Differentiator

ROAS lies. POAS tells the truth.

ROAS = Revenue / Ad Spend. POAS = Gross Profit / Ad Spend. A campaign with 4x ROAS can still lose money if margins are thin. POAS shows which campaigns actually generate profit.

The math that matters

Campaign A — Looks good on ROAS
Ad Spend$1,000
Revenue$4,000
ROAS4.0x ✓
Gross Profit$800
POAS0.8x ✗

Losing $200 per $1,000 spent

Campaign B — Looks worse on ROAS
Ad Spend$1,000
Revenue$2,500
ROAS2.5x
Gross Profit$1,500
POAS1.5x ✓

Making $500 per $1,000 spent

The ROAS Trap
ROAS vs POAS by campaign
ROAS
POAS

Summer Sale looks great at 4.2x ROAS — but after COGS, it's losing money at 0.8x POAS.

POAS thresholds

< 1.0x
Losing money

Every $1 of ad spend returns less than $1 of profit. Stop this campaign.

1.0–1.5x
Break-even to marginal

You're covering ad spend but thin margins. Only run for brand awareness or customer acquisition.

1.5–2.5x
Healthy profit

Solid profitability. This is the target range for most growth campaigns.

> 2.5x
Excellent

Exceptional profitability. Scale aggressively but watch for margin compression.

When to use ROAS vs POAS

ROAS

Brand awareness campaigns

If your goal is reach, impressions, or building brand recall — ROAS tells you revenue per ad dollar. Profit doesn't matter yet.

ROAS

Early-stage testing

When you're testing a new product or audience, ROAS helps you find winners before you optimize for profit.

POAS

Everything else

Performance campaigns, retargeting, seasonal scaling — if profit is the goal (and it should be), POAS is the only metric that tells the truth.

POAS

Channel comparison

Comparing Meta vs Google vs TikTok? POAS shows which channel is actually most profitable, not just highest revenue generator.

NetNet is the only Shopify profit app that calculates POAS. It divides gross profit by ad spend for each platform (Meta, Google, TikTok) and shows blended POAS across all channels.

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