Profit made from an investment, shown as a percentage of what it cost. In marketing it means profit from a campaign compared with what the campaign cost.
Formula
ROI = (gain − cost) ÷ cost × 100
Example
Meera's Diwali campaign costs ₹50,000 and brings ₹3,00,000 of sales. The clothes cost ₹90,000, so gross profit is ₹2,10,000; after the ₹50,000 campaign cost, she is left with ₹1,60,000. ROI is ₹1,60,000 ÷ ₹50,000 = 320%, while ROAS is 6x.
How you'll hear it
“ROAS was 6x, but the number the owner cares about is ROI, which came in at 320% after product cost.”
Don't confuse it with
- ROAS: sales divided by ad spend, with no costs taken off.
- Incremental ROAS: counts only sales the ads caused.
Related terms
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Sources
- ROAS vs. ROI: How To Calculate and Use Each Metric, Shopify, 2026