The basic ROI formula
At a high level: compare demo profit (revenue you can attribute to the event minus fully loaded cost) to demo cost. If you are early-stage, even a rough estimate beats no estimate.
"We stopped guessing once we tracked purchases per demo. The worst stores were obvious within three events."
What to measure
- All-in cost: BA wages, samples, supplies, mileage, and your own time
- Traffic and conversion: samples handed out and observed or inferred purchases
- Average order value for the SKU or basket you are promoting
Use the Demo ROI calculator to model scenarios with sliders — no signup required.
Common mistakes
Ignoring BA setup time, forgetting parking, or counting only "obvious" purchases usually overstates ROI. Be conservative until your data gets cleaner.
What to do next
Pick your top three stores, run consistent reporting for a month, then reallocate budget to winners. Pair the numbers with qualitative BA notes from every shift.
Try the interactive calculator
Plug in your BA rate, traffic, conversion, and AOV to see projected ROI.
Open demo ROI calculator