Industry benchmarks for Supplement Brands
Break-even ROAS for supplements sits near 1.6x, one of the friendlier numbers in physical products, because manufacturing typically runs 20-28% of retail price. Prospecting CPMs land at $16-30 depending on claim restrictions, and cold conversion averages 1.8-3.2% on a well-optimized product page. Return rates are low at 3-8%, but chargebacks and money-back-guarantee claims on 30-day supply products add another 2-5%. Average achieved blended ROAS in the category runs about 1.9x.
Subscribe-and-save is the lever that decides whether a supplement brand scales or stalls. Converting 25-35% of first orders to subscription moves 90-day customer value from $49 to $110-140, which drops effective break-even ROAS below 1.0x on acquisition. The second lever is compliance-safe creative: ad account restrictions and rejected claims inflate CPM by 20-40%, so structure-function language that clears review is worth more than most audience testing. Watch retention month two, since supplement churn spikes hardest at the first renewal.
Frequently asked questions
Break-Even ROAS Calculator for Supplement Brands, answered.
What is a good ROAS for supplement brands?
Above 1.6x is profitable on a single order, and 1.9x is the category average. With a strong subscription attach rate, 1.3x first-order ROAS can still be profitable.
How does subscribe-and-save change break-even ROAS?
It replaces one $49 order with $110-140 of 90-day value, cutting effective break-even ROAS by roughly half.
Why are supplement CPMs higher than general ecommerce?
Health claim restrictions shrink usable audiences and raise rejection rates, which pushes delivery costs 20-40% above comparable physical products.