A worked hypothetical example
A store spends $10,000 and the ad platform attributes $40,000 in revenue: ROAS is 4. If 30% remains after product cost, discounts, delivery and payment fees, contribution before ads is $12,000 and after ads is $2,000. Agency fees and fixed costs still need coverage. This is a hypothetical example, not a client result.
A break-even reference
Using consistent revenue definitions and a 30% pre-ad contribution margin, the break-even ROAS reference is 1 / 0.30 = 3.33. This covers advertising and included variable costs, not necessarily fixed costs. Different product groups have different thresholds.
Why attributed revenues cannot simply be added
Meta, Google and an email platform can each claim a touchpoint in the same order. Their totals can exceed store revenue. Reconcile currencies, periods, refunds and metric definitions first. Do not label all attributed revenue as incremental.
Before increasing spend
Review product margins, new-customer share, purchase lag, returns and data sufficiency. Agree the scaling decision in advance: what order volume, observation period and acquisition cost justify it.