In the ultra-competitive world of fashion ecommerce, managing and optimizing for lower returns is a key challenge and vital for your net profits – but also for your sustainability. One of our largest fashion clients on Shopify recently achieved a remarkable milestone: reducing their Google Ads return rate from 14.8% to 8.1% (YoY comparison*). That’s a reduction of 45.6%! Let’s explore how they did it and the pivotal role Reaktion.com played in their success.
Google Ads return rate December 1st – 20th 2023:
Google Ads return rate December 1st – 20th 2024:
1. Early Adoption of Reaktion’s Server-Side Tracking return metrics for Google Ads
This Shopify client was an early adopter of Reaktion.com’s server-side tracking solution with return metrics. Through our Conversions API (CAPI) integration with Google Ads, we sent detailed return data directly to their Google Ads Conversion API. This enabled the client’s Google Ads agency to:
- Identify and eliminate high-return keywords.
- Optimize campaigns by focusing on profitable, low-return keywords.
By removing keywords associated with products or audiences that generated a negative net profit, the client effectively aligned ad spend with revenue-driving traffic.
2. Shoptimizer: Product Feed Optimization with Return Data
Using Reaktion’s proprietary Shoptimizer tool, the team labeled all product feeds with return data. This allowed them to:
- Exclude products with high return rates from receiving ad spend in Google Ads.
- Prioritize ad spend on items that drove lower returns and higher profits.
This granular approach ensured that every advertising dollar worked harder by focusing on products that performed well from both a sales and returns perspective.
Collaborative Efforts and a Shift in KPIs
While Reaktion’s tools provided the framework, we’re proud to acknowledge that this success was also due to the client’s internal focus on reducing returns. By setting return reduction as a major KPI for their eCommerce team and aligning efforts with their Google Ads agency, they fostered a culture of data-driven collaboration.
This KPI visibility – available to all stakeholders – empowered the internal ecommerce team and the Google Ads agency to:
- Monitor and eliminate keywords with a high return rate using Reaktion’s server-side tracking, which provides return rate metrics.
- Label all products with return rate labels in Reaktion’s Shoptimizer to exclude ad spend being assigned to products with a high return rate.
- Know exactly which keywords drive the highest return rate.
The Bigger Picture: Profitability Meets Sustainability
The results speak for themselves: a significantly higher Google Ads net profit in December 2024 and a meaningful reduction in the brand’s carbon footprint. Lower return rates translate to fewer shipments, reduced packaging waste, and a smaller environmental impact — a win-win for profitability and the planet.
Conclusion
By leveraging Reaktion.com’s innovative tools and fostering a collaborative KPI-driven culture, this Shopify fashion client turned their return rate challenge into a success story. Their journey underscores the value of aligning technology, data, and strategy to drive measurable results.
Ready to transform your ecommerce performance with a lower return rate on Google Ads?
