NTB (New to Brand)

Amazon & D2C glossary · Harpy Media

NTB (New to Brand) is Amazon’s advertising reporting for purchases made by first-time buyers of your brand. An order counts as new-to-brand if the shopper has not bought from the brand in the prior 12 months — making the metric a direct read on how much of your advertising is genuinely acquiring customers rather than re-reaching them.

What is NTB?

NTB (New to Brand) is Amazon’s advertising reporting for purchases made by first-time buyers of your brand. An order counts as new-to-brand if the shopper has not bought from the brand in the prior 12 months — making the metric a direct read on how much of your advertising is genuinely acquiring customers rather than re-reaching them.

The distinction it draws is the one ordinary advertising metrics blur. ACoS and ROAS treat every order the same whether it came from a shopper discovering the brand or a loyal customer who would have bought anyway. NTB splits that out — and the split changes where the money should go.

Why NTB changes what a campaign is worth

Brand-defence activity is the clearest example. Campaigns bidding on your own brand name convert cheaply and show beautiful ACoS — often because a large share of the clicks come from people already looking for you. Judged only on efficiency, they look like the best spend in the account; judged on NTB, many are simply intercepting demand you already had.

Acquisition campaigns, by contrast, usually carry worse short-term efficiency and much stronger NTB rates, because they are reaching people who have never bought from the brand. Understanding which is which is how advertising budgets stop being allocated by ACoS alone — and for consumables and repeat-purchase categories, how the value of a newly acquired customer gets priced against their lifetime worth.

Reading the numbers in practice

The working metrics are straightforward: the NTB order rate (what share of orders came from new-to-brand shoppers), the NTB sales share, and cost per new-to-brand customer — total spend divided by NTB orders. For a repeat-purchase product, a high cost per NTB customer can still be excellent economics, because the acquisition cost is paid once and the customer repeats.

For a one-off purchase, the same cost is simply the cost — which is why the NTB lens has to be read alongside the product’s repeat behaviour. The brands that use it well set different targets for different campaign types: efficiency guardrails on brand defence, acquisition economics on prospecting, and a clear-eyed view of which is which.

In practice

A private label coffee brand runs a Sponsored Brands video campaign on generic terms like “whole bean dark roast”. Over 30 days it spends $3,000, generating 200 orders and $6,000 in sales — of which 160 orders and $4,800 are new to brand. The campaign reads as an 80% NTB order rate with an acquisition cost around $18.75 per new customer. Because coffee is consumable and repeat purchase intent is high, the brand accepts that acquisition cost knowingly: the customer’s lifetime value returns it many times over.

How Harpy Media helps

Acquisition reporting is part of our advertising routines: NTB split out by campaign, brand-defence and prospecting held to separate targets, and acquisition costs judged against lifetime value rather than month-one efficiency alone.

NTB FAQ

What counts as new-to-brand on Amazon?

A shopper who has not purchased from your brand within the previous 12 months. Orders from them are classified as NTB, which separates genuine acquisition from reach that lands on existing customers.

Which campaigns are eligible for NTB reporting?

NTB metrics are available primarily on Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display campaigns, with Sponsored Products NTB reporting available in more limited circumstances. The reports live in the advertising console and Brand Analytics.

Is a high NTB rate always good?

Not by itself. High NTB with absurd acquisition costs can be worse than moderate NTB at efficient costs. The right reading depends on the product’s repeat behaviour: for consumables, higher acquisition costs are often justified by repeat revenue; for one-off purchases they are simply costs.