TACOS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales)
Category: Marketplace
Also searched as: TACOS
Definition (plain English)
TACOS measures total ad spend as a percentage of total sales, not just the sales directly attributed to ads.
Why it matters commercially
TACOS helps show whether advertising is building organic demand or simply buying revenue that the product margin cannot support.
Example
A marketplace team accepted a higher ACOS during launch because TACOS fell over eight weeks as organic sales increased and stock stayed available.
Common mistake
Treating TACOS improvement as success without checking margin, stockouts, discounting, return rate, and whether total sales are actually profitable.
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