What LTV:CAC ratio should my Indian D2C brand actually be targeting?
The short answer
The textbook target is 3:1 (every Rs 1,000 spent acquiring a customer should return at least Rs 3,000 in lifetime revenue), but many Indian D2C brands run healthy at 1.5-2.5:1 in the early years because repeat-purchase behaviour is still being built. Payback period matters as much as the ratio, aim to recover CAC within 6 months or you're financing growth on your own working capital. Track this by channel too, a channel with worse blended CAC but far higher repeat rate can beat a cheaper channel that only buys once.
A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.
Here are the resources
Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.
Why we picked it
Spells out the exact CAC, LTV and payback period formulas with an India lens, the most direct answer we found to 'how do I actually calculate this for my brand' rather than just defining the terms.
Why we picked it
A blunt, India-specific playbook on where ad spend actually leaks, useful because it ties creative fatigue and volume directly to the rupee-cost consequences Indian founders feel first.
Why we picked it
Frames Google spend as one piece of an Indian D2C brand's blended channel mix (with a suggested 25-30% allocation to Shopping/PMax), useful for deciding how much of your budget Google should actually get.
Why we picked it
A free, ready-to-use spreadsheet to actually compute your LTV, CAC and ratio instead of eyeballing it, the fastest way to get from 'I think we're profitable' to a real number.
