When analyzing your Amazon Ads performance in Strique, two metrics often appear side by side: ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales) and ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
Both are essential for evaluating the efficiency of your ad campaigns—but they measure success from opposite perspectives. Understanding how they work (and how they differ) is key to making informed decisions about how you spend, scale, or optimize your Amazon advertising budget.
Let’s break down what each metric means, how it’s calculated in Strique, and when to use which.
What Is ACoS?
ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales) tells you what percentage of your sales revenue went toward advertising.
It answers the question: How much do I need to spend on ads to make one dollar in sales?
Formula:
ACoS = (Ad Spend ÷ Sales Revenue) × 100
In Strique’s Amazon reports, Sales Revenue here refers to Total Sales, which includes the actual transaction amount from the customer (including taxes and shipping).
Example:
If you spent $100 on ads and generated $500 in total sales:
ACoS = (100 ÷ 500) × 100 = 20%
This means you're spending 20 cents on advertising for every dollar earned.
How to interpret it:
Lower ACoS = more cost-efficient advertising
Higher ACoS = you're spending more to acquire each sale
Use ACoS to understand how much of your revenue is being consumed by ad costs
What Is ROAS?
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) measures how much revenue you generate for every dollar spent on advertising.
It answers the question: What am I getting back for every dollar I put into ads?
Formula:
ROAS = Sales Revenue ÷ Ad Spend
Again, in Strique, the Sales Revenue is Total Sales, so the number accurately reflects your earnings on Amazon—including all price components, minus any returns.
Example:
If you spent $100 on ads and made $500 in sales:
ROAS = 500 ÷ 100 = 5
This means for every $1 you spent, you earned $5 in return.
How to interpret it:
Higher ROAS = better campaign performance
Lower ROAS = lower return per ad dollar
ROAS is ideal for understanding value generation and scaling potential
Key Differences Between ACoS and ROAS
While they’re closely related, ACoS and ROAS move in opposite directions:
Metric | Measures | Preferred Direction | Unit |
ACoS | Cost efficiency (ad spend as % of revenue) | Lower is better | Percentage (%) |
ROAS | Revenue return (revenue per $1 spent) | Higher is better | Ratio (e.g., 4.5x) |
In other words:
ACoS focuses on costs
ROAS focuses on returns
And if you're wondering, they’re inversely related:
ROAS = 1 ÷ (ACoS / 100)
ACoS = (1 ÷ ROAS) × 100
Which Metric Should You Use?
That depends on your goal and how you manage your campaigns:
Use ACoS if you're budget-conscious and want to control how much you're spending relative to sales. It’s especially helpful in break-even calculations and cost-focused strategies.
Use ROAS if you're return-driven and want to scale campaigns that deliver high value per dollar spent. It’s ideal for tracking campaign profitability and growth.
In Strique’s Amazon Ads Report, you’ll find both metrics displayed clearly on widgets and scorecards—along with AI summaries that help you interpret changes over time.
ACoS and ROAS are two sides of the same coin. Knowing how to read both gives you the flexibility to view your ad performance through the lens of cost efficiency and revenue generation—and knowing when to focus on which can help you make sharper, more profitable decisions.
With Strique, you don’t have to choose one over the other. You get both—side by side, real-time, and always tied to your actual Amazon performance.