CASE STUDY: Is CSS still relevant in 2025? An agency finds out
When it comes to scaling Paid Search for eCommerce, few know the field better than Andrew Lolk, the founder of savvyrevenue– an agency focused on scaling and managing Paid Search for retail, B2C and D2C eCommerce across Europe.
Together with their client, they set out to test the impact of switching during the peak season to Producthero CSS, and to answer a key question for eCommerce marketers: Is CSS (Comparison Shopping Service) still relevant in 2025?
About savvyrevenue:
- PPC agency focused on scaling Paid Search for ecommerce across Europe
- Established in 2017
- Headquarters in Denmark
- https://savvyrevenue.com/
Results:
- Lower Costs: Achieved 10% reduction in CPC (Cost Per Click)
- Improved Performance: Increased conversions by 5% and improved ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) by 10%
Testing period: Summer 2024
Goal
Switch from Google to a CSS provider during peak season, and verify whether it’s still relevant to use a CSS provider in 2025.
Background
Over the summer of 2024, savvyrevenue focused on optimizing the performance of a Swedish retailer specialized in swimming equipment during the peak sales season.
The client aimed to improve the key performance metrics, including ROAS and CPC, while ensuring campaign continuity during this crucial sales period. To achieve this, savvyrevenue implemented a Google Comparison Shopping Service Partner (Google CSS Partner) for the retailer’s Google Shopping campaigns, enabling them to drive more efficient results and maintain competitive advantage.
Challenge & approach
The main challenge in this case was the lack of access to the original Merchant Center under Google CSS, which prevented direct interaction with the data stored there. Additionally, since it was the peak season, making significant changes to the setup could disrupt ongoing campaigns and negatively impact performance.
To overcome this challenge, savvyrevenue decided to leverage Producthero CSS to ensure a smooth migration while optimizing campaign performance. The approach included:
- Creating a new Merchant Center under Producthero CSS, which allowed them to bypass the limitations of losing access to the old Merchant Center under Google CSS.
- Uploading new product listings and replicating the existing campaigns to ensure consistency and enable a direct comparison between the old and new setups.
- Maintaining identical campaigns and using Producthero CSS, to assess the impact of the CPC discount on Google Shopping campaigns, without risking disruption during the peak season.
This strategy allowed savvyrevenue to test the effectiveness of using a CSS Partner like Producthero while preserving the original campaign setup and minimizing risk.
Results
By the end of July, 90% of the spend was allocated to the CSS campaigns. The switch to Producthero CSS resulted in a notable improvement in campaign performance:
- Higher Conversions: Conversions increased by 5%, and ROAS improved by 10% compared to the previous setup with the previous CSS Partner.
- Lower CPC: Cost Per Click was reduced by 10%, thanks to the CSS discount.
These results were achieved purely through the switch to Producthero Premium CSS, with no additional use of Producthero’s Products AI or the Labelizer strategy. This proves that partnering with a Google CSS Partner like Producthero can lead to significant benefits, including lower CPCs, more conversions, and improved ROAS. Read more here about how working with a Google CSS Partner can maximize your bidding potential.
