The benchmark library: the numbers I run businesses on.
Every benchmark on this site, on one page. Conversion by vertical, CAC and ROAS by channel, repeat and return rates, fulfillment costs, app churn and pricing, partner earnings, and platform TCO. Each card links to the full reference post with the tables, the sources, and the caveats that stop a benchmark from lying to you. Free to read, nothing to sign up for. The numbers come from sourced studies plus the brands and apps I've operated and advised, and they get refreshed as the posts update.
Benchmarks with receipts. This library is compiled by an early Shopify employee who helped build and scale the Partner Program, co-founded WIN Brands Group (scaled to mid nine figures in annual revenue, profitably), and sold an app company to Tiny. Every band is either tied to a named source or explicitly flagged as operator-derived from the brands and apps I've worked on, including engagements for Nike, Coca-Cola, and P&G. More on the track record.
Brand benchmarks
Conversion, acquisition, retention, returns, fulfillmentThe numbers a DTC operator gets asked for in every board meeting, each with its category bands. Start with conversion and channel costs, then work down the P&L. To turn a band into your own number, the matching calculators take about a minute each.
Shopify Conversion Rate Benchmarks
3.5 to 4.9% for Food & Beverage, 2.0 to 3.0% for Beauty. Category decides the band.
DTC Channel Benchmarks: CAC, ROAS & CPM
Meta ecommerce CPM ran near $16.80 in 2025 and peaked at $22.98 in Q4; blended DTC CAC is up 40 to 60% since 2023.
Repeat-Purchase & Retention Benchmarks
Aggregate repeat rate: 18.8% across 156,110 customers (Feb 2026 study); consumables run 30 to 45%.
DTC Return Rate Benchmarks by Category
Blended ecommerce returns run 19 to 20%; apparel 20 to 40%, beauty stays under 12%.
3PL & Fulfillment Cost Benchmarks
A typical DTC order costs $10 to $13 all-in to fulfill; $3 to $6 of that is the 3PL's handling.
Meta Ads Creative Benchmarks
A good Meta hook rate is about 30%+. The creative, not the channel, moves your CPA.
DTC Unit Economics by Category
Supplements have the friendliest DTC unit economics by a wide margin; apparel is workable but returns eat it.
DTC CAC Payback by Vertical
Consumables recover CAC in under 6 months; durables run 12 or more.
The DTC Benchmark Card
Supplements: CAC $40 to $80 against $50 to $90 AOV with 40 to 60% repeat.
App & partner benchmarks
Churn, pricing, activation, earningsThe SaaS side of the ecosystem: what apps charge, what they lose to churn, what installs convert, and what the four partner paths pay. The flagship benchmark report collects the whole stack in one read.
Shopify DTC & App Benchmarks (Report)
DTC conversion 1.4 to 1.8%, healthy brand EBITDA 10%+, app monthly churn 3 to 5%.
Shopify App Pricing Benchmarks
Flat-fee apps like Judge.me run $15; loyalty tops out near $999; subscriptions add a 1 to 1.5% take.
Shopify Partner Earnings Benchmarks
App developers keep 100% of their first $1M lifetime, 85% after; agencies earn 20% plus 0.1% of GMV.
Shopify App Churn Benchmarks
The average app loses about 30% of its revenue base to churn per year; under 8% annual is strong.
App Onboarding & Trial Benchmarks
The median app converts 15 to 20% of trial installs to paying merchants.
Platform cost benchmarks
Plans, POS, enterprise TCOWhat the platform itself costs at every size, from a first Basic plan to a $50M GMV enterprise build. Useful before any replatform conversation, and before believing a sales deck.
Shopify Plus vs Enterprise Platform Costs
Modeled at $50M GMV, recurring cost spans platform fees, apps, and engineering, not the sticker price.
Shopify Plans & Pricing Decoded
$39 / $105 / $399 monthly, or $29 / $79 / $299 annual. The card rate matters more than the sticker.
Shopify POS Fees & Cost
POS Lite is free on every plan; POS Pro is $89/mo per location with 2.4 to 2.6% card rates.
Turn a benchmark into your number
Calculators & live deal dataA benchmark tells you the band. The 25 free calculators tell you where you sit in it, from profitability and max allowable CAC to app churn cost and app valuation. For deal-side numbers (who is raising, buying, and exiting), The Index tracks the live market. If the numbers say something is off, bring me the problem.
Common questions
FAQWhat is a good Shopify conversion rate in 2026? It depends on the vertical: Food and Beverage runs 3.5 to 4.9%, Health and Wellness 2.5 to 3.5%, Beauty 2.0 to 3.0%, and the blended DTC figure sits near 1.4 to 1.8%. Judge a store against its category band, not the blended average. The conversion benchmarks post has the full table.
What does it cost to fulfill a DTC order in 2026? Roughly $10 to $13 all-in for a mid-market brand, of which $3 to $6 is the 3PL's pick, pack, and handling before postage. Shipping is the biggest single line. Bands by 3PL type are in the fulfillment cost benchmarks.
What is a good churn rate for a Shopify app? The average app loses about 30% of its revenue base per year. Under 8% annual churn is strong; monthly churn of 2 to 4% is acceptable early, and sustained rates above 5% usually signal a product problem. Details in the app churn benchmark.
Where do these benchmarks come from? Two places, always labeled: named public sources (platform docs, dated studies, filings) and operator-derived figures from the brands and apps I've run and advised. When a number is experience-based, the post says so instead of dressing it up as an anonymous industry fact.