Wondering if anyone on shopify is using the SHOP app to run ads? How many sales is it generating for you? What is your daily budget? Do you have any advised on what to set my Customer Acquisition, ROAS and Daily Budget at? On average my orders are $30 to $50. I sell matching mom and daughter clothes. Thank you for your help. Pamela
Topic summary
Merchants are experiencing significant issues with Shopify’s SHOP app advertising platform, primarily centered on unfavorable economics and technical problems.
Cost Structure Concerns:
- Multiple users report the platform takes 65-75% of order value in advertising fees
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is capped at 2.5, which merchants find insufficient
- CPA (Customer Acquisition Cost) minimums appear inflated, particularly for high AOV stores
- Example: One merchant paid $845 for an $1,140 order; another paid $410 for a $700 order
Performance Issues:
- Several campaigns running 1-2 weeks have generated zero clicks or conversions
- One merchant couldn’t get technical support to even access their store
- Platform appears to still be in beta with inconsistent functionality
Fraud/Billing Crisis:
- One merchant was charged $10,000 for 10 fraudulent orders (paid via Shop gift cards) that had to be cancelled
- Shopify support took 7 days to process a refund despite repeated urgent requests
Consensus:
Most participants recommend avoiding SHOP app advertising until Shopify makes it competitive with established platforms like Meta and Google. The general sentiment is that the platform’s economics don’t leave sufficient margin for merchants.
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I don’t know about you, but one of our stores has a high AOV and the budget parameters they show us are laughable. Apparently CPA bounds are calculated based on AOV, which sounds like we’re being punished for having high AOV. Furthermore, the ROAS selection only lets us pick up to 2.5, and this is only true of we’re willing to spend 2.5x our CPA as daily budget. Something seems off here. We tested it and got charged $845 for an $1140 order. Every other platform we use outperforms these metrics on their bad days. This is just unacceptable for us, unfortunately, and I’m hoping it’s a bug. I’ve reached out to plus support. Check your budget parameters to see if they make sense.
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Ye see just tried this week. Got first 2 sales today but as you said we are also high above. Our road is at max 2.5 and needs to be at least at 4 to make sense at minimum cpa it allows of $410. Had $700 order that cost $410 which is t even close to 2.5 so not sure how that deal with that…
going to end the campaign until we can increase roas or decrease daily spend mins
Approximately how long after you launched the shop campaign did you receive your first order? I launched 4 campaigns 7 days ago. They range from low to high CAC and all below 2 ROAS, and I’ve not had any orders yet. When I log into the shop app I can see the offers assigned to my products. Curious to know how long it takes on average to see the first order. My shop currently has 440 followers. It could be that is very low and the reason why no orders yet?
I was just setting up a campaign and the numbers seem insane. They take most of the money you make. With my current settings it shows for every $1100-$1300 in sales they would take $756-$924. How does that make sense?
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I think Shopify really missed the mark on this. However, I’m sure it’s intentional and if people are using it then Shopify will not change because I’m sure the revenue stream is excellent for them.
I, however, can’t see how paying nearly 75% of an order value is remotely close to fair, much less leaving enough margin for the merchant.
Most merchants would be better off putting that money to work in other platforms (Meta, Google, Criteo, etc) until Shopify makes their platform at least as competitive if not more competitive.
I started a Shop campaign and have seen nothing, zero, no clicks, conversion, nada. It recommended $105/ day. I reached out to Shopify and they can’t even access my store due to a technical problem on their end… another story.
I had the campaign running for about 2 weeks and have had no results. I reached out to Shopify for help to look into it as I would at least expect to see some data - but its like it’s not even running and at this point I don’t even know if it was running or not. I think this is still in beta. I just ended the campaign until they can figure out what is wrong.
There is a mass Shop app scam going on. Shop App Campaigns billed me $10,000 in advertising fees for 10 orders I had to cancel for fraud.
Every order was about $400 with $3-20 paid by credit card and $400 paid by Shop gift card. I cancelled all 10 orders for fraud. I’ve contacted Shopify support 4 times over the past few days and nobody has helped me. They keep responding things like “I understand the urgency and I will handle it as soon as possible” yet it has been DAYS and I have not received any support.
They draft $10,000 from my bank account! In advertising fees! For fake orders I had to cancel!
They have not offered me any solution and keep saying they’re looking into it over and over again for days with no solution so I just have to sit here while $10,000 is TAKEN from my bank in TWO DAYS. Shopify support is not helpful at all. I am EXTREMELEY disappointed, as I’ve been a Shopify customer for almost a decade (including a previous website I had) and now I am being a victim of theft from Shop campaigns. A tech issue is one thing but not fixing it makes this a crime. I am being silenced and ignored while being stolen from. I tried and tried and tried to get support and they aren’t helping.
I will be contacting the news and media outlets until this is fixed. I’ve waited and waited with no support. $10,000 is not a small charge and it’s connected to my bank account!!! I attached a screenshot of some of the charges on this link https://www.canva.com/design/DAGlyjrrrHg/hD20YhKcrB8loqhxrRKtWg/view?utm_content=DAGlyjrrrHg&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h9dcbfbb6c6
I cannot believe this is seriously happening. It’s INSANE and I need help!
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I’m so sorry this happened to you. Praying for your situation.
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Thank you. After 7 days of going back and forth with them they finally processed my refund from their error