Beauty & Skincare Unit Economics & cltv Calculator
Beauty is one of the UK's most competitive D2C verticals and one of the most misunderstood from a unit economics perspective. Strong gross margins create an illusion of profitability that evaporates once influencer-driven CAC, sample costs, gift-with-purchase mechanics, and high BNPL adoption are factored in.
What This Calculator Outputs
Full P&L Waterfall
Every cost layer from gross revenue to net profit, including BNPL and returns
Breakeven ROAS (3 Levels)
Separate targets at gross margin, contribution and variable profit levels
Per-Unit Profitability Cards
COGS, CM3 and net profit per kept unit: your real margin per sale
Fixed vs Variable Cost Split
See exactly how fixed overhead allocates across your order volume
LTV, CAC & Payback Period
Model lifetime value against paid and influencer acquisition costs, with repeat purchase frequency, CM2 payback period and LTV:CAC ratio at gross, contribution and net levels
Who This Is For
This tool is designed for UK beauty brand founders, CMOs, heads of growth, and e-commerce finance leads who need to understand whether their margin structure can support the acquisition model they're running, and how per-order contribution connects to LTV, CAC payback and the long-term value of customers acquired through paid and influencer channels. It's particularly useful if you're:
- Sense-checking whether the ROAS targets set in Google Ads reflect your true margin after returns, BNPL fees and gifting costs are included, rather than the gross margin figure on your product cards
- Running contribution margin reviews that need to account for variable acquisition costs including influencer gifting and gift-with-purchase promotions
- Modelling the impact of a pricing change, new product bundle, or updated fulfilment arrangement on your per-order profitability
- Preparing investor materials that require a clear, fully-loaded unit economics model
Kiezo Growth
Build Your Beauty Unit Economics + CLTV Model
Answer a few questions about your business and we'll pre-load both the unit economics and lifetime value calculators with your real numbers. Takes 3–4 minutes. Skip anything you don't know — we'll use sensible benchmarks in its place.
Returning user? Upload your saved config to reload your numbers instantly — no need to go through the questions again.
Could not read that file. Please use a saved Kiezo config JSON.
Let's start with your sales numbers.
This model works on a per-unit or per-SKU-range basis. Beauty businesses often carry product lines with very different margin profiles — a hero serum and a basic cleanser will sit at opposite ends of the AOV and margin spectrum. Model them separately rather than blending across ranges, or the output won't be actionable for either — and blended inputs will distort both the unit economics and the LTV model that follows.
Any field you leave blank will use a benchmark default. You'll see exactly which defaults were applied when you reach the calculator.
How many units do you sell per month?
Leave blank → benchmark default: 10,000 units/month
What is your full-price average order value?
Enter your AOV before any discounts are applied
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £200
On average, what discount do customers get?
Across sale periods, promo codes and offers — if none, enter 0
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 10%
What does it cost to make or buy the product?
What percentage of your selling price is the cost to make or buy the product?
This is your COGS — e.g. if you sell at £100 and the product costs you £35, enter 35
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 20%
Tell us about your returns.
What percentage of your orders are returned?
Use your last 90-day return rate if available — beauty brands typically see 5–15%, though this varies by product type and whether you accept opened returns
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 35%
What does it cost you to process each return?
Includes postage, repackaging, inspection — not the refund itself
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £5.00 per return
What percentage of returned units can't be resold and are written off?
Damaged, soiled, or unsaleable items — enter 0 if you resell everything returned
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 10%
How much does it cost to get orders out the door?
What is your average shipping cost per unit dispatched?
Your courier cost per parcel — not what you charge the customer
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £5.00 per unit
What do you pay per month for warehousing and fulfilment?
Enter only the portion attributable to this product or range — leave at 0 if you fulfil in-house with no direct cost
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £2,000/month
Payment processing and BNPL fees.
What percentage does your payment gateway charge per transaction?
Stripe is typically 1.4–2.9%. Check your dashboard if unsure
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 2%
What percentage of your customers pay via BNPL — Klarna or similar?
Beauty brands typically see 15–30% BNPL adoption — enter 0 if you don't offer it
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 20%
What fee does your BNPL provider charge you per transaction?
Klarna typically charges merchants 2.99–5.99%. Check your provider agreement
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 6%
What are you spending to acquire customers?
How much do you spend on paid acquisition per month, for this SKU/range?
Include the portion of agency fees, creative production, and attribution tooling attributable to this SKU or range — not your entire business spend. Platform media spend alone is acceptable, but will produce a less complete NCAC than your true all-in cost of acquisition.
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £10,000/month
For NCAC to be accurate, your new customer count must come from your back-end data — Shopify orders, your CRM, or your order management system. Platform-reported new customer figures (Google Ads, Meta) overcount: they use cookie and device signals rather than your actual customer database, and they claim credit across channels simultaneously. Pull the number from your back end, not your ads dashboard.
How many new customers did that spend acquire?
Most brands track this monthly, but use whatever period matches your acquisition spend figure above. Pull from Shopify, your CRM, or your order management system — not your ads platform. This figure unlocks your NCAC and feeds directly into the LTV model.
Leave blank → benchmark default: 0 (NCAC not calculated)
Fixed overhead attributable to this range.
What are your monthly fixed costs attributable to this product or range?
Salaries, software, rent, agency fees — only include what you'd apportion to this SKU or range. Leave at 0 to evaluate on contribution margin only
£
Leave blank → benchmark default: £2,000/month
How do your customers buy over time?
LTV model inputs — these two questions drive your lifetime value calculation. Margins, AOV, and acquisition spend are inherited automatically from your answers above.
On average, how many times per year does a customer place a repeat order?
Think about your active, retained customers — not first-time buyers. Beauty brands typically see 3–6 repeat orders per year
×/yr
Leave blank → benchmark default: 4 orders/year
On average, how long does a customer keep buying from you?
Your average customer lifespan — i.e. from first to last purchase. If unsure, a typical beauty brand sees 1.5–3 years
yrs
Leave blank → benchmark default: 2.5 years
One final refinement for your LTV model.
This step is optional — skip it and we'll apply a sensible benchmark. The calculator lets you adjust all of these in detail once it loads.
What percentage of your repeat orders use BNPL — Klarna or similar?
Repeat customers often have higher BNPL adoption than first-time buyers. This adjusts your repeat-order CM2 in the LTV model
%
Leave blank → benchmark default: 35%
Explore more
Free resources
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Every calculator, every template - all free
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Profit Metrics
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Contribution margin, explained: CM1, CM2, CM3
The margin waterfall from gross revenue down to CM3, and how that structure feeds into building a profitable Google Ads account.
Acquisition
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How to actually calculate your NCAC
The step-by-step method for working out your true new customer acquisition cost - the number prospecting should be judged on.
Strategy
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The Google Ads KPIs that actually matter
ROAS isn't a business metric - it's a platform metric. Which KPIs actually map to profit, and which ones just keep you spending.