Ecommerce advertising benchmark studies
Aggregated advertiser data placing average ecommerce ROAS at approximately 2.9x in 2025, with Google Ads averaging 4.5x and Meta averaging 2.2x across platforms.
Return on Ad Spend
Marketing ROI Calculator: See What Every Rupee Could Earn Back
This free marketing ROI calculator projects sector wise return on ad spend using statistical and actuarial style forecasting techniques, calibrated against publicly published industry benchmark research including ecommerce advertising benchmark studies, Nielsen's Marketing Effectiveness Study and HubSpot's State of Marketing report. It is a directional planning tool, not a guarantee of results for any individual business.
₹1,00,000
₹10K₹20L
Estimated revenue generated
₹0
for every ₹1 spent, campaigns in this sector typically return ₹0.00
Monthly spend
₹0
Revenue generated
₹0
Net return
₹0
ROAS
0.0x
Six month spend and revenue trajectory
| Month | Spend (₹) | Revenue (₹) |
|---|
Sector ROAS estimates are modelled on published industry benchmark research (ecommerce advertising benchmark studies, Nielsen's Marketing Effectiveness Study and HubSpot's State of Marketing report), overlaid with an optimisation ramp typical of a new campaign's first six months. Actual results vary by market, competition and execution.
The Formula
How Return On Ad Spend Is Calculated
ROAS is the simplest number in marketing and the most frequently misread. Here is exactly what the calculator above is doing, and what the result does and does not tell you.
The calculation itself
Return on ad spend, or ROAS, is revenue attributable to advertising divided by the cost of that advertising. Spend ₹1,00,000 and generate ₹4,00,000 in attributable revenue and your ROAS is 4.0x, usually written as 4:1. The calculator above multiplies your monthly spend by a sector benchmark to project revenue, then subtracts spend to show net return.
ROAS is not ROI
This is where most reporting goes wrong. ROAS measures revenue against ad spend only. ROI measures profit against total cost, which includes cost of goods, fulfilment, agency fees and platform charges. A 4.0x ROAS on a product carrying a 20% gross margin is losing money. Always sanity check a ROAS figure against your actual margin before deciding a campaign is working.
Break even ROAS depends entirely on your margin
Your break even point is one divided by your gross margin. At a 25% margin you need 4.0x just to stand still. At a 50% margin you break even at 2.0x. At an 80% margin, typical of software and many services, 1.25x covers your costs. This is why a "good" ROAS is meaningless as a universal number and why we set a target return per business rather than quoting an industry figure.
Attribution changes the answer
Platform reported ROAS inside Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads will almost always be higher than what GA4 or your accounting system shows, because each platform claims credit for conversions it influenced. The gap is normal. What matters is picking one source of truth, usually GA4, and measuring consistently against it rather than switching to whichever dashboard tells the better story.
New campaigns do not start at their benchmark
The six month trajectory in the chart above applies an optimisation ramp for exactly this reason. Early weeks fund learning: the platform is gathering conversion data, creative is being tested and audiences are still being narrowed. Judging a campaign on month one performance is the single most common reason good campaigns get switched off too early.
Where The Numbers Come From
Our Methodology
We don't invent ROAS figures. Each sector average below is calibrated against real, publicly published research rather than guesswork.
Nielsen's Marketing Effectiveness Study
An analysis of over one thousand campaigns across consumer goods, retail and financial services, showing measurable ROI gains for brands that centralise analytics and adjust spend in real time.
HubSpot's State of Marketing report
Annual survey data on channel performance and ROI across industries, used to sense check our SaaS, retail and services sector estimates.
These figures are sector wide averages intended for planning purposes. They are not a forecast or a promise of performance for any specific business, and actual return depends on your market, your competition and your execution.