Ready to see what real eCommerce performance marketing looks like in action?
In this case study, we’ll take you behind the scenes of a powerhouse media buying agency that turned PropellerAds’ Push traffic and dynamic CPA bidding into a full-blown eCommerce success engine.
Yup, we’re talking about over $833K in sales, tens of millions of impressions, and smart scaling strategies that helped them grow fast without burning budget.
You’ll discover how the team:
- Built campaigns with 20-30% ROI (and even hit 225% in a single month!),
- Managed numerous campaigns across multiple GEOs and platforms,
- And used zone-level reporting and smart bidding to stay profitable month after month.
Let’s dive in.
The Setup: Two Projects, One Goal – eCommerce Domination
Our partners ran two main projects: one focused on a global marketplace (let’s call it Case A), the other on a fast-fashion platform (Case B). The campaigns were live for months (one over a year!) and managed through rigorous optimization, dynamic payouts, and a clear eye on long-term performance.Here is a comment from their Account Manager, Sotos Charalambous:
“We’ve been working closely with this agency for a while – scaling multiple products to over $300K in commissions within just three months.”
Case Study Background
Now let’s take a closer look at the campaign setup and logic:- Conversion type: Sale
- Payout: Commission-based (higher for new users)
- Postback setup: Dynamic CPA via ‘price’ parameter
- Tracking: Yes, through S2S Integration with the affiliate portals and API Integration
Campaign Timeline: From Testing to Scaling
The campaigns our partners run have clear and well-thought lifecycles. The logic:Step 1, Warm-up (before the actual launch): Start at least a week before seasonal sales (for example, Singles’ Day or Ramadan).
Step 2, Test Period (days 1-7): A/B Testing campaigns and their elements (landing pages, GEOs, formats, etc.). For this particular case, the first 4-5 days often showed delayed conversions, which is a sign not to rush and give data some time to accumulate.
Step 3, Scale Phase (days 8-20): Light optimization and budget increases for well-performing campaigns.
Optimization Phase (always ongoing):
– Exclude low-CR zoneIDs every 2 weeks;
– Remove sources with high order cancellation rates based on monthly reports.
Sotos comments: “It’s not plug-and-play. The first few days are just about watching. Day 8 to 20 – that’s when things really move. Optimization here means patience.”
The Numbers: Case A
This project focused on a large-scale international online marketplace offering thousands of products across categories like electronics, fashion, home goods, and more. The platform attracts a high-volume, price-sensitive user base, particularly in emerging markets, and is known for flash deals, mobile-first shopping behavior, and a strong global footprint.But the main thing in this case is… 1.5 MLN sales in a year! Check the details:
- Campaign Duration: 1+ year
- Total Sales: $833K
- Total Spend: $687K
- Average ROI: 20%+
- Ad Format: Push
Platform Focus: Android-heavy due to price-sensitive users and mobile shopping behavior.
The most interesting monthly highlights are:
- April, 2025: $98K in advertiser’s revenue on $30K spend > 225% ROI
- January, 2025: $94K in revenue on $80K spend > 17% ROI
- December, 2024: $80K in revenue on $64K spend > 25% ROI
The Numbers: Case B
The second project revolved around a mobile-native fashion retailer known for its affordable, fast-moving streetwear and lifestyle collections. Popular among Gen Z and millennials, the platform relies heavily on flash sales, influencer visibility, and trend-driven product drops to drive user engagement and repeat purchases.And now, the juicy statistics:
- Campaign Duration: 4-5 months
- Total Sales: 292,150
- Total Spend: $836,145
- Average ROI: 39.7%
- Ad Format: In-Page Push for iOS, Push, Survey Exit
- Optimization Focus: Improving media buy margins and supporting platform growth
Platform Focus: iOS performed better here, especially in higher-income markets.
“For emerging markets, Android traffic really delivers. But for more premium brands, iOS showed stronger CRs – so we tailored each setup accordingly,” – Sotos, our partner’s Manager.
Optimization Strategies that Worked
As we all know, the real heart of campaign success is optimization. That’s why we will pay special attention to strategies that worked for our partners, but…“We believe that these ideas can be applied to most eCommerce campaigns. Just make sure to customize them according to your specific product,” says Sotos.
ZoneID Blacklists: Clean it!
Every two weeks, the team together with their Manager ran performance audits to identify underperforming traffic sources. Zones with consistently low conversion rates (CR) or high cancellation rates were immediately blacklisted. This wasn’t about rushing to block traffic – it was about making informed decisions based on data. By regularly trimming out weak performers, our partners and their Manager protected the campaigns’ health and maintained long-term profitability.Sotos: “If a zone drives a lot of clicks but doesn’t convert – or worse, brings users who cancel orders – it’s out. Simple as that.”
Dynamic Bidding Based on Postback CPA
Rather than using fixed bids, the team relied on dynamic CPA bidding, with payout data passed through a “price=” parameter in the postback. This allowed them to make real-time bidding decisions based on the actual value of each conversion.Campaigns automatically adjusted bids depending on whether a conversion brought in a high commission or a lower one, ensuring that spend remained proportional to value.
Trend-Based Launching: Catch the Right Moment
Instead of launching campaigns randomly, our partners timed their push to coincide with major shopping trends and seasonal peaks. These included events like Black Friday, Singles’ Day, Ramadan, winter holidays, and more. Importantly, they started campaigns one week in advance to allow for a “warm-up” period.This strategy helped the algorithm adapt and gather early signals before the actual surge in buying behavior hit.
Landing Page A/B Testing: Let the Strongest One Win
Rather than sticking to just one landing page setup, the team rotated multiple variations during testing:- Default product pages
- Trending pages suggested by the brand
- Sales links featuring hot or seasonal items
You think you know what page will work, but users can surprise you. That’s why it makes sense to test everything – default, trending, product-focused, and other types of landing pages.
Audience Segmentation: Know Your Platform, Know Your Market
The campaigns didn’t use language targeting, even though they were focused on numerous GEOs. There was no need to, because pages were translated by browser language automatically.However, segmentation by device and geography was essential. For instance, Android traffic performed better in budget-conscious regions (like LATAM, parts of Asia, and Eastern Europe), while iOS delivered stronger results for higher-end offers in Western countries. Campaign setups reflected this – creatives, bids, and landing pages were all fine-tuned per platform and region.
Bonus Tips for Your eCommerce Campaigns
And if you want more tips, well, we’ve got you covered! Sotos shares a pack of unique insights beyond this particular case, but applicable for everyone who works with eCommerce:Gamification and Reward Loops
A recent trend we’ve seen in eCommerce is the gamification of shopping apps – think platforms like Temu, which encourage constant upsells by rewarding users with discounts, bonuses, or points for repeat activity.On performance traffic, these products often ran on CPM models, with campaigns supported by whitelists shared by account managers. Some advertisers pulled back recently, but it remains an interesting format to watch, especially for GEOs where deal-hunting behavior is strong.
Influencer Boosts as Sales Drivers
Another major driver for the eCommerce vertical is influencer marketing. It’s really impossible to ignore the role influencers play in driving both brand awareness and sales. In fact, for many eCommerce offers, influencer buzz acts as the spark that warms up users before they ever see a paid ad.This is a space we’re also exploring in parallel projects, testing how performance campaigns and influencer-driven demand can work together.
Final Thoughts
Even in saturated verticals like eCommerce, success is 100% possible with the right traffic, formats, and optimization loop.Push paired with smart zone management and dynamic CPA tracking showed remarkable performance and unbeatable scale for our partners.
We believe that these cases show that working closely with your account manager, maintaining clean traffic, and adjusting based on user behavior by GEO and device – is still the formula that works.
Launch your campaign with us and try it!
