10XCommerce

Why ACoS Should Not Be the Only Number Used to Judge Amazon Advertising
An 89% ACoS can look alarming, but the number alone does not explain what a campaign is doing for the business. Amazon’s own advertising guidance advises sellers to consider ACoS alongside other performance measures rather than using it as the only metric. In our illustrative case, changing the way the account was evaluated helped identify where the real problems were.

The client sold consumer products through several Amazon listings. One campaign was designed to generate new demand, while another captured highly specific searches from shoppers already looking for the product.

Both campaigns were judged against the same ACoS target.

Our team reviewed conversion rate, clicks, advertising sales, search terms, product-level revenue, and campaign purpose. The analysis showed that the account’s 89% ACoS was not being created equally across every campaign.

Some spending produced useful sales. Other spending generated clicks without enough orders.

The team separated those behaviors and worked with the catalog specialists where product-page issues were affecting conversion.

Paid traffic was then reviewed through an Ecommerce PPC Agency approach, while the wider business was considered through a perspective.

The illustrative account moved toward 22% ACoS as weak spending was reduced and productive traffic received more appropriate attention.

The seller also gained a clearer understanding of why the account had been expensive.

That is the larger lesson from the case. ACoS is useful, but it requires context.

A campaign with a high ACoS may have a legitimate purpose during a product launch, while a campaign with a low ACoS may still contribute little revenue.

The correct decision depends on the product, margin, campaign purpose, sales volume, and wider business objectives.