{"id":6963,"date":"2026-10-20T21:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/glossary\/return-on-ad-spend-roas\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T21:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T14:53:13","slug":"return-on-ad-spend-roas","status":"publish","type":"mona_glossary","link":"https:\/\/adtek.agency\/en\/glossary\/return-on-ad-spend-roas\/","title":{"rendered":"Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is the revenue attributed to your ads divided by the money spent on those ads. A ROAS of 4 means every VND 1 of ad spend brought in VND 4 of revenue, before cost of goods, marketplace fees or shipping are taken out.<\/p>\n

What is ROAS?<\/h2>\n

ROAS measures revenue, not profit. A campaign with a ROAS of 3 can still lose money if the product’s margin is thin. Shopee, one of Vietnam’s largest ecommerce marketplaces, calls this metric “T\u1ef7 l\u1ec7 Ho\u00e0n v\u1ed1n” (return rate). Google Ads calls it Conv. value \/ cost, and TikTok Shop uses ROI for GMV Max<\/a> campaigns, calculated the same way: revenue divided by cost.<\/p>\n

Revenue “from ads” is whatever each platform attributes under its own rules. Shopee counts orders placed within 7 days of a click or 1 day of seeing the promoted product, and it also counts other products from the same shop bought in the same order (Shopee Ads, Tracking campaign performance, accessed October 2026<\/a>). That is why ROAS on Shopee, Meta and Google cannot be compared directly.<\/p>\n

ROAS formula<\/h2>\n

ROAS = Revenue from ads \/ Ad spend<\/strong><\/p>\n

The result is written either as a multiple (4) or as a percentage (400%). Google Ads gives this example: if you want USD 5 in sales for every USD 1 spent on ads, set a Target ROAS of 500% (Google Ads Help, About Target ROAS bidding, accessed October 2026<\/a>). Shopee’s own example works out GMV of VND 3,000,000 on spend of VND 300,000 as a ROAS of 10.<\/p>\n

ROAS also gives you your break-even point:<\/p>\n

Break-even ROAS = 1 \/ Margin before advertising<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example (hypothetical)<\/h2>\n

A cosmetics shop sells a serum for VND 300,000. Cost of goods is VND 120,000, and marketplace fees plus other costs come to VND 45,000. That leaves VND 135,000 before advertising, a 45% margin. Break-even ROAS = 1 \/ 0.45 \u2248 2.2.<\/p>\n