The short answer
Most online stores pay $0.40-$3 per click on Google Shopping and Performance Max, a bit more on search. Monthly budgets range from $3,000 for a small store to $50,000+ for established brands. The right budget depends on margin: work out your break-even ROAS first (1 ÷ gross margin), then only scale spend that clears it.
Typical CPCs by product category
Rough US ranges for Shopping and Performance Max clicks. Search clicks for the same products are often higher.
| Category | Typical CPC | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fashion & apparel | $0.40-$1.50 | Huge competition, low margins on basics |
| Beauty & skincare | $0.60-$2 | Strong repeat purchase potential |
| Home & furniture | $0.60-$2.50 | Higher order values, longer consideration |
| Electronics | $0.40-$2 | Price-sensitive, thin margins |
| Health & supplements | $0.80-$3 | Policy restrictions on some products |
| B2B and industrial supplies | $0.80-$4 | High order values, low competition in niches |
Start from your margin, not a ROAS benchmark
A 4x ROAS is great for a store with 50% margins and a loss for one with 20% margins. Industry averages don't help you here. Your own numbers do.
Break-even ROAS is 1 divided by your gross margin. At a 40% margin, you break even at 2.5x: every dollar of ad spend returns $2.50 of revenue and $1 of gross profit, which just covers the ad. Anything above 2.5x is profit before overheads. Our break-even ROAS calculator works it out with shipping and fees included.
If customers buy again, you can often afford to run below break-even on first orders. That's a deliberate choice, and it needs good data on repeat purchase rates.
Worked example: a home goods store
A store spending $10,000 a month on Shopping and Performance Max at about $1.10 per click, with a 2.2% conversion rate and $85 average order.
| Step | Example |
|---|---|
| Monthly ad spend | $10,000 |
| Average cost per click | $1.10 |
| Clicks | 9,091 |
| Conversion rate to orders | 2.2% |
| Orders | 200 |
| Cost per order | $50 |
| Average order value | $85 |
| Revenue | $17,000 |
| Return on ad spend | 1.7x |
That's about $50 per order and 1.7x ROAS. At a 45% gross margin (break-even 2.2x), there's healthy profit before overheads, and room to scale the best product groups.
Where ecommerce budgets leak
Brand searches in PMax
Without brand exclusions, Performance Max takes credit for people already searching your name, inflating ROAS.
Low-margin best sellers
Top revenue products are sometimes the least profitable. Budget follows revenue unless you set it up around margin.
Zombie products
Products with impressions and no sales quietly eat budget. They need fixing or separating.
Weak product data
Thin titles and missing attributes mean fewer relevant impressions and more irrelevant ones.
How to get more profit from the same spend
- 1
Fix the feed
Titles, product types, GTINs and attributes. Our Google Shopping work always starts here.
- 2
Group by margin
Custom labels for margin bands let you set different ROAS targets for different products.
- 3
Exclude brand from PMax
Keep brand in its own search campaign so you can see what PMax really adds.
- 4
Improve conversion rate
Delivery costs, reviews and checkout speed often lift conversion rate more than any bid change.