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Owned by Jeff

Fix Shopify conversion leaks so ad spend pays. Weekly teardowns, playbooks, and direct feedback for merchants done guessing.

Receipts or it didn’t happen. Documented claim tests, outside-lab archive, DIY protocols — filters, oils, supplements, gadgets.

21 contributions to Google Ads eCom Lab
Sales dropped hard after raising Target ROAS
Had two really good weeks, solid profit. Then in one day I raised my Target ROAS, cut a couple of dead products, and added free shipping over a certain cart amount on my site — and since then (4-5 days) I've barely had any orders, even though clicks and spend look normal. Small account, about 1 order/day, $59/day on PMax. How long does this kind of dip usually last, and at what point would you stop waiting and revert something back?
0 likes • 18h
Christopher's right that a hard tROAS on ~1 order/day and $59 spend is usually too tight. The bigger issue is you changed three things at once, so you can't tell which one killed volume. I'd unwind in this order: 1) Revert Target ROAS back to Maximize Conversion Value (or a much looser target) and leave the product set and shipping offer alone for a few days. On thin data, a higher tROAS often just stops the auction rather than "optimizing." 2) If volume returns, reintroduce one change at a time. Dead-product cleanup is usually fine. Free shipping above a threshold can quietly wreck checkout if a lot of carts sit under the threshold, so watch CVR, not just ROAS. 3) Don't wait weeks hoping learning fixes a target that was set above what the account can sustain. Four to five quiet days with normal clicks and spend already says the bid constraint (or the offer change) choked conversion, not "needs more time." Stabilize on Max Conv Value first. Then test shipping or product cuts separately so the next drop has one cause.
What to do with a high order cancellation rate?
Lately, we’ve been getting more and more orders that people want to cancel after 1 day of ordering it—what could be causing this? My guess is that we initially stated on the product page that orders would be shipped the next day, but we actually couldn’t meet that promise. I’ve since updated that to “within 48 hours.” Another possibility—and this happens more often with lower-priced products compared to those with a higher retail price—is that this is the case. Is that accurate or not? The reasoning behind this: people buy because they see a low price and expect fast delivery—which gives us an advantage over competitors—but when they realize that’s not the case they want to cancel..
0 likes • 18h
Your follow-up is the smoking gun: people needed the item by a date, saw no shipping link after a day, and canceled. That's expectation, not "cheap buyers hate waiting." What I'd tighten: 1) Product page and ads: only promise what you can hit every time. "Within 48 hours" is safer than next-day if next-day isn't real. Match the same language in your Shopping feed shipping settings so Google isn't selling a faster story than the site. 2) Right after purchase: a confirmation email/SMS with the real timeline ("We ship within 48 hours; tracking lands once the label is created") and what "processing" looks like on day one. Silence after checkout is what triggers the cancel. 3) Cheap SKUs do raise urgency, but the fix is still honesty and updates, not higher prices. If a segment always needs it tomorrow, either offer a paid expedited option or stop buying that traffic with a speed claim. Christopher's right to ask customers. I'd also watch cancel rate by product, and any "needed by" mentions, for a week after the copy change. If cancels drop when the promise matches ops, you don't need a deeper product redesign.
What data should I use to make my decision about scaling?
My campaign has achieved a solid ROAS, but there’s a problem. Shopify attributes the sales to Google when the order is placed, but unfortunately, not all of these sales are counted in the Google Ads dashboard. On a day like yesterday, Google shows that my ROAS was 0.59, but when I calculate it myself, it was 2.67—3 conversions, 3 of which came from Google, but Google only counted 1 of them in Google Ads. ROAS for the past 7 days (not including today) was 1.93, and when I calculate it myself using everything attributed to Google (plus 2–3 sales with no data but that were part of the Google campaign—so most likely from there), it comes to 2.5 ROAS. Does this matter when you want to scale? Or, in other words, should you look at the ROAS measured in Google, or track it yourself and scale based on those figures? Here’s how I saw it: if Google doesn’t recognize them, they aren’t captured in Google’s Smart Bidding, so it hasn’t made the system any smarter.
0 likes • 18h
Luis is right that you have to fix tracking. Scaling on a number Google can't see is how you teach the algo the wrong lesson. How I'd split the decisions while you repair it: 1) Use your own Shopify/UTM numbers for "is this profitable enough to raise budget?" That's the cash-flow truth. 2) Use Google's reported conversions for "is Smart Bidding healthy?" If Google only sees a fraction of orders, Max Conv Value / tROAS is optimizing on incomplete data. Raising budget on that signal often just spends more on whatever Google thinks is converting. 3) Yesterday's gap (0.59 in Ads vs ~2.67 on your side) is a tracking problem first, a scale problem second. Until primary conversions fire reliably (purchase tag plus enhanced conversions, or offline import if needed), treat Ads ROAS as a lower bound, not the decision number. Practical order: verify the purchase conversion fires on the thank-you page, check that enhanced conversions / consent mode aren't dropping half the events, and compare Google Ads vs Shopify order counts over 7 days. Once the gap shrinks, scale off Google's number. Until then, only small budget bumps if your own attributed profit is clearly above break-even, and don't tighten a tROAS target on undercounted data.
How should I structure my campaign(s) to scale?
Last week’s ROAS was 2.6; this week’s ROAS is 2.7 (not including today), so currently we’re spending €70 per day on ads, but there’s a lot of inconsistency. Last week we had a day with an ROAS of 10+, this week a day with an ROAS of 7.6, and then there are also days with an ROAS of 0.8. We’d like to scale up, but if we increase the budget to, say, €100, it’ll be harder to tolerate days with no sales or low ROAS for cashflow. What do you recommend? Is a 2.7 ROAS over a 5-day period good enough? Or should I first look for ways to achieve more consistency here? Something I’ve heard often and seen discussed in this group is the structure of running two campaigns. Would this be a good approach in my situation? Right now, I have everything in a single campaign, and out of the 80 products in the campaign, 8–10 products typically generate sales on a 30-day basis. Should I keep these products in the campaign and create a new campaign alongside it? If so, how many products should I include in the new one (I’m assuming one new campaign for both zombie products and test products), and what should the budget be for both campaigns?
1 like • 19h
At €70/day with only 8–10 of 80 products selling, the structure problem is usually mixed signals, not "too few campaigns." I'd do this before raising budget: 1) Split winners from the rest. Put the 8–10 proven sellers in their own Shopping/PMax with the budget you actually want to protect. Leave the other ~70 in a separate low-budget test campaign (or pause the real zombies). One campaign feeding both proven and dead SKUs makes Smart Bidding chase noise and explains wild 0.8 to 10+ days. 2) Scale on cash-flow math, not weekly average ROAS. If ROAS swings that hard day to day, raise by ~20% (toward €85–100), then leave it several days. Jumping straight to €100 on a thin account often just buys more of the bad days. 3) Judge scale readiness on a 7-day blended ROAS after refunds/cancellations, plus whether the winners still spend when you give them their own budget. If the winner campaign eats the increase cleanly and ROAS holds near your break-even, keep going. If spend piles onto weak SKUs, the split was the fix, not more budget. Don't optimize the 70 zombies inside the same campaign as the money makers. Separate them, then scale the winners.
Products under review
My products are still under review for Shopping ads for 7 days....before i used to contact support and ask to approve the products so i can start Gads....did something change now? I cannot ask for the review...the Next button is greyed out ....do i need to connect my add account first ?
Products under review
1 like • 2d
Seven days under review with Next greyed out usually isn't Google forgetting you. It often won't let you escalate until the account basics are green. Checklist I'd run: 1. Merchant Center is linked to the right Google Ads account and the link is approved, not linked to a second unused Ads account. 2. Billing is active on that Ads account. Without it, reviews can sit forever. 3. Open the products in Diagnostics and confirm whether they're really under review or disapproved for a reason like GTIN, image, landing page, or misrepresentation. 4. The product URL loads, ships to the target country, price and availability match the feed, and the item is allowed for Shopping. 5. First approvals on a new account can take several days even when everything is clean. After a week with Next still grey, something upstream is usually blocking it: the link, verification, or product eligibility. Fix the link and diagnostics first. If the products are clean and still pending, contact support with the offer IDs and the date they went under review.
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Jeff Fatherree
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Shopify and Google Ads conversion help. Free product page teardowns inside Shopify Profit Lab, so drop your link in the pinned post.

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Joined Sep 11, 2026
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