Cost per visit is what a marketing channel costs for each customer it brings through the door: the spend on that channel divided by the visits it can prove. It is the only advertising metric that uses the same unit a local business already counts, and it is the one that exposes a channel that can show an audience but not a customer.
In short
- The formula: cost per visit = channel spend ÷ verified visits from that channel.
- The idea is not new. GroundTruth launched a cost-per-visit buying model in March 2018 in which advertisers "pay only for ads that result in a store visit" (GroundTruth).
- A visit can only be priced if it was counted at the place, inside a window, and tied to a source. Modelled estimates such as Google's store visits cannot be priced per visit.
- With 44% of Canadian restaurants at a loss or breaking even (Restaurants Canada), the channels that survive are the ones that can be judged on it.
What is the formula?
Cost per visit (CPV) = what you spent on the channel ÷ the number of visits that channel verifiably produced.
A worked example with round numbers: a C$400 campaign that brings 32 counted visits costs C$12.50 per visit. To know whether that is good, multiply your average ticket by your margin, then by the number of visits a new customer makes in total. A café with a C$14 average ticket and a 10% margin earns C$1.40 of margin per visit, so a customer who comes back four times after the first visit makes five visits and earns C$7.00. At C$12.50 per visit the campaign loses C$5.50 on that customer unless it also builds something worth the difference, such as a regular who stays past the fifth visit, a review or content. The same campaign at C$4 per visit is paid back on the third visit, and every visit after that is C$1.40 of margin the campaign bought.
Compare that with the metrics ads are usually sold on. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) prices an audience. Cost per click (CPC) prices a web visit. Neither prices a person at the counter, and both can look excellent while the room stays empty.
GroundTruth's glossary defines a related figure, effective cost per visit, as campaign revenue divided by attributed visits (its example: $100,000 of revenue over 10,000 visits is $10 per visit), noting that "unlike traditional metrics such as cost per click (CPC), eCPV focuses on real-world outcomes".
Where did cost per visit come from?
Location-based ad networks. GroundTruth announced its cost-per-visit model on March 13, 2018, describing it as a way for advertisers to pay only for ads that result in a store visit, with the visit observed by its own location technology; the company said it was tracking over 2 billion visits a month at the time. The model shifted the risk from the buyer to the seller: if nobody came, nobody paid.
That is the test any channel should be held to in 2026. A seller confident its ads bring people in can price per visit. One that is not will sell impressions.
Why does CPV fit a small business?
Because the visit is already the unit of the business. An owner knows the day's covers, the chairs filled, the baskets sold. A marketing number in the same unit can be checked against the register on Monday; a number in impressions cannot be checked against anything.
It also fits the margins. Restaurants Canada's Q4 2025 survey found 44% of restaurants at a loss or breaking even and 60% with worse profitability than expected. At that margin, spend that cannot be tied to a visit is a bet the business cannot afford to lose twice. The restaurant margins piece sets out the numbers.
What makes a visit "verified" enough to price?
Three conditions, the same ones that define offline attribution:
- Counted at the place. A code shown at the counter, a card link that reports the purchase, a visit recorded on site. Not an ad view that a model assumes became a visit.
- Inside a window. A visit credited to a post from three weeks ago is a coincidence, not a conversion.
- Tied to a source. The specific creator, flyer or ad. A channel-level total cannot be priced per source, so the next budget cannot follow the count.
Google's store visits fail the first condition by design: the number is "extrapolated to represent the broader population", which is why Google reports it rather than charges for it. Survey answers at the counter fail the third. The comparison of counting methods grades each method on all three.
How to compare channels on CPV
- Google Ads. Can report a modelled visit estimate for eligible accounts, viewable by campaign, ad group, ad and keyword with a cost per store visit column; the account is still invoiced per click or impression, never per observed visit, and nothing outside Google Ads, such as a creator or a flyer, is in the count.
- Meta Ads. No store visits metric for self-serve advertisers since the store traffic objective was retired; on-platform actions only.
- Flyers and print. Priceable if each flyer carries a code; otherwise a channel-level guess.
- Local creators. Priceable if each creator has their own code or link and visits are counted at the door.
- Loyalty and card-linked offers. Priceable for enrolled customers; they measure repeat more than discovery.
Two Toronto campaigns were run and reported on this basis, with the per-walk-in cost printed in each: World Soccer Party, 173 walk-ins from seven creators, and Simi African Foods, 37 walk-ins from two creators and a stack of flyers.
On Onlure, local businesses book local creators for a campaign and see the walk-ins each creator sends, which is what makes the division possible. The brands page explains how a campaign is set up.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good cost per visit for a local business?
Below the margin a new customer earns across all of their visits. For a café with a C$14 ticket, a 10% margin and a customer who makes five visits in total, that is C$7.00; a restaurant with a C$60 ticket can pay far more. Work it out from your own numbers rather than a benchmark.
How is cost per visit different from cost per click?
Cost per click prices a web visit; cost per visit prices a person at your location. A click costs cents and may never lead anywhere. A counted visit is revenue in the register, which is why it can be compared with margin directly.
Can you measure cost per visit without tracking customers' phones?
Yes. A code per source shown at the counter, a card-linked offer the customer chose to enrol in, or a visit counted on site all produce a verified visit without location tracking. The denominator is whatever your counting method proves; the formula is the same.
