How to Use Ads

GMV Max vs Other Modes

1. What is the difference between Target ROAS and GMV Max?

GMV Max is an upgraded version of Target ROAS, which will be available for all Shopee Sellers. Similar to Target ROAS, Sellers will be able to indicate their ROAS goals. However, a key difference is that Sellers will be able to leverage broader traffic with GMV Max. 

Additionally, GMV Max will help Sellers dynamically optimize their spending, bidding, and performance on a product level across all placements, including Search and Discovery within a single setup. This helps sellers manage their campaigns more effectively.

1. What is the difference between Auto Bidding (Standard) and GMV Max?

By default, all campaigns created with a Manual Product Selection and Auto Bidding model will now be GMV Max. This is indicated by the checkbox "Enable GMV Max" within the Bidding section of your setup flow. All GMV Max campaigns will also be indicated as "Auto Bidding (GMV Max)" under Type. To create Auto Bidding (Standard) Ads, Sellers will need to manually deselect this checkbox.

Auto Bidding (Standard) Ad performance will be system-optimized by Shopee, while GMV Max campaigns allow Sellers to set a specific ROAS goal for their Products, giving Sellers more clarity on the upside. Sellers also have better opportunities to scale their GMV potential by leveraging broader traffic. 

1. When to use Auto Bidding (Standard) vs GMV Max?

Auto Bidding (Standard), also known as Simple Mode is recommended if you would like to maximize sales automatically without a specific Target ROAS value. If you would like to maximize sales while keeping to a specific ROAS goal, GMV Max will be the recommended campaign feature.

GMV Max Placements & Traffic

1. What traffic does GMV Max run on?

GMV Max allows sellers to tap into the broader traffic, providing more opportunities for Sellers to obtain visibility from their targeted audience and scale their GMV potential more effectively.

1. Where does GMV Max run?

GMV Max runs on Product Feeds across all Platform Traffic. This includes Search, Discovery, Video, Games, and Coins environments.

Per set-up best practices, ALL placement setup allows Shopee to monitor and dynamically manage bid prices across different environments, ensuring that the overall spend is balanced against the GMV earned for the Product to achieve the targeted ROAS goals.

GMV Max: Setting Target ROAS

1. How are the recommended ROAS targets determined?

ROAS recommendations are customized based on the selected Product and are calculated based on the competitive insights for similar products and categories within Shopee. Shopee also takes into consideration the historical performance of the Product and Shop when suggesting the custom ROAS goals. 

Sellers are recommended to use the suggested ROAS values by Shopee as much as possible.

1. How to determine what Custom ROAS value to set?

Sellers can set a Custom ROAS value between 1 - 50 and should refer to the Product’s historical ROAS performance as a starting baseline to determine the custom ROAS goal. In general, we do not recommend Sellers indicate an ROAS goal that is 25% higher than the maximum Shopee suggested ROAS value. 

To guide sellers from setting an unrealistic ROAS goal, a text prompt will appear when the submitted goal is significantly higher than recommended.

1. What happens if I set a high target ROAS?

When sellers set a high ROAS target, there will be stricter spending monitoring and GMV Max will become more selective to focus more on efficiency. As it prioritizes performance efficiency over volume, GMV Max will inadvertently limit spend, thereby limiting the potential GMV performance that the Product can receive.  

For example, 

When the Seller sets a high ROAS target of 14 versus the average achieved ROAS value of 10, GMV Max will become more selective and efficient to ensure that the higher ROAS target can be achieved. This means that volume will be affected accordingly. The drop in volume limits the opportunities for Shopee to scale the GMV potential of the Product.

1. What if the Shopee suggested ROAS value is lower than preferred?

Shopee will provide 3 levels of Target ROAS suggestions for Sellers to select from. If the options are lower than preferred, you may choose to create a Custom ROAS goal for your campaign. For guidance on how to set a reasonable ROAS target, please refer to point 2 above.

GMV Max Product Suitability

1. Is GMV Max better suited for new products or hero products?

GMV Max can be effectively used for both new and hero products. 

For new products, it is recommended to start with a lower target ROAS, using the shop category ROAS as a benchmark. This approach helps in gradually building traffic and improving ROAS. Alternatively, Sellers can also choose to set up a New Product Boost campaign for newly listed Products to accelerate their exposure. Sellers can then reference the achieved ROAS performance as the starting baseline for the Product’s GMV Max campaign. 

For hero products, sellers can use the ROAS from past campaigns as a baseline reference to set more ambitious targets and optimize performance. To identify similar high-potential Products, Sellers can use the GMV Max Product Recommendation tab via Manual Product Selection. 

GMV Max Set-Up

1. If an Item already has an ongoing ad, can a GMV Max still be created for it?

Sellers can set up GMV Max for any product, including those with an ongoing Ad. 

If the ongoing Ad has an overlapping campaign duration, a prompt will appear to inform Seller that the GMV Max campaign will cause ongoing Ads for this Product to be paused automatically.

1. If the seller has set up an ongoing ad for item A, can it be changed to GMV Max?

Yes, it can be simply done by clicking on the "Upgrade to GMV Max" button within the Ads Listing page for the selected campaign. 

Entry point via Ads Listing Page

Entry point via Ads Detail Page

1. Can I still use Target ROAS?

Target ROAS will be deprecated with the launch of GMV Max. Hence, sellers will not be able to reactivate or create new Target ROAS campaigns.

1. Can GMV Max be deactivated?

To deactivate GMV Max, Sellers can pause or stop the setup. Sellers can then create a new Ad for the product.

1. Is there any recommended limit on the number of products for using GMV max?

Sellers will only be able to choose a single item for each GMV Max for now.

1. I have Adult Items that are running Ads. But suddenly ads were deactivated (even though I only activated it only in Search ads). Why?

Adult Items are not allowed to run within the Discovery environment. Additionally, all GMV Max campaigns carrying Adult Items will automatically be placed on Pause. Sellers may create Ads on Manual Bidding or Auto Bidding (Standard Ads) mode, focusing on Search environments specifically for such products.

1. Can I change my ROAS goal after my GMV Max campaign is launched?

It is not recommended to change your ROAS goal during its initial launch as it will go through the Learning Phase, which allows for the System to learn and stabilize your campaign more efficiently to achieve your campaign goals. Sellers will be informed of when their campaigns have exited the Learning Phase through the Ad Detail page.

Once the campaign has stabilized, Sellers may choose to edit the ROAS goals. However, do note that doing so will result in another cycle of learning phase as Shopee optimizes towards the new ROAS targets.

GMV Max Performance

1. My sales numbers are low even though my ROAS target has been achieved.

The effectiveness of GMV Max campaigns is measured based on their efficiency in achieving the indicated ROAS goal. Once the ROAS goal is achieved, Sellers are encouraged to increase their spending for the campaign to further scale their ROAS and achieve a higher GMV for the Product. 

If a limited budget is provided for the GMV Max, Shopee will not be able to take advantage of the broader traffic opportunities as effectively to scale the GMV performance. 

Make sure that you set realistic ROAS targets for the selected Product.

1. I am currently running manual bidding ads. If I start running GMV Max, will the GMV Max algorithm be able to learn anything from my ongoing ads?

All GMV Max campaigns are separate and have their unique campaign ID. But Shopee can leverage prior data to optimize performance during the Learning Phase. 

During the Learning Phase, Sellers should refrain from making any changes to the campaign setup as the system explores the optimal ways to achieve campaign goals.

1. Where can I see the performance of GMV Max?

Sellers may see the performance of all GMV Max campaigns by going to the Listing section on Shopee Ads Homepage, and filtering the campaigns by Type to "Auto Bidding (GMV Max)". From here, Sellers may click on the individual campaigns to view their respective performance details.