Case Study: How to Scale eCommerce Offers to $833k With PropellerAds Push Format

Scaling eCommerce campaigns while keeping ROI stable is a challenge for most affiliates. Rising acquisition costs, inconsistent traffic quality, and the risk of over-optimization often cut into profit margins.

This case study shows how a media buying agency used Push ads + some additional formats with CPA Goal bidding on PropellerAds to run two large eCommerce projects. Across two platforms - a global marketplace and a fast-fashion retailer - the team together with their Account Manager Sotos Charalambous, generated more than $833K in sales while maintaining a 20–30% ROI, with peaks reaching as high as 225% ROI in a single month. Want to know how?

Campaign Setup​

The agency along with their Account Manager worked on two projects in parallel:

• Case A: a global online marketplace with millions of products, attracting a price-sensitive audience across emerging markets.
• Case B: a mobile-native fast-fashion retailer popular among Gen Z and millennials in Tier-1 Western GEOs.

Both projects ran on a commission-based payout model, with higher rewards for new user conversions.

The main ad format was Push, chosen for reach and responsiveness on mobile devices. Other formats, including In-Page Push (to reach iOS users) and Survey Exit, were tested as well, but Push consistently delivered the best balance of scale and return.

For bidding, the agency relied on CPA Goal. Payout data was passed back through postback integrations, allowing real-time bid adjustments based on the actual value of each conversion. This ensured spend stayed proportional to results. And now let’s get to the details.

Step-By-Step Campaign Timeline​

Both campaigns were structured the same way, as the Account Manager, Sotos Charalambous, suggested:

Warm-up phase
Campaigns were launched at least a week before major seasonal shopping events such as Singles’ Day, Ramadan, and Black Friday. This allowed not only to warm-up the audience, but also ensured that CPA Goal algorithm stabilizes and gathers performance signals before demand spikes, reducing volatility.

Days 1–7: Testing
The first week focused on broad data collection. Campaigns were spread across multiple GEOs, devices, and creatives. Several landing pages were rotated, from default product pages to seasonal sales hubs. Early conversions often appeared with delays, so the media buying agency together with their Account Manager avoided premature cuts and let the data accumulate.

Days 8–20: Scaling
Budgets were increased gradually for well-performing zones, while underperforming ones were excluded. CPA Goal targets were adjusted dynamically to balance profitability with higher volumes. This period was where campaigns moved from testing to real growth.

Ongoing optimization
After the first 20 days, campaigns entered a continuous refinement cycle:

• Every 2 weeks: zone-level audits removed sources with consistently low CR.
• Monthly: traffic with high cancellation rates was blacklisted.
• Creative refreshes: new Push notifications and landing pages were rotated regularly to combat fatigue.

This structured cycle allowed the agency to scale steadily while keeping ROI within target ranges.

Results​

Case A: Global marketplace​

Here are the settings and results for the first project:

• Duration: 1+ year
• Total Sales: $833K
• Total Spend: $687K
• Average ROI: 20%+
• Ad Format: Push
• Platform: Android
• Top Geos: MX, FR, ES, IL, IT, CL, DE, BR, SA, KR, CO, PE, GH, NL

And the monthly statistics to demonstrate the tendency:


Key highlights? Here you go:

Peak month: April 2025, generating nearly $99K revenue on $30K spend → 225% ROI

Strongest performance came from Android traffic in emerging markets, where mobile-first shopping behaviors drove volume.

Case B: Fast fashion retailer​

Now let’s take a look at the second project:

• 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
• Top Geos: Western Tier-1 GEOs
• Platform: iOS

Here is how these results were reflected in the monthly statistics:


The main insights discovered from this campaign were:

Optimization focus should be on improving media buy margins and supporting platform growth.

Best results came from iOS traffic in Tier-1 markets, where higher conversion rates matched premium audience segments.

Optimization Strategies That Worked​

The agency applied several tactics offered by their Account Manager (feel free to replicate!):

• Zone blacklisting: underperforming traffic sources were excluded every two weeks to maintain campaign health.
• Dynamic bidding: CPA Goal bidding, informed by postback payout data, allowed higher bids on valuable conversions and lower bids on weaker ones.
• Seasonal timing: launching campaigns a week before major shopping peaks gave algorithms time to optimize before competition increased.
• Landing page A/B testing: multiple landers were rotated to find the strongest performers in each GEO or device segment.
• Device and market segmentation: Android outperformed in budget-sensitive regions, while iOS was stronger in premium Tier-1 GEOs. Campaign setups were adjusted accordingly.

Practical Lessons For Affiliates​

To sum this case studies up, let’s recall some lessons learned:

• Be patient with data
  Early conversions may lag, so avoid cutting placements too quickly.
• Segment by device and GEO
  Consumer behavior differs widely between Android in emerging markets and iOS in Tier-1 regions. Make sure to segment them accordingly and get more relevant traffic.
• Launch ahead of seasonal events
  Campaigns that start early (at least a week before a significant shopping event, like holidays or discount days) capture more stable placements and smoother scaling.
• Use CPA Goal for automatic bidding + S2S tracker
  While CPA Goal will help you stay within budget buying the most high-quality traffic within limits you choose, S2S tracker will help the CPA Goal learn and work properly.
• Prune systematically
  Regular zone management and cancellation audits keep ROI consistent as budgets grow.

Closing Thoughts​

This media buying agency turned push traffic into more than $833K in eCommerce sales while maintaining a reliable 20–30% ROI. Their results highlight an important point for affiliates: scaling isn’t about one winning campaign, but about a repeatable framework of testing, gradual scaling, and continuous optimization.

Scaling and growing your ROI is easy, when you have PropellerAds as your traffic partner and supplier of strong optimization tools.

Join PropellerAds today!