Issue 32    Wednesday, May 28, 2025

From ROAS to return on consumer: Unlocking true ROI with CLTV

Since the earliest days of advertising, brands have been chasing a deceptively simple goal: match the right products with the right consumers, using just enough investment to drive growth and profitability. On paper, it’s straightforward—track incremental sales, divide by spend, and measure ROI. But in practice, the journey to true ROI is anything but simple. While tracking investment is easy, understanding the value that customers create after that first purchase is far more complex. 

Early measurement centered on reach—counting impressions, and estimating exposure. The arrival of retail media marked a turning point, finally giving brands the ability to deterministically connect ad spend with actual sales through closed-loop measurement. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) emerged as the new standard, allowing brands to see which campaigns were driving conversions in real time. 

Yet, as digital commerce matured, the limits of ROAS began to show. Even with advances like iROAS, these metrics remain focused on immediate, ad-attributed sales—capturing only part of the story. The broader impact of what consumers do beyond that first purchase is left out, leaving brands with just a fragment of the bigger picture and missing the ongoing value of each customer. 

To drive sustainable growth, brands need to look beyond basic performance metrics and capture the full spectrum of consumer long-term value (CLTV). This means understanding not just what drives a single purchase, but the entire customer lifecycle—metrics like lifetime value (LTV), customer acquisition cost (CAC), new-to-brand (NTB), retention and repurchase rates, and basket building over time. With that holistic lens, brands can finally follow every step: from acquisition and path-to-purchase, to loyalty and ongoing growth. 

Return on consumer: Focusing on value beyond the first purchase

In today’s competitive landscape, lasting growth comes from understanding not just what shoppers buy, but who is buying and how they stay and grow with your brand. That’s why Flywheel is introducing return on consumer—a new framework designed to help brands focus on building deeper connections and long-term value. By analyzing the return on consumer, brands can reframe the conversation to ask: Who are our most valuable shoppers? Which products truly build loyalty? How does each customer’s relationship with our brand evolve, year after year? 

Historically, these insights were difficult to access. But with Amazon Marketing Cloud, brands can now connect product-level data (ASINs) with individual customer journeys (CIDs). And with the release of five years of Amazon purchase data, it’s possible to trace the full arc of each relationship—how engagement begins, deepens, and translates into lasting value across products and moments. 

Yet, even with this wealth of information, the real opportunity comes from turning data into action. Five years of purchase history is only powerful if brands can surface the patterns that matter—loyalty shifts, cross-category exploration, the impact of key events—and transform them into strategies for growth. 

Introducing Flywheel's Consumer Long-Term Value (CLTV) Dashboard

That’s why Flywheel is introducing the Consumer Long-Term Value (CLTV) Dashboard—powered by 5-years of AMC purchase data. For the first time, brands can move beyond static snapshots to see the full journey of every customer relationship, following shopper behavior across years, not just transactions. 

With this level of visibility, brands can: 

• Reveal their highest-value shoppers 
  See exactly how many new-to-brand shoppers you’re bringing in, how many return for repeat purchases, and how much value these customers drive over time. 
  
  
• Track return rates, repurchase cycles, and loyalty signals 
  Understand when and how often shoppers come back, revealing patterns, repurchase cycles, and loyalty. For fast-cycle products like CPG, pinpoint when and how often repeat purchases occur. For longer-cycle products, like electronics, identify when shoppers are ready to upgrade or branch out—enabling timely re-engagement. 
  
  
• Identify true points of market entry (POME ASINs) 
  Discover which ASINs serve as an introduction to your brand—the ones that not only attract new shoppers but convert them into explorers and loyalists who return time and again.  
  
  
• Map cross-sell and upsell opportunities 
  See what categories consumers move to after their initial purchase and which products encourage expanded baskets or new category exploration. 
  
  
• Understand the impact of tentpole events and seasonal strategies 
  Compare the long-term value of shoppers acquired during major events (like Prime Day or New Year, New Me) to understand which promotional periods drive new-to-brand shoppers who come back for more. 

This is more than data—it’s the ability to understand not just what happened, but how every relationship evolves and where the greatest opportunities for loyalty and growth truly lie. 

As commerce evolves, the brands that thrive will be those that move beyond one-off transactions and last-touch metrics to truly understand return on consumer and nurture long-term value. Embracing this framework means putting the customer at the center of every decision, recognizing that sustainable growth is built on relationships, not just transactions. 

With tools like the CLTV Dashboard, brands can unlock deeper insights, act on what matters, and create experiences that turn new-to-brand shoppers into loyal fans. The future belongs to brands that champion the consumer journey—investing in the people behind every purchase and building loyalty that lasts. 

Shreya
Subramaniam

Product Manager at Flywheel

Curious how 5-years of CLTV insights can reshape your strategy?

Featured Video

First Look: Consumer Long-Term Value Dashboard

Take a first look at Flywheel’s new CLTV Dashboard with Gabe Fishbein and see how five years of Amazon purchase data can reveal the full story of your customers. Discover how to identify new-to-brand shoppers, track their return patterns, and measure long-term value—all while unlocking smarter cross-sell, upsell, and promotional strategies to drive sustainable growth.

Additional Resources

Flywheel’s CLTV Dashboard: Unlocking consumer long-term value with 5-years of Amazon purchase data 

With the release of 5 years of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) purchase data, brands now have an unprecedented view into true consumer behavior and long-term value on Amazon. Flywheel’s early access to this data has powered the development of our CLTV dashboards, making it easy for brands to extract actionable insights for smarter marketing and growth. 

Point of Market Entry (POME): Why your first-touch ASINs matter 

Explore how “point of market entry” products shape the customer journey on Amazon. Learn why identifying POME ASINs is critical for attracting new shoppers, building brand loyalty, and developing strategies that turn first-time buyers into lifelong customers. 

Tariffs & trade developments–week of 5/12 

Stay up to date with the latest shifts in global trade policy. This blog breaks down the most important tariff and trade developments for brands, highlighting key changes, new regulations, and what they mean for your business strategy in the weeks ahead.