Metrics
New Customer Acquisition Cost (NCAC)
Cost to acquire a first-time customer, excluding retargeting and retention marketing spend.
New Customer Acquisition Cost (NCAC) isolates true acquisition cost. Formula: NCAC = Total acquisition spend / New customers (exclude returning customers). Why it matters: Overall CAC includes cheap retargeting conversions (returning customers) → Masks high new customer costs. Example: Spend $10k → 100 conversions → CAC = $100. But 70 are returning customers → NCAC = $10k / 30 = $333. Benchmark: NCAC should be 3-5x lower than LTV. If NCAC > LTV, acquisition is unprofitable. Channels: Prospecting campaigns have high NCAC, Retargeting has low CAC. Best practice: Track NCAC separately from blended CAC to understand true acquisition economics. NCAC is critical metric for growth-stage brands.
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