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How to Calculate ROAS: A Simple Guide for Webshop Owners

How to Calculate ROAS: A Simple Guide for Webshop Owners

If you’re running Facebook ads for your webshop, there’s one number you absolutely need to know: ROAS.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is the key metric that shows whether your campaigns are making money or just burning your budget. In this blog, we’ll explain what ROAS is, how to calculate it, and what a good ROAS looks like for e-commerce brands like yours.

1. What is ROAS?

ROAS stands for Return on Ad Spend. It tells you how much revenue you generate for every euro you spend on ads.

Formula:
ROAS = Revenue from ads ÷ Cost of ads

Example:
If you spend €1,000 on Facebook ads and generate €4,000 in sales, your ROAS is €4,000 ÷ €1,000 = 4.0 (or 400%). That means you earn four euros for every one you spend.

2. Why ROAS Matters

Unlike metrics like clicks or impressions, ROAS shows what really matters — are your ads making money?

ROAS helps you:

  • Compare campaigns
  • Decide where to scale or pause
  • Clearly track profitability

Without ROAS, you’re guessing. With ROAS, you’re making data-driven decisions.

3. What Is a Good ROAS for a Webshop?

It depends on your profit margins, but here’s a general guide:

  • ROAS of 1.0 = break-even
  • ROAS of 2.0 = minimal acceptable return
  • ROAS of 3.0+ = strong performance
  • ROAS of 5.0+ = excellent for most webshops

Just remember: a “good” ROAS is one that leaves profit after product, shipping, and other costs. Some brands break even only at 2.5 ROAS.

4. What ROAS Doesn’t Show You

ROAS is helpful, but it’s not the whole picture. It doesn’t tell you:

  • Customer lifetime value (LTV)
  • If the buyers are new or returning
  • Your true profit per order

That’s why we at Brandvertisers use ROAS alongside other metrics like CPA (cost per acquisition), AOV (average order value), and long-term customer value.

5. How to Track ROAS the Right Way

To measure ROAS accurately, your tracking setup needs to be solid:

  • Install Meta Pixel or Conversion API properly
  • Track actual purchases, not just cart views
  • Make sure data matches between ads and your webshop
  • Separate cold traffic from retargeting in your campaigns

Broken tracking = unreliable ROAS. We often see brands misjudge performance because of missing or duplicate data.

Final Thoughts: ROAS Is a Tool, Not the Goal

ROAS isn’t everything — but it’s one of the clearest signals to know if your ads are doing their job. It helps protect your budget, make better decisions, and grow in a controlled way.

Want to improve your ROAS?

Get in touch.

At Brandvertisers, we help e-commerce brands turn underperforming ad accounts into profitable engines — with sharp data, smart targeting, and high-converting creatives.