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Google Ads Case Study: 5x ROAS for a D2C Skincare Brand Using Shopping and Search Campaigns

  • Writer: Amit Chopra
    Amit Chopra
  • Jul 3
  • 3 min read

Client Overview

Glow Ritual is a Bengaluru-founded D2C skincare brand offering dermatologist-formulated vitamin C serums, niacinamide moisturisers, and SPF sunscreens. Launched in 2021 with a passionate Instagram community of 180,000 followers, the brand had built organic momentum but was struggling to make paid search profitable. When HO Digital was engaged, Glow Ritual spent ₹80,000/month on Google Ads at a ROAS of just 1.9× — barely breaking even after accounting for COGS and fulfilment. The brand had 6 weeks to prove Google Ads could achieve 4× ROAS or reallocate the entire budget to Meta Ads.

The pressure was compounded by the fact that the skincare category on Google is highly competitive — dominated by Minimalist, Plum, and WOW Skin Science — and the Google Merchant Center feed was completely unoptimised, with product titles like 'Vitamin C Serum 30ml' that matched no real search intent queries.

The Challenge

  • ROAS of 1.9× against a breakeven threshold of 3.5× — the channel was costing the brand money

  • Google Merchant Center feed with generic product titles that failed to match high-intent search queries like 'vitamin c serum for pigmentation'

  • No segmentation by product margin — high-margin serums (62% GM) given the same ROAS target as low-margin gift sets (28% GM)

  • Zero remarketing setup — every ad impression treated as first-time visitor, ignoring warm traffic entirely

  • Broad-match keywords dominating the account — 'serum' and 'sunscreen' attracted irrelevant searches from every category

  • Website checkout had 74% cart abandonment rate — driving traffic to a leaky conversion funnel

Strategy: Phase-by-Phase

Phase 1 — Feed Overhaul & Campaign Architecture (Weeks 1–2)

HO Digital started with the Merchant Center feed — rewriting all 180 product titles to follow the 'Brand + Key Ingredient + Skin Concern + Size' formula. Custom labels segmented products by gross margin tier, each with its own ROAS target: Tier 1 high-margin products at 6× ROAS, Tier 3 low-margin products at 3× ROAS. Standard Shopping campaigns replaced Smart Shopping — giving full control over bidding and budget allocation by product category.

Phase 2 — Search Rebuild & Audience Layering (Weeks 3–6)

Search campaigns were rebuilt with exact-match and phrase-match keywords. A 340-term negative keyword list blocked irrelevant queries ('ayurvedic', 'home remedy', 'DIY'). Audience bid multipliers were applied: cart abandoners +50%, 30-day site visitors +25%, existing customers –30% (already converted). A dedicated remarketing campaign for product-page viewers converted at 3× the rate of prospecting — at 30% lower CPC due to higher Quality Scores from audience relevance.

Phase 3 — Performance Max Scale (Weeks 7–12)

With baseline ROAS at 3.9× by week 6, a Performance Max campaign was launched using Glow Ritual's top UGC videos and lifestyle imagery. The Vitamin C Serum product dominated — achieving 7.4× ROAS and becoming the primary revenue driver. Budget was scaled from ₹80K to ₹1.5L/month after ROAS stability was confirmed for 3 consecutive weeks.

📊 Campaign Results Dashboard — Before vs After

  • ROAS: 1.9× → 5.4× (184% improvement, exceeding the 4× target)

  • Monthly Revenue from Google Ads: ₹1.52L → ₹8.1L (432% increase)

  • Cost Per Acquisition: ₹420 → ₹138 (67% reduction)

  • Shopping Impression Share: 8% → 52% (6.5× more visibility)

  • Cart Abandonment Rate: 74% → 58% (after checkout UX improvements)

  • Top Product ROAS — Vitamin C Serum: 7.4×

  • Monthly Ad Budget Scaled: ₹80K → ₹1.5L/month (channel proven profitable)

Key Takeaways

  • Shopping ROAS is won or lost in the feed — product title relevance is the single biggest lever in Google Shopping

  • Margin-based ROAS targets are more sophisticated and profitable than a single blended target

  • Remarketing campaigns deliver 2–3× higher conversion rates at 30% lower CPC — they're the highest-ROI tactic in any ecommerce account

  • Don't launch Performance Max before proving baseline ROAS — it needs data to optimise effectively

What the Client Said

HO Digital transformed Google Ads from our worst channel to our most scalable one. The feed optimisation and margin-based bidding strategy was something our previous agency never thought of. We're now running at 5× ROAS consistently and have a clear plan to scale to ₹5L/month spend. — CMO, Glow Ritual
 
 
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