How managed CSS can support your Shopping target without another media budget

Start with the number your team needs to hit

A PPC lead has to deliver sales while protecting budget and margin. Adding another campaign can mean more spend, more work and another performance result to defend. Managed CSS changes who funds and operates that additional route.

With GMVLY Managed CSS, your core campaigns stay with your team. We fund and manage a separate Shopping route aimed at long-tail demand. It is an additional way to pursue your target, with an agreed commercial model rather than another media budget for your team to allocate.

Know which costs sit with whom

GMVLY pays the media spend for the campaigns we run and handles their setup, product data processing and ongoing optimisation. You pay the agreed CPA or commission on completed sales attributed to our route. There is no Managed CSS subscription.

That reverses the risk of paying for our clicks that do not convert. It does not remove your commission obligations or the costs of fulfilling orders. Return and cancellation treatment is agreed before activation. Your own campaigns and their media spend remain your responsibility.

Check that the economics support your business

A sale needs to contribute to the business after commission, fulfilment and returns. A high sales total alone is not enough. Before launch, bring your margin requirements and affiliate programme terms into the conversation.

As an illustration, a £100 sale with £30 contribution before marketing and £10 commission leaves £20 before any other remaining costs. Those are example inputs, not GMVLY pricing or a forecast. Use your actual figures and a consistent basis for tax and returns.

• Agree the commission and which sales qualify.
• Your affiliate manager confirms the programme’s return, cancellation and validation rules.
• Identify the catalogue, markets and campaign restrictions.
• Confirm the affiliate network route and tracking requirements.

Agree what a useful review will show

Set a business target and a review window that suits your trading cycle. Your affiliate manager manages transaction validation and commission through the affiliate network. Use those network outcomes when reviewing the campaigns GMVLY funds and operates. Assess sales volume alongside efficiency so a small number of cheap orders does not distract from the scale you need.

Attribution identifies the route credited with a sale. It does not establish whether the sale would have happened anyway. Long-tail targeting is a campaign strategy; an incrementality claim needs an appropriate evaluation method and access to the necessary data.

When to consider managed CSS

Consider it when you want another sales route, have an appropriate affiliate programme and product catalogue, and can agree a commission that supports both merchant margin and campaign acquisition costs.

If you want to keep running all campaigns yourself and only change your CSS connection, Self serve CSS is the more relevant discussion. Its subscription is separate from Managed CSS commission.