Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
February 2025 - February 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Retail CPC across all countries ran consistently cheaper than the global Facebook Ads benchmark for most of the year, yet it also moved with sharper month‑to‑month swings. The rhythm was familiar—softness into midyear, a strong lift into November, then a sharp December reset—but with an unusually deep Q4 whipsaw and a notable rebound at the start of 2026. 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 Retail across all countries compared to the global benchmark.
Retail CPC opened 2025 at $0.87 and closed January 2026 at $0.95, a 9% increase over the period. The median cost per click averaged $0.86, with a high of $1.10 in November and a low of $0.74 in December. The path there was anything but flat: after easing to $0.80 in March, CPCs rebounded in April ($0.87) and hovered in a tight band through June ($0.85). July marked the midyear trough at $0.76, followed by a steady climb through October ($0.89) and a pronounced November surge to $1.10 (+23% month over month). December then reset hard to $0.74 (−33% from November), before a January recovery to $0.95 (+28% from December).
Volatility averaged $0.10 per month in Retail CPC, reflecting sharper swings than the global market. The baseline (all industries, all countries) averaged $1.11 CPC across the same months, peaking in November at $1.32 and sliding to $0.85 by January 2026. Baseline volatility ran lower at $0.07 per month. Notably, while Retail ended above its January 2025 level, the global benchmark finished 25% lower than it began.
Retail CPC trends followed a recognizable seasonal pattern with a few distinct beats:
The global benchmark mirrored the November spike and the subsequent reset, but with a smoother climb into Q4 and a deeper two‑month deflation into December and January.
Against the global Facebook Ads benchmarks, Retail across all countries was generally below market:
In sum, Facebook Ads cost‑per‑click benchmarks for the Retail industry across all countries show a year of lower‑than‑market CPCs, a pronounced November spike, and a sharper‑than‑average December reset followed by a January rebound. These CPC trends provide a clear lens on industry ad performance and country‑agnostic ad costs, helping teams compare Retail outcomes to global patterns without prescribing tactics.
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 Retail industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. 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.
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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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