Enter average order value, purchase frequency, and lifespan. Get lifetime, annual, and monthly value so you can set a CAC ceiling without treating blended CAC as if it were LTV.
This is revenue LTV from AOV times frequency times years. Pair it with blended CAC and payback before you treat the number as a budget rule.
Vegan and ethical brands often teach the first purchase. Lifetime value is the ceiling for paid, not a forecast you use to defend a bid that still fails contribution.
This calculator estimates revenue LTV: average purchase value times purchases per year times years the customer stays. For a refill cleanser, oat milk, or certified apparel brand, that number is usually a first-order plus repeats, not a SaaS contract.
Vegan and ethical DTC often carries higher COGS, slower education, and longer time to second order. Revenue LTV can look healthy while contribution LTV (after COGS, shipping, returns, and payment fees) is too thin to fund Meta or Google. Use this output as the top of a CAC conversation, then haircut it for margin before you set a bid cap.
Refill and subscription SKUs should also run the subscription LTV calculator, which uses churn and contribution instead of a guessed lifespan.
Run it before you raise paid spend, after a retention or replenishment test, and whenever AOV, repeat rate, or mix shifts (new hero SKU, fewer first-order kits, more refills). It is the right tool when the question is “how much can we pay for a customer?” not “is this ad account green?”
Compare the result to channel CAC and blended CAC separately. Channel CAC tells you what Meta or Google claims. Blended CAC tells you what a new customer actually cost the business. LTV should clear blended CAC with room for payback, not just last-click CAC from a retargeting campaign.
Then check months to pay back CAC. Strong LTV with a 14-month payback can still starve a vegan brand that buys certified inventory up front. Directional CAC ceilings live in the healthy CAC guide.
Blended CAC vs LTV. Do not divide a generous LTV by last-click Meta CAC and call it 5:1. Last-click ignores creative, tools, email, and organic-assisted buyers. Use blended CAC for the ratio, then keep channel CAC as a diagnostic.
Revenue LTV vs contribution. This tool does not subtract COGS. Certified materials, cold-chain, and returns can erase a pretty lifetime revenue number. Haircut LTV by gross margin before you treat it as spendable.
Optimistic lifespan. A 12-month cohort of replenishment buyers is more honest than “customers stay five years.” One-time spikes (launch kits, holiday bundles) should not set frequency. Recalculate when mix or retention changes, and pair with retention work when repeat is the leak.
fisagency helps vegan and ethical brands turn lifetime value into acquisition rules and retention work that cash can support.
Talk with fisagency →Use these before you raise paid spend or cut replenishment work.
Use blended CAC for the LTV:CAC ratio. That is total marketing cost divided by new customers in the same window. Channel CAC from Meta or Google is a diagnostic: it shows where waste might live, not what the customer cost the P&L. Comparing a high LTV to last-click retargeting CAC is how ethical brands overpay for demand they already had.
Revenue LTV. The formula is AOV times frequency times lifespan. It does not subtract COGS, shipping, returns, or payment fees. For vegan and ethical DTC with premium inputs, haircut the result by gross margin before you set a CAC cap. Subscription refill economics belong in the subscription LTV calculator.
A common planning target is about 3:1 on contribution, not on revenue. Higher can be healthy. Lower usually means acquisition is too expensive or repeat is too weak. Pair the ratio with payback timing. Directional ranges for sustainable DTC are in the healthy CAC guide.
Compare against CAC, blended CAC, and payback. Strong lifetime revenue with high blended CAC or long payback is still a bad scale decision, especially when certified inventory ties up cash. Then decide whether retention or acquisition gets the next dollar.
Often yes when repeat purchase is soft. Raising paid on one-and-done vegan kit buyers burns cash faster than fixing welcome flows, refill timing, and offer. If frequency is already healthy and blended CAC is the leak, fix creative, landing proof, and channel mix instead of stretching lifespan assumptions.
Recalculate when pricing, retention, or product mix changes. Quarterly is enough for most teams. Monthly when you are testing replenishment, subscriptions, or a new hero SKU. Do not lock a five-year lifespan from a launch cohort.