FIXING CAC
To fix rising customer acquisition costs,
you need to look beyond Ads Manager
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There’s a moment every ecommerce business hits. Your ads that once worked so well are still running and driving traffic. Your daily spend hasn’t changed considerably. Click-through rates look fine, and all the other key platform metrics look fine. However. Your CAC (customer acquisition cost) is steadily creeping up.
£12 becomes £15. £15 becomes £17. £17... and so on. You get the picture.
Suddenly… it doesn’t feel under control anymore. You're doing the maths in your head. That extra £5 per order. You times it by 100... and 1000... and 10,000 and your business no longer feels healthy.
You don't want to be spending more on ads, nobody does, but you do want to see those costs stabilise.
So what do you do?
You go into Meta. You tweak campaigns. You test new creatives. You adjust audiences.
And for a while, it feels like you’re doing something. But nothing really changes.
The industry we work in loves to believe that better ads fix performance.
In reality, advertising is just one part of a much bigger system.
Let me explain what I mean...
CAC isn’t created inside Ads Manager
This is the bit most founders, in-house marketers or agencies miss. CAC is an output. Not a lever. It’s the result of how your entire growth system is behaving, not just your ads. So we need to look beyond just ads.
This is where I've honed my consultancy over the years. Fixing CAC, in all its forms, to make sure you can scale your business confidently. Ecommerce will always be a rollercoaster ride. I know, I've built and run my own ecommerce business, but if I can make the journey a little less nauseous for you, I'm here to help.
IAN RHODES
Conversion Strategy Consultant
BIG PICTURE THINKING, PLANNING AND DOING:
What’s actually happening when CAC rises?
In most cases, it’s not one big problem. It’s a series of smaller shifts happening at the same time.
1.) The quality of your paid traffic starts to deteriorate (this happens)
2.) The algorithm widens its net (this also happens)
3.) You get more top-of-funnel visitors (this is the big challenge you're facing)
So, conversion rate reduces, people land, but fewer buy, bounce rate creeps up. They're not what you term 'in-market'... but they are still very much winnable customers.
Your offer, which worked brilliantly before, isn’t doing as much heavy lifting, and those customers that you used to convert easily now need more persuasion.
And retention, because there's no blended growth strategy (trust me, retention marketing doesn't work unless it's entwined with how you acquire a customer), isn’t paying you back fast enough, so every new customer feels more expensive.
"He is a true conversion guru who will help you understand your online customers better than you ever thought possible."
So what do you do? you respond by pushing harder on ads
More budget? More tests? More pressure on performance. All you’re really doing is asking Meta to solve a problem that sits outside of Meta.
That’s when CAC becomes unstable. You need to learn what's broken and exactly how to fix it.
Fix your customer acquisition costs and you're on back on your way to scaling profitable, more consistent ecommerce growth.
Fixing CAC starts by stepping back
Before changing anything inside your ad account, you need to understand:
- Who you’re actually bringing in (traffic quality)
- What happens when they land (conversion)
- Whether they’re worth acquiring (customer quality)
- How quickly they come back (retention)
Because that context explains why CAC is rising. Without it, you’re just guessing.
This is where I come in
I'm not here to run your ads. I've spent far too long in my career doing that. Instead, I help you figure out what’s actually driving your CAC and what to fix first.
That means looking at your business as a system:
- How acquisition is behaving
- Where conversion is breaking down
- Whether retention is doing its job
- What signals you’re feeding back into platforms
That last point is key. It's where the majority of brands that hire me are struggling. That's usually the first port of call in the Fixing CAC process. And then cutting through the noise to focus on what matters.
Two ways we can work together
1. Fixing CAC Audit (typically £1,750)
A focused review of your acquisition and conversion system. You’ll get:
- A clear diagnosis of what’s driving your CAC
- What’s worth fixing vs what to ignore
- Prioritised next steps your team can implement
- A recorded walkthrough + follow-up call
This is about clarity and direction.
2. Ongoing Support (no contract)
If you want ongoing input as you face the challenges that shackle ecommerce growth, I'll work with you across:
- Meta and Google strategy
- Conversion and landing pages
- Retention and customer value
- Prioritisation and decision-making
Think of this as having someone there to help you make the right calls each month, without needing to carry everything yourself.
"The work we have done together has seen our online business go from strength to strength driving more traffic to our website and yet reducing our cost per conversion. "
David Winstanley - Managing Director at Pramworld
"He is an e-commerce professional with a depth of expertise and is a pleasure to do business with. I would not hesitate in seeking his consulting services again on another project."
Mathew Wade - Head of Digital at Gossard
My Ecommerce Background: From Startup Employee to Director, Store Owner and Consultant
Building and growing Ecommerce Brands For 25 YearsMy Career Journey: Employee, Director, Ecommerce Business Owner and Consultant
1998. Straight off the back of graduating with an economics degree, I found my feet at a startup online magazine subscription retailer. When animated gifs first roamed the 'net and web browsers were at the version 1.0 stage... and scaling through ads was a hell of a lot easier.
4 years on, I moved on to Priceline.com, taking the role of European Marketing Director as they acquired Booking.com. Learning real growth at a true market innovator under the direct guidance of the current CEO of Booking.com.
In 2004, I gave up my swanky Mayfair office and launched my own ecommerce business. From 0 to £2m. bootstrapped. Doing the things you've done. Balancing time and energy marketing my business and running my business.
For the past 14 years, I've been building my ecommerce consulting business and teaching here at Ecommerce Growth Co., working with management and in-house teams to lay the foundations for next-stage ecommerce growth, advising on the key strategies that help you reduce or stabilise rising acquisition costs so that you can scale with confidence.
"one of today’s leaders in Conversion Rate Optimization, people who don’t just talk the talk but put their theories to the test on a daily basis." - CrazyEgg
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Why Hire Me TO FIX CAC?
how we work togetherIt's an every widening category of brands. Clients are in-house teams requiring senior level guidance to solve growth challenges that them allows them to take growth to the next level. Typically 7-figure plus brands. Sometimes niche brands, but mostly brands that know the size of opportunity within their market... and that's often the most frustrating thing. Knowing just how BIG business could become.
Businesses that value their customers. Know their customers. Businesses built on behalf of their customers. I have to believe in the products you're selling. Whether premium brands or innovative products. We have to share an understanding that there's a demand for what you sell.
I work alongside senior management to plan & in-house marketing teams to implement. You might also be transitioning from an outsourced agency who simply didn't perform and now you want to bring your ad in-house?
READY TO FIX RISING ACQUISItion costs?
If your CAC is rising, something in your system isn’t working as it should.The longer you stay inside Ads Manager trying to fix it, the longer it takes to actually solve it.
Step back. Understand what’s really happening. Then fix the parts that matter.
Get in touch to schedule a call using the form below or email me at
ian@ecommercegrowth.com and let's get to work on unlocking ecommerce growth.