How do I calculate CAC, and what's the difference between blended CAC and new-customer CAC?
Blended CAC divides all acquisition spend by every new customer (including organic, referral and repeat-driven traffic); new-customer paid CAC divides only paid spend by the first-time buyers it brought in. Report both, but make scaling decisions on paid/new CAC, because blended quietly hides how inefficient your ads really are the moment you push budget. The number that matters is your marginal CAC: what the next ₹1 lakh of spend costs, not the average of your cheapest early customers.
Go deeper
3 resources, 3 link-checked.
📄 Article
✓ Link checkedFreeIntermediate
The definitive D2C-specific breakdown of the CAC you should actually track: new-customer CAC vs blended CAC, why the gap matters, and when to use each. From 1-800-D2C, one of the most respected operator resource hubs in the space.
A crisp, numbers-driven walkthrough of how the same month can show a ₹42 blended CAC and a ₹70 paid CAC - and why confusing the two wrecks your scaling decisions. Great companion piece that makes the blended-vs-paid distinction concrete.
The canonical investor's-eye view of why LTV:CAC drives valuation, and why 3:1 became the rule of thumb. Read it to understand what a growth-stage investor is really testing when they poke at your unit economics.
