Unit Economics
LTV:CAC and Payback Benchmarks for Indian D2C — by Category 2026
By Sylvr Founder's Desk
Category benchmarks
LTV:CAC and payback differ by category. We do not publish a figure for LTV:CAC for beauty and skincare yet.
How to use these ranges
Category figures appear here once a graded source gives them; they are never computed from guesses. Use them as a starting point, then compare against your own cohorts by channel and acquisition month.
Questions founders ask
Is 2× LTV:CAC really unhealthy?
It depends on lifecycle. A brand growing fast can accept a lower ratio for a while, if it knows when the ratio will recover. For a steady-state brand, a low ratio points to pricing or retention.
Should I compare to my category or to Indian D2C average?
Category. Beauty and FMCG have fundamentally different economics; averaging across both produces misleading numbers.
How do these benchmarks change with quick commerce?
Adding Blinkit or Zepto tends to lower LTV:CAC, because quick-commerce customers churn faster than D2C-acquired ones. Track them as a separate cohort.