PerformancePerformance
+484 %
Year-over-year revenue 2020–2021
Google Ads for E-Commerce
Your Google Ads generate revenue. But which campaigns generate contribution margin?
We connect Search, Shopping, Performance Max and product feeds with your shop's numbers, so budget is allocated by actual profitability, not just ROAS.
- For established online shops with ongoing orders, shop data and active advertising.
- Station 08 on the money path: capture purchase-ready demand, with a view to product page, cart and checkout.
In the initial consultation, we look at your account, feed and shop numbers and identify the likely biggest lever.
Published Google Ads case studies from online retail, including Jurassic Fruit, Lill’s and YIONN, with documented starting points, measures and results.
Google Ads · E-commerce customer projects
What Google Ads changed in online shops.
Three shop projects first; more Google Ads work, including a B2B project, follows further down. The metric on each card is the one documented in that project, historical and with its own time frame. A ROAS doesn't let you infer profit growth; the case study puts it in context.
Path of the money: Stage 08 Ready-to-buy demand — Action: Search, Shopping and product feeds for a seasonal range.
Path of the money: Stage 08 Ready-to-buy demand · 09 Interested prospects — Action: focus on one high-margin product, shopping feed and remarketing.
Path of the money: Stage 08 Ready-to-buy demand — Action: Google Ads for Germany and the Netherlands.
Historical project results. Starting points and time frames differ; you'll find the details in the respective case studies. Revenue, ROAS and conversion figures don't prove an increase in contribution margin.
Before / After
Two historical Google Ads projects over time.
No average, no extrapolation: two project timelines from published case studies with traceable starting values – where a starting value is calculated, it says so.
Klebemeister
Google Ads · E-commerceMonthly revenue · Year over year
- Before
- Baseline (calculated)
- After
- Monthly revenue after optimization
+€30,900 per month
What happened over time
- Google Ads and Shopping setup cleaned up
- Campaigns aligned to relevant search demand
- Ongoing optimization with a stable ROAS target
Baseline calculated from the published end value (€54,200) and increase (€30,900). The source documents monthly revenue year over year; it does not name specific years or an exact attribution of total revenue to Google Ads.
View case studySporting goods manufacturer (anonymized)
Google Ads · E-commerceProject “Muscle Recovery Tool” · ROAS of the Google Ads campaigns · Six weeks
- Before
- ROAS at start
- After
- ROAS after six weeks
ROAS 3.97 → 7.54 with lower ad costs
What happened over time
- Conversion actions updated and restructured
- Costs more than halved ($10,000 saved)
- Average CPC reduced by roughly a third
The higher ROAS came mainly from lower ad costs; conversion value over the period was $7,500 lower. Both figures appear this way in the case study.
View case studyWhen ROAS looks better than the account
Four risks hidden in many shop accounts.
Revenue, ROAS and contribution margin are different metrics. If you only look at the platform figure, you may scale the wrong result.
Good ROAS, weak margin
A product with a high ROAS can leave little or nothing after cost of goods, shipping and returns.
Budget by revenue instead of contribution
When bids optimize for revenue, budget flows to high-revenue products rather than high-contribution ones.
New and existing customers mixed together
Brand searches and repeat buyers make ROAS look good without winning new customers.
More budget on a broken setup
Incomplete tracking, missing consent signals or feed errors only get more expensive with more budget.
The first lever is often between the ad account, the product feed and the cart.
Working backward from the order
We plan starting from the contribution margin per order.
First we clarify what acquisition cost an order can bear. Then we review setup, range and campaigns, and see whether the shop turns traffic into orders.
- 01
Clarify profitability
Contribution margin per product and order, and the maximum acquisition cost the first order can support.
Result A break-even ROAS and a target ROAS based on your numbers.
- 02
Review the setup
Tracking, consent, Merchant Center and product feed.
Result A prioritized list of measurement gaps and feed errors.
- 03
Structure the range
Group products by demand, margin, returns and inventory.
Result A campaign and feed structure that directs budget to where contribution is generated.
- 04
Campaigns by situation
Use Search, Shopping and Performance Max where they fit the demand.
Result A campaign plan with budget allocation that you see before launch.
- 05
Include the shop
Check product page, cart and checkout for friction before buying more traffic.
Result Notes on stations 05, 04 and 03 in the money path.
- 06
Increase budget based on hypotheses
Additional budget only for reliable, measurable hypotheses.
Result A person reads the request and gathers information.
We look at revenue, ROAS, CAC, conversion rate, contribution margin, new-customer share and repeat purchases, as far as your data reliably supports each one. What can't be measured, we state explicitly.
Calculator · First order
What acquisition cost can an order carry in your shop?
Enter your own values per order, all net. The calculator uses no industry benchmarks, starts empty, and shows every formula openly.
Result
Enter order value, cost of goods, payment, fulfillment, and return costs.
Show formulas
- Contribution margin before marketing = net AOV − (cost of goods + payment + fulfillment/shipping + returns + other)
- Max. first-order CAC = contribution margin before marketing − desired contribution margin after marketing
- Break-even ROAS = net AOV ÷ contribution margin before marketing (only with a positive denominator)
- Target ROAS = net AOV ÷ max. CAC (only with a positive CAC)
All values net, excluding VAT. The calculation looks only at the first order; repeat purchases are deliberately not included. ROAS figures in Google Ads often refer to gross revenue – check first which values your account reports.
What we take on
Account, feed and shop numbers work together.
You get a prioritized proposal for your existing setup. We build on what works and define who takes on which changes.
Strategy and account
Analysis, campaign structure, budget planning, search terms and exclusions.
Feed and Merchant Center
Product data, titles, attributes and feed rules for Shopping and Performance Max.
Data and decisions
Tracking and consent review, analysis by contribution and the next measures.
Campaign types matched to the goal: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube/video, Demand Gen and Display. The agreed scope determines the mix. Depending on the agreement, we make changes in the shop ourselves or coordinate them with your team.
- 01
Put it in context
Understand goals, existing data and bottlenecks.
- 02
Agree
Document measures, responsibilities, management and ad budget transparently.
- 03
Improve
Implement, review results and prioritize next steps.
When a conversation makes sense
Your shop sells, and you want to know what's left of it.
- You run an established online shop with ongoing orders and active Google Ads.
- You know your cost of goods and variable costs at least roughly, or want to find out.
- You want to improve campaigns, feed and shop together instead of just raising budget.
If tracking, feed or margin are still unclear, we settle these foundations first. More ad budget alone doesn't solve that bottleneck.
Shop conversion: product page to payment
As seen in
Before you decide
The questions that should be answered before you start.
Search, Shopping or Performance Max: which is right?
That depends on range, data and demand. Search covers specific search terms, Shopping shows products with image and price, and Performance Max bundles several placements but gives less insight. We use each depending on the situation and separate brand demand from new-customer demand where possible.
What target ROAS should we set?
One that follows from your numbers: net order value divided by the acquisition cost a first order can bear. The calculator on this page shows the formula. We don't use industry averages for it.
Why is the product feed so important?
Shopping and Performance Max work with the data from your feed. Missing attributes, weak titles or wrong availability cost visibility and send budget to the wrong products.
Do you take care of the shop too?
We also look at product page, cart and checkout, because more traffic to a shop with friction mainly just gets more expensive. Which changes we implement ourselves is set out in the scope.
Do you take over existing accounts?
Yes. We check which campaigns, data and structures can still be used. A rebuild only makes sense where the analysis justifies it.
What do management and ad budget cost?
Management follows the agreed scope. We show ad budget and management separately.
Do you guarantee a specific ROAS or profit?
No. Demand, competition, range and data quality all affect the outcome. We make measures and measurement limits transparent instead of promising a fixed return.
Your next step
Which campaigns actually earn you money?
Talk to us about your shop, your current campaigns and whatever doesn't add up in your reporting. We'll clarify where Google Ads, feed or shop should come first.
- Which products carry your contribution margin?
- Where are budget or purchase intent being lost today?
- What would be a sensible next step?
Your shop URL and a rough overview of your advertising so far are helpful. No account access is needed to book an appointment.
