Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
November 2024 - November 2025
Detailed observation of presented data
E-commerce CPC trends across all countries told a clear two-part story: a costly Q4 peak followed by a steady, lower-cost glide through most of 2025. Compared to the global all‑industry benchmark, E-commerce started above market in late 2024, then spent most of 2025 below it, with sharper monthly swings. December was the standout: the most expensive month by far, followed by a steep January reset and a controlled decline into late summer before a modest October rebound. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for E-commerce across all countries compared to the global benchmark.
Seasonality was pronounced. Q4 2024 was expensive, culminating in December’s $1.68 high. January reset costs sharply lower, and Q1 hovered near parity ($1.07–$1.13). April ticked up, consistent with periodic E-commerce promotions, before a steady softening from May ($1.12) through September ($0.86). Q3 2025 was the least expensive stretch, averaging $0.89. October showed the first material rebound since spring, climbing to $0.93 as pre‑holiday competition began to rebuild. This rhythm aligns with familiar Facebook Ads benchmarks: performance typically softens through Q4 as competition rises, with engagement and costs normalizing in early Q1 and gradually warming into the next holiday cycle.
Against the global all‑industry benchmark (average $1.14), E-commerce across all countries averaged slightly lower at $1.12 (about 3% below). The gap, however, shifted over time:
Globally, CPCs declined 28% from November 2024 to October 2025, a smoother descent than E-commerce’s 40% slide. The global trend rose and fell in small steps (average monthly move ~$0.05), while E-commerce showed sharper spikes and dips (~$0.12), pointing to more volatile industry ad performance.
Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks for cost‑per‑click in E-commerce across all countries highlights how Q4 inflation, a January reset, and a late‑summer trough shaped CPC trends relative to the global market. This CPC analysis, alongside broader CPM analysis and CTR performance views, helps frame country‑specific ad costs within the larger pattern of E-commerce industry ad performance.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the E-commerce industry, Facebook ad costs can be varied, with peaks during holiday seasons and competitive product categories. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
Average cost per purchase benchmarks across industries
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