Amazon-acquired customers bought 2.3x more over 18 months than TikTok-acquired c
By Gabriel Caceros · May 30, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Amazon-acquired customers bought 2.3x more over 18 months than TikTok-acquired customers.
Same brand. Same products. Different acquisition source.
We ran a cohort analysis on a beauty brand we've managed for two years. Five acquisition channels. 18-month lookback. Repeat purchase rate, average order value, and contribution lifetime value per customer.
Here's what came back:
Amazon Sponsored Products:
→ Repeat rate: 41%
→ AOV after first purchase: $52
→ 18-month LTV: $187
Amazon DSP (display retargeting):
→ Repeat rate: 38%
→ AOV after first purchase: $61
→ 18-month LTV: $204
Amazon Sponsored Brands (branded defense):
→ Repeat rate: 67%
→ AOV after first purchase: $74
→ 18-month LTV: $312
TikTok Shop:
→ Repeat rate: 18%
→ AOV after first purchase: $34
→ 18-month LTV: $81
Walmart Connect:
→ Repeat rate: 29%
→ AOV after first purchase: $48
→ 18-month LTV: $129
The brand was running a TikTok-heavy strategy because the front-end CAC looked great.
$11 CAC on TikTok vs. $24 CAC on Amazon SP.
But on 18-month LTV math:
→ TikTok: $11 CAC, $81 LTV = 7.4x return
→ Amazon SP: $24 CAC, $187 LTV = 7.8x return
→ Amazon SB (branded): $9 CAC, $312 LTV = 34.7x return
The numbers tell a different story than the dashboards.
Most brands optimize on first-purchase economics because that's all they can see.
The customer that costs more upfront often pays back longer.
What we changed for this brand:
→ Reallocated 40% of TikTok spend to Amazon Sponsored Brands branded defense
→ Built Amazon Subscribe & Save promotional cadence (raised SP cohort repeat rate 9 points)
→ Added DSP retargeting on past purchasers — the highest LTV cohort got reactivation campaigns
→ Kept TikTok running but at lower budgets, treating it as a discovery channel that feeds Amazon, not a direct ROI channel
90-day result: total revenue flat. Contribution dollars up 31%. CAC up 18%. LTV-per-acquired-customer up 47%.
The framework:
Pull 12-18 month cohort data by acquisition source. If you can't, AMC will give you 25 months now.
Calculate LTV per cohort, not blended.
Recalculate CAC ceilings based on cohort LTV — not first-purchase margin.
Reallocate spend toward channels with lower visible ROAS but higher repeat behavior.
Stop measuring channels in isolation. Measure them as parts of a 12-month customer journey.
The brands chasing the lowest CAC are building the worst customer base.
The brands measuring LTV are building the moat.
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