TACOS (Total ACOS)
TACOS (Total ACOS) is ad spend divided by total revenue — organic plus advertised. It measures the share of the whole business that advertising consumes, not just the share of ad-attributed sales.
TACOS (Total ACOS) is the ratio of ad spend to total Amazon revenue for an ASIN, brand, or account:
TACOS = Ad Spend / Total Sales (organic + ads)
ACOS uses ad-attributed sales as the denominator; TACOS uses every order on the listing. They answer different questions. ACOS asks "are my ads efficient?" TACOS asks "how much of my P&L is being spent on advertising?"
Why TACOS matters
A campaign with a perfect 15% ACOS can still be destroying margin if it is cannibalising organic orders that would have happened anyway. TACOS catches this — when ad spend rises but total sales stay flat, TACOS climbs and tells you the new spend is buying clicks you were going to get for free.
The healthy direction is the opposite: as a launch matures, organic sales grow on the back of paid traffic, and TACOS should drop even if ACOS stays constant. A falling TACOS is the cleanest evidence that paid traffic is building organic momentum.
TACOS benchmarks by life stage
| Stage | Typical TACOS |
|---|---|
| Launch (0–90 days) | 25–40% |
| Growth | 12–20% |
| Mature | 5–12% |
| Defence only | 2–6% |
These are directional. A high-margin product can sustain higher TACOS; a thin-margin commodity cannot.
TACOS vs. ACOS — using both
- ACOS rising, TACOS rising → ad performance is degrading AND it is dragging the whole listing. Diagnose the auction or the listing.
- ACOS rising, TACOS falling → ads are less efficient but organic is compounding. Often acceptable during a launch ramp.
- ACOS falling, TACOS rising → spend is up, ad sales are up faster, but you are eating organic orders. Pull back on branded or bottom-of-funnel campaigns.
- ACOS flat, TACOS falling → the textbook good state. Hold the strategy.
Common mistakes
- Reporting TACOS without ACOS. Each hides what the other reveals.
- Setting a TACOS target identical to the ACOS target. They are not interchangeable.
- Computing TACOS at account level only. ASIN-level TACOS is where cannibalisation hides.