How a leading handbags & accessories retailer successfully migrated from CPA to CPC using the BuyerPath platform and best practice

1. Implementing the Right Changes for Success
The company partnered with BuyerPath in July of 2013,
just ahead of their seasonal peak, the back-to-school
shopping season. At the time of onboarding, they were
operating on a CPA model, which they felt was limiting
their flexibility and compromising their margins. CPA
bidding strategies are used to maximize conversions,
where Google automatically sets bids on a target or
maximum cost per acquisition (CPA) amount, or a
cost per acquisition value amount (CPA%). While this
approach does save time managing campaigns, its
limitations can ultimately leave revenue on the table.
Enabling Strategy with the Right Technology
A leading ecommerce handbags and accessories retailer
recognized an opportunity to invest in Google’s new ad
solution, product listing ads earlier than most. They had
reallocated 30-40% of their search spend to product ads
in 2012 and saw a great improvement in performance
when running them in addition to text ads. While
employing a cost per acquisition (CPA%) approach, they
saw year over year click growth begin to plateau. In order
to gain more clicks, their only options were to increase
their CPA% or move to a cost per click (CPC) model and
inherit risk.
However, they soon realized they needed an experienced
technology partner to help them grow revenue profitably
and utilize time efficiently. As a result, they turned to
BuyerPath® for expertise on expanding their product ads
program. BuyerPath was selected because of their 13+
years of experience in retail digital advertising, extensive
search marketing expertise, and integrated applied
shopping analytics platform, BuyerPath.
C A S E S T U D Y
How moving from a CPA to CPC model helped one retailer maximize returns
OVERCOMING PLATEAUS
WITH THE RIGHT STRATEGY
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“It was important for us to find a self-managed solution
that would be robust enough to effectively handle CPC bid
management goals as well as improve time-management
efficacy of the overall PLA program. BuyerPath helped us to
quickly hit set revenue and return goals.”
- Director of Digital Marketing
®
Let’s Chat:
Visit www.buyerpath.com
or email us at solutions@buyerpath.com
BuyerPath is an advanced shopping analytics platform
leveraging shopper data to help retailers maximize
valuable ad moments for optimal return.

2. Step 2: Feed & Product Optimization
Once the transition from CPA to CPC was complete,
BuyerPath was able to optimize their product ads
program and implement best practices. With back-to-school
season approaching quickly, the team focused
on ensuring that the highest performing products were
showing for the best search terms. By expanding the
relevant query population, BuyerPath was able to show
the right products for the right queries, directly resulting
in a year-over-year lift of 24% in conversion rate.
The BuyerPath platform consolidates data in a unique
way to optimize feeds for greater visibility. Consumer
intent focused data insights were used to understand
buyer triggers to optimize product titles and descriptions
for increased conversion.
Effective bid management, keyword negations and title
improvements significantly improved the quality of traffic,
directly impacting revenue and improving ROAS. The
retailer saw a year-over-year increase in revenue of 29%
and 102% when looking at pre-back-to-school and peak
back-to-school date comparisons.
After the back-to-school shopping season the company
continued to maximize and leverage the BuyerPath
platform. They have successfully and strategically
managed their product ads program, effectively
increasing revenue while maintaining ROAS targets.
Step 1: CPA » CPC
To improve efficiency and results, BuyerPath
recommended moving from a CPA to a CPC model. The
retailer had attempted this transition before but they
suffered when their traffic volume decreased and their
desired return on ad spend (ROAS) was not met.
A CPC model allows retailers to set a maximum bid for
someone clicking text or product listing ads, which can
be set at the product target, ad group, or campaign
level. The key benefits of adopting a CPC model include
the ability to precisely allocate spend and the power to
quickly adjust traffic volume to anticipate or react to
sudden performance changes.
BuyerPath’s approach to the CPC model is to meet in the
middle to effectively maximize conversions and clicks.
By doing so, they can optimize CPC bidding strategies
to achieve a CPA goal. Based on BuyerPath’s extensive
online retail experience, they knew that moving from CPA
to CPC was something that needed to be done slowly
and strategically to keep the volume of traffic during the
transition from being affected. Planning on a two-week to
one-month transition time allows for a gradual shift from
the CPA bidding strategy to CPC, preventing impressions
from crashing.
Since the online retailer onboarded BuyerPath right before
their big back-to-school shopping season was to begin,
the transition had to be completed faster than normal.
Not only was BuyerPath able to transition the retailer over
to a CPC model rapidly and successfully, the shift in total
impressions increased drastically as well.
Let’s Chat:
Visit www.buyerpath.com
or email us at solutions@buyerpath.com
BuyerPath is an advanced shopping analytics platform
leveraging shopper data to help retailers maximize
valuable ad moments for optimal return.
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YoY Increase in Revenue (2012 vs 2013)
Before and After Increase in Impressions
CPA Impressions CPC Impressions Total Impressions
Pre Back-2-School Dates Peak Back-2-School Dates
Pre-BuyerPath Post BuyerPath
29%
102%