Customer acquisition strategies that drive ecommerce growth

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Customer acquisition strategies fail when businesses focus only on the first sale. You should also capture contact information so you can market without constantly paying ad platforms.

Customer acquisition costs (CAC) are climbing significantly for ecommerce businesses. While they deliver reliable returns, Facebook ads and Google Shopping campaigns now take bigger chunks of your budget.

Apart from that, platform saturation means you’re competing against more advertisers for the same audiences. Without effective customer acquisition strategies, you’re wasting budget on high CAC with poor returns.

Customer acquisition for ecommerce involves converting strangers into subscribers for your email or SMS list and then turning them into paying customers. Acquisition is complete when you own the relationship through these channels, not just when someone visits your site.

In this guide, we’ll provide 10 customer acquisition strategies designed specifically for online retailers. You’ll learn practical tips, formulas to measure your success, and benchmarks to evaluate whether your spending makes sense.

Customer acquisition strategies to win in 2026

The best customer acquisition strategies in 2026 balance automation with genuine customer connection. With rising costs and privacy changes, you need smarter approaches that don’t rely solely on paid advertising. 

• AI-powered personalization: Use unified customer data to automate relevant messages at scale. Combine behavioral triggers with personalized product recommendations.
• Customer-first experiences: Give customers control over their data and preferences. Consider building seamless experiences across channels.
• Product-led growth: Lower barriers with free trials that demonstrate value quickly. Fast time-to-value increases conversion rates.
• Content and SEO: Create content that answers customer search queries. Also, optimize for mobile speed and target long-tail keywords with lower competition.
• Values-based engagement: Connect through shared values, not just discounts. Build loyalty programs that reward behavior beyond purchases.
• Integrated growth channels: Combine paid ads with organic content and partnerships. This diversification protects you when algorithms change or costs spike.
• Data-led decision-making: Target a lifetime value to acquisition cost ratio of 3:1–4:1. Track profitability by channel and adjust what doesn’t work.

Why does customer acquisition matter for ecommerce?

Across the ecommerce industry, customer acquisition strategy often determines success. If you don’t have a steady flow of new customers, you’re limited to the spending capacity of your existing customers alone. 

Here are’s some reasons why customer acquisition matters.

Drives predictable revenue growth

New customers create new revenue streams. For instance, a fitness equipment store sees revenue gaps between January rushes and summer slowdowns. Strategic acquisition smoothens these fluctuations.

This chart shows the typical relationship between CAC and revenue, where the bars show increasing revenue and the trend line shows decreasingreducing CAC cost over time:

Builds a competitive moat

Market share often goes to brands that acquire customers efficiently. Owned audiences through email and SMS are more sustainable. When you own customer contact information, you’re not competing for the same ad space every time you want to sell.

Establishes customer lifetime value

The first purchase starts the retention cycle, connecting customer acquisition and retention into a full growth cycle. For instance, a skincare customer buying their first moisturizer represents potential subscription revenue.

Customer acquisition is about building long-term customer relationships that compound value over the long term. Understanding customer lifecycle stages helps you maximize the value of each acquired customer.

Provides optimization insights

Each acquisition attempt teaches you what works. You learn which messages resonate, which channels convert, and which audiences respond. This data helps you refine targeting and improve conversion rates.

Creates owned marketing channels

Strategic acquisition builds email and SMS lists you control. A customer acquired through paid ads who doesn’t join your list costs you again next month. Meanwhile, one who does becomes an asset you can repeatedly market to without platform fees.

10 Customer acquisition strategies for ecommerce

There are multiple paths to acquire customers profitably. Each includes specific implementation tactics you can start using right away.

1. Email marketing and list building

Once you build your list, email delivers the lowest customer acquisition cost. That’s why it’s one of the most essential customer acquisition strategies for ecommerce.

Implementation tactics:

• Set up exit-intent popups with first-time buyer discounts to stop visitors from leaving empty-handed — like this Omnisend popup:

• Build welcome email sequences (three to five emails) that adapt based on which products subscribers browsed before signing up
• Collect additional customer preferences gradually through post-purchase surveys and preference centers
• A/B test different signup incentives to find what converts best for your audience

An online clothing store built an email list of 2,500 subscribers monthly by offering a discount at checkout. Its popup converted 18% of existing visitors. Those emails drove $47,000 in sales at an $8 cost per customer.

Platforms like Omnisend offer pre-built email popups, behavior-based triggers, and automated welcome series built specifically for ecommerce. You can launch email campaigns quickly without technical expertise.

2. SMS marketing for instant engagement

SMS gets 98% open rates compared to about 29% for email. This visibility makes SMS perfect for time-sensitive offers. When combined with email, this channel creates powerful retention and customer acquisition strategies.

Implementation tactics:

• Create exclusive SMS-only deals that give subscribers a reason to opt in beyond email
• Send personalized product suggestions based on recent browsing activity or past purchases
• Trigger abandoned cart SMS within one to three hours while purchase intent is still high — like this sample:

• Limit messages to two to four per month to maintain engagement without causing unsubscribes

A beauty brand recovered 23% of abandoned carts through SMS at a $4 cost per recovery. Email alone only recovered 12% of carts at similar timing. 

Likewise, Silver Street Jewellers saw a 3,762% increase in abandoned cart revenue per email after implementing SMS alongside their email campaigns. This shows how SMS improves overall acquisition performance.

SMS marketing platforms like Omnisend enable automated workflows that trigger based on customer behavior.

3. Content marketing and SEO

Content marketing delivers compounding returns over time. It targets customers in the research phase before they’re ready to buy, building awareness at the top of the funnel. This makes it one of the most cost-effective long-term customer acquisition strategies for ecommerce businesses.

Implementation tactics:

• Write product comparison guides targeting keywords like “best [product category],” capturing high-intent searchers
• Answer common or specific customer questions through high-ranking how-to content
• Optimize product pages with detailed descriptions and customer reviews that include relevant keywords
• Build backlinks through guest posting on industry blogs and digital PR outreach
• Repurpose top-performing content into videos, social posts, and email newsletters

An outdoor gear retailer created a comprehensive camping checklist guide that ranks first for “camping essentials.” It drives 12,000 monthly visitors at zero acquisition cost, with 3.2% converting to its email list.

You can track performance through Google Search Console, just like this:

4. Paid advertising (PPC and social)

Paid advertising remains a core retail customer acquisition strategy because it delivers immediate visibility and traffic. It’s best for promoting new products, seasonal campaigns, and testing messaging before committing to larger investments.

Implementation tactics:

• Start with Google Shopping ads to capture bottom-funnel traffic consisting of people actively searching for products
• Use Facebook and Instagram dynamic product ads to retarget website visitors
• Test TikTok ads for younger demographics using entertaining content that doesn’t feel like advertising
• Implement conversion tracking across all platforms to understand which ads actually drive sales
• Allocate 10%–15% of ad budget to testing new channels and audiences beyond what’s already working

A home decor store achieved a $42 customer acquisition cost on Google Shopping ads with a $180 average order value. That 4.3x return came from targeting high-intent “buy [product]” keywords instead of broad awareness terms.

Monitor campaign performance to identify which variables deliver the best return for your customer acquisition strategies using dashboards like this:

To help you capitalize on predictive shopping trends, this Omnisend social commerce video explores the latest trends in retail customer acquisition.

5. Social media marketing

Despite the declining organic reach on social media, it remains effective for brand building and community engagement. Choose a platform depending on your target demographics and product type.

Implementation tactics:

• Post three to five times weekly with a mix of product features, lifestyle content, and user-generated content
• Use platform-specific features like Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, and Pinterest Idea Pins for maximum visibility

• Run social contests and giveaways to increase engagement and grow your follower base
• Partner with micro-influencers (1,000–10,000 followers) as they have higher engagement rates than larger accounts
• Include product links and clear calls to action to drive traffic

A jewelry brand’s TikTok account gained 45,000 followers in six months by posting daily jewelry care tips. This drove 8,000 website visitors monthly at zero customer acquisition cost.

Social media works best when it feeds your owned channels. Every social post should encourage email or SMS signups, turning rented attention into owned customer relationships that strengthen your customer acquisition strategies.

6. Influencer and affiliate marketing

These performance-based customer acquisition strategies help you reach established audiences. Financial risk is lower, and you get to access audiences you couldn’t reach independently.

Implementation tactics:

• Identify micro-influencers in your niche who have engaged audiences and authentic content
• Offer 10%–20% commission on sales or use hybrid compensation with flat fee plus commission
• Provide unique discount codes and tracking links for accurate attribution of sales
• Join affiliate networks like ShareASale, Rakuten, or Impact to access established affiliate partners
• Create an affiliate resource kit with product photos, descriptions, and messaging guidelines

A skincare brand partnered with 15 beauty micro-influencers and gained 340 new customers at a $28 customer acquisition cost. This was an improvement from its $65 cost per customer on Facebook ads.

Influencers provide content creation as added value beyond just promotion. See this Mother’s Day influencer campaign on Instagram:

7. Referral programs

Referral programs turn your existing customers into an acquisition channel. Customers trust recommendations from friends more than any advertising. This results in lower acquisition costs and higher conversion rates.

Implementation tactics:

• Offer mutual benefits with double-sided incentives like a “Give 20%, get $20” credit for both the referrer and the new customer — like this MeUndies campaign:

• Make sharing easy with built-in buttons for email, SMS, and social media
• Enable automated referral program emails that trigger post-purchase through platforms like Omnisend, including personalized referral links and tracking mechanisms
• Display referral program promotions prominently in post-purchase emails and order confirmation pages
• Gamify the experience with tiered rewards where referring multiple friends unlocks VIP status or exclusive perks
• Track referral attribution accurately to measure program ROI and identify your best advocates

A subscription box company’s referral program generated 18% of new customers at a $16 customer acquisition cost — versus $48 across paid channels. The program created a viral loop where happy customers became active promoters.

8. Promotions and discounts

These tactical customer acquisition strategies help first-time buyers purchase without hesitation. Use discounts strategically to attract customers without teaching them to wait for sales.

Implementation tactics:

• Reserve first-purchase discounts of 10%–15% or gifts exclusively for new customers to avoid margin erosion — just like this signup popup:

• Test free shipping thresholds versus percentage discounts to find what drives higher conversion and order value
• Create urgency with countdown timers and limited-quantity messaging to encourage immediate action
• Segment promotions by acquisition source so email signups receive different offers than social media followers
• Track long-term customer value by acquisition discount to ensure promotional customers remain profitable

A wellness brand tested “15% off” versus “Free shipping on orders $50+” for first-time buyers. Free shipping drove 31% more conversion and 22% higher average order value.

Marketing automation platforms like Omnisend allow you to trigger different welcome discounts based on acquisition source. This way, you can test offers across channels while maintaining personalization.

9. Marketplace and partnership channels

Marketplaces and strategic partnerships expose your brand to existing traffic and buyer intent. You pay higher commission fees but gain access to audiences you couldn’t reach independently.

Implementation tactics:

• List products on relevant marketplaces based on category fit, such as Etsy for handmade goods or Amazon for electronics:

• Optimize marketplace listings with keyword-rich titles, detailed bullet points, and high-quality product images
• Collect email addresses, where marketplace rules allow, through package inserts or loyalty program invitations
• Partner with complementary brands for co-marketing campaigns that benefit both audiences
• Negotiate traffic exchanges or bundle deals with non-competing brands in adjacent categories

A pet supply store partnered with a pet food subscription box to include product samples. This brought in 890 new customers at an $11 acquisition cost through bundles.

Marketplaces provide discovery but limit access to customer data. The key is using marketplace sales as top-of-funnel acquisition while driving customers to your owned channels for long-term relationship building.

10. Product-led growth tactics

This strategy turns your product experience into an acquisition tool. The product itself encourages sharing, creates network effects, or adds to word-of-mouthword of mouth marketing.

Implementation tactics:

• Design shareable unboxing experiences with branded packaging, insert cards, and social media prompts
• Add “powered by [your brand]” elements to packaging or digital products for brand visibility — just like this premium packaging by Tomatier:

• Create limited editions or collectibles that encourage repeat purchases and social sharing
• Build loyalty programs that incentivize repeat purchases and referrals using points or exclusive access
• Include QR codes in packaging, which linklinks to exclusive content, discounts, or product tutorials

A streetwear brand’s Instagram-worthy packaging design yielded 2,300 organic social posts tagged with its brand hashtag. This reached 1.2 million users at zero customer acquisition cost.

Product-led growth needs an initial investment in experience design but rewards you with organic growth.

How to calculate customer acquisition cost

Understanding your customer acquisition cost tells you whether your marketing spend makes financial sense. CAC is one of the most important customer acquisition metrics. Without this, you’re merely guessing profitability.

For example, if you spent $10,000 on Facebook ads and acquired 250 customers, your Facebook CAC is $40.

What to include in total spend:

• Paid advertising costs across all platforms
• Content creation expenses, including writing, design, and video production
• Marketing tools and software subscriptions
• Agency fees and contractor payments
• Marketing team salaries (prorated to acquisition activities)

What not to include:

• Product costs and cost of goods sold (COGS)
• Shipping and fulfillment expenses
• General overhead like rent and utilities

Ecommerce CAC benchmarks

A healthy customer acquisition cost is typically within 20%–30% of your average order value. However, it varies by profit margin and customer lifetime value.

Various acquisition channels deliver different costs per customer:

Warning signs

CAC exceeding 40% of average order value signals trouble — so does a payback period of more than six months. These signs point to a customer acquisition strategy that could hurt your profits over time.

That said, a CAC below $10 might indicate poor targeting. You’re casting too wide a net and attracting low-quality traffic that won’t convert into repeat customers.

The solution lies in owned channels. Once you build your list, email and SMS marketing deliver dramatically lower CAC than paid channels, typically running $8–$15.

Calculating customer acquisition cost

Here are a few tips for calculating your customer acquisition cost:

• Calculate CAC separately for each channel to identify your best performers
• Track it monthly to spot trends before they become problems
• Compare CAC against customer lifetime value to ensure long-term profitability

Use our email pricing calculator below to quickly compare costs and features with other top platforms. Input your desired number of contacts, choose up to two other email marketing providers from the list, and see how Omnisend stacks up against them.

Key customer acquisition metrics to track

Customer acquisition cost alone doesn’t provide a complete view of your customer acquisition strategies. You need multiple customer acquisition metrics to understand whether your strategy creates sustainable, profitable growth:

1. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

This is the cost of acquiring a new customer.

• Formula: Total marketing spend ÷ new customers acquired
• Ecommerce benchmark: 20%–30% of average order value
• Why it matters: CAC tells you whether your marketing spend makes financial sense

2. Customer lifetime value (CLV)

CLV is the total revenue from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand.

• Formula: Average order value × purchase frequency × customer lifespan
• Target CLV:CAC ratio: 3:1 minimum 
• Why it matters: The CLV ratio determines whether your acquisition strategy is sustainable or not 

3. CAC payback period

This is the number of months or duration required to recover acquisition cost through customer purchases.

• Formula: CAC ÷ average monthly revenue per customer
• Ecommerce target: Three to six months
• Why it matters: If it takes too long to recover acquisition costs, you’re tying up capital that could instead fund more growth

4. Conversion rate by channel

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who become customers on each channel.

• Formula: (Customers ÷ visitors) × 100
• Benchmark: Two to three percent for cold traffic, five to eight percent for warm audiences
• Why it matters: This reveals which channels attract qualified buyers versus browsers, helping you invest more in high-converting sources

5. Marketing efficiency ratio (MER)

MER is the total revenue divided by total marketing spend.

• Formula: Total revenue ÷ total marketing spend
• Target: Three to five times for ecommerce
• Why it matters: MER shows whether your entire marketing operation is profitable

6. Email/SMS list growth rate

This refers to new subscribers added to your list monthly.

• Formula: (New subscribers this month ÷ total subscribers last month) × 100
• Target: 5%–10% monthly growth
• Why it matters: This indicates how effectively you’re building owned channels that reduce future acquisition costs

Tracking recommendation

Create a monthly dashboard tracking all six metrics. Segment data by acquisition channel to identify which sources deliver the best returns. This insight lets you effectively reallocate budgets from underperforming channels to winners.

Here’s an example of what your dashboard should look like:

Platforms like Omnisend provide performance analytics and reporting that track acquisition metrics automatically. This way, you don’t need to do manual tracking with a spreadsheet. 

Its email marketing report and analytics give real-time visibility into how email drives customer acquisition while showing which campaigns and automations deliver the best returns.

Customer acquisition strategy examples

Real examples show how these customer acquisition strategies work together in practice. The following cases demonstrate multi-channel approaches delivering impactful results.

Example 1: Rachel Riley

Challenge: Rachel Riley’s marketing tools couldn’t scale with its growth. Rising costs and limited automation were holding back the luxury childrenswear brand.

Strategy: Email automation, SMS marketing, and omnichannel campaigns as integrated retail customer acquisition strategies

Tactics:

• Complete automation suite, including a welcome series
• Abandonment flows and order confirmations
• SMS campaigns targeting US customers
• Month-long BFCM campaign starting late October instead of a single weekend

Results: Omnisend drove 48.1% of total store revenue during BFCM. Automations accounted for 46% of Omnisend-driven revenue. Year-over-year revenue increased 77.33%. Order confirmation automation drove meaningful revenue, as shown below.

Key takeaway: Owned channels like email and SMS reduce dependency on expensive platforms. Automations deliver consistent revenue, while campaigns drive seasonal peaks, making customer acquisition more sustainable.

Example 2: SM Global Shop

Challenge: SM Global Shop’s list grew to 400,000 subscribers in one year. It needed systematic customer acquisition strategy examples that could engage audiences at scale without overwhelming them.

Strategy: Automated workflows, SMS marketing, and data-driven email marketing covering the entire customer journey

Tactics:

• Automations for welcome series
• Abandoned cart (within one hour)
• Post-purchase follow-ups and customer reactivation
• SMS integrated into cart abandonment
• Constant A/B testing of timing, messaging, and offers

Results: Automations generated nearly 50% of email revenue while making up only 5% of sends. The abandoned cart series converted 42.84% on the first email. Lost customer win-back converted at 51.78%.

Key takeaway: Multi-channel approaches with heavy automation enable personalization at scale. Continuous testing and optimization improve customer acquisition strategies.

Example 3: Dukier

Challenge: Dukier needed to scale across five European markets while maintaining personalized experiences for luxury pet accessories customers.

Strategy: Localized automations, segmented campaigns, and ecommerce email marketing adapted for each market

Tactics:

• Welcome sequences in five languages with catalogs and timing adjusted for local habits
• Abandoned cart recovery optimized by the market
• Lead capture workflows
• Segmented campaigns for seasonal peaks

Results: Revenue from Omnisend grew 525% over three years, reaching over €518,000 annually. Automations delivered 55%, with a 48.4% open rate and 2.8% conversion rate. The brand maintained a 0.36% unsubscribe rate while scaling internationally. Customers acquired through email had ana €44.19 average order value of € 44.19, compared withversus €43.22 overall.

Key takeaway: Automation enables personalization at scale across markets. Owned channels provide the foundation for international expansion without proportionally increasing acquisition costs.

How to build a customer acquisition strategy

Strategy beats trial and error. Follow these six steps to build a customer acquisition strategy that aligns with your business model, margins, and customer journey.

Step 1: Define your ideal customer profile

Start by understanding which customer you’re trying to acquire. Document demographics like age, location, and income level. Then, identify psychographics, including values, interests, and lifestyle.

Interview recent customers to validate assumptions, analyze purchase data to identify patterns, and review competitor reviews to see what customers value and what frustrates them.

Step 2: Set acquisition goals and budget

Translate revenue targets into specific customer numbers. Calculate maximum affordable customer acquisition cost based on your margins and lifetime value.

Allocate budget across channels using the 60-25-15 rule: 60% to proven channels, 25% to scaling tactics, and 15% to testing new approaches.

Step 3: Choose your primary channels

Select two to three core channels based on where your audience spends time and how much of your available budget is. Balance owned channels like email and SMS with paid or earned channels.

Start where competition is lowest, and audience fit is strongest. For instance, if you sell visual products to millennials, your core customer acquisition strategies should focus on Instagram, Pinterest, and email.

Step 4: Capture owned-channel contact information

Make email and SMS capture a KPI for every acquisition channel. Build your email list through exit-intent popups, post-purchase signup prompts, and gated content.

A customer acquired through Instagram but doesn’t join your email list is only partially acquired. You’ll need to pay Instagram again to reach them. Capturing contact information turns rented attention into owned relationships.

Step 5: Create integrated campaigns

Don’t run channels in silos. Use email and SMS to remarket to social media audiences and retarget website visitors with paid ads. This integration adds to the customer acquisition efforts.

Example workflow: Publish blog post → share on social media → email to list → retarget readers with paid ads promoting related products

Step 6: Measure, test, and optimize

Track all customer acquisition metrics weekly. A/B test one variable at a time, including offers, audiences, and timing.

Double down on winners and cut losers after gathering statistically significant data. Review your customer acquisition strategy monthly to reallocate budget based on performance.

Email and SMS platforms like Omnisend connect acquisition channels. You can build integrated campaigns that capture and nurture customers regardless of where they first discovered your brand.

FAQs: Customer acquisition strategies