Open →Next: Break-even ROAS
The ROAS at which an ad’s orders leave exactly nothing: below it, every order the ads bring in loses money.
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.