ACoS vs TACoS: Measuring Marketplace Advertising Properly
What ACoS and TACoS mean, how to calculate them and how they guide Amazon and Flipkart advertising decisions.
Marketplace sellers often judge ads by ACoS alone. That misses a big part of the story: how advertising affects organic sales.
ACoS
Advertising cost of sales is ad spend divided by ad-attributed sales. If ₹10,000 of ads drive ₹40,000 of sales, ACoS is 25%. Lower ACoS means more efficient ads.
TACoS
Total advertising cost of sales is ad spend divided by total sales. If total sales are ₹1,00,000, the same ₹10,000 gives a TACoS of 10%.
Why TACoS matters
If ads lift product rank, organic sales rise and TACoS falls even when ACoS stays flat. A rising TACoS suggests dependence on ads.
Set targets by margin
Your breakeven ACoS is roughly your margin before ads. Launch campaigns may run above breakeven deliberately; mature products should not.
Review weekly
Track ACoS by campaign and TACoS by product weekly, alongside organic rank for key keywords.
Need help putting this into practice? Gravmo offers Amazon store setup and marketing. Get a proposal or message us on WhatsApp.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ACoS?
It depends on margins and goals; there is no universal number.
Should I stop ads if TACoS is low?
Not necessarily; test reductions carefully and watch rank.
Written and reviewed by Gravmo's marketing team. Read our editorial policy.
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