Cost of Skipping Shopping Ads

In today's digital marketplace, paid shopping advertisements aren't optional; they're essential. Yet surprisingly, many companies still hesitate to invest in platforms like Google Shopping, Amazon Sponsored Products, and social media shopping ads.

This reluctance comes at a high cost.

The Current State of Shopping Ads

The numbers tell a compelling story. Global search advertising spending is projected to reach $351.5 billion in 2025, with shopping ads capturing an increasingly larger share. Companies investing in these platforms are seeing remarkable returns, while those sitting on the sidelines are leaving money on the table.

Key market indicators:

• Google Shopping ads generate 85% of all clicks on Google Ads campaigns and drive over 75% of retail search ad spend in the United States

• Global ecommerce ad spend is projected to reach $271 billion in 2025

• Businesses make $2 for every $1 spent on PPC

Google Shopping: The Unmissable Opportunity

Google Shopping remains the dominant force in paid search advertising, yet many businesses underutilise or completely ignore this channel.

Performance metrics that matter:

• Mobile devices contribute to over 70% of clicks on paid Google search results

• The average business gets a 4.4% conversion rate from Google Ads

• People who click on Google Ads are 50% more likely to buy than organic visitors

• Average conversion rate for Google Shopping ads: 1.91%

• Google estimates up to 800% ROI for well-optimised campaigns

What you're missing:

Companies that don't use Google Shopping ads are essentially invisible during critical buying moments. With 81% of retail shoppers conducting online research before making a purchase, your absence from search results means lost opportunities to capture high-intent buyers.

The cost? A typical vacant Paid Search Specialist role can result in $2,500 to $5,000 in lost ROI per week due to unoptimized ad spend and missed conversion opportunities.

Amazon Advertising: The E-Commerce Powerhouse

Amazon has evolved from a marketplace into an advertising juggernaut, and the platform's momentum shows no signs of slowing.

Amazon's advertising dominance:

• Amazon's advertising services earned $17.3 billion in Q4 2024, up 18% year-over-year

• Amazon now owns 14.6% of the global digital ad spend

• Average Amazon advertising conversion rate of 9.96%

• Average daily revenue: $891.60 with ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): 3.32x

Sponsored Products performance:

• Sponsored Products made up 68% of total ad revenue in Q1 2025

• For enterprise brands, 40–50% of their Amazon ad budget is allocated to Sponsored Products

• Amazon's average conversion rate for sponsored product ads stands at 9.47%, outperforming other e-commerce platforms significantly

• Advertisers report an average return of $4.20 for every dollar spent on ads

Cost considerations:

• CPC for Amazon ads varies by ad type: $0.80–$1.20 for Sponsored Products, $1.50–$2.50 for Sponsored Brands

• The average Amazon advertising cost per click (CPC) is $0.99

Without Amazon advertising, you're missing access to shoppers with the highest purchase intent—people already on the platform, ready to buy.

Social Media Shopping: The New Frontier

Social commerce has transformed from a trend into a revenue-driving necessity, particularly for reaching younger demographics.

Social commerce growth:

• The U.S. social commerce market size is $114.7 billion in 2025

• Over 5.2 billion people, 64% of the global population, are on social media

• 114.3 million social media buyers in the United States in 2025

Facebook & Instagram: Meta's Shopping Ecosystem

Facebook and Instagram remain powerful platforms for product discovery and conversion.

Meta platform performance:

• Facebook remains the #1 paid channel for ecommerce with 33% market share

• Average ecommerce CPC on Meta: $0.78

• Meta video ads receive 52% more engagement than static ads

• Instagram's ad revenue hit $71 billion by the end of 2025

• Facebook ads see an average CTR of 2.53% — one of the highest across platforms

TikTok: The Rising Star

TikTok has rapidly evolved from an entertainment platform to a serious commerce channel.

TikTok shopping metrics:

• $33.1 billion in projected ad revenue for 2025 (up from $23.6B in 2024)

• TikTok Shop reached $1 billion in monthly GMV in the U.S.

• TikTok users are 21% more likely to engage with UGC-based ads than traditional branded content

• 71% of users get inspired to shop while casually browsing

• 49% have made a purchase after seeing a TikTok

Ad performance:

• Click-through rates (CTR) for TikTok ads average 1.6%, while Instagram averages 1.1%

• TikTok ecommerce ads average 1.4x cheaper CPM than Meta

• Brands reported a 34% increase in TikTok ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) compared to Instagram over Q1 2025

Other Notable Platforms

Pinterest:

• Pinterest delivers 2x higher ROAS than Facebook and Instagram ads

• Drives 33% more traffic to ecommerce sites than Facebook

LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn ads increase purchase intent by 33%, ideal for B2B shopping

What Non-Advertisers Are Actually Missing

The cost of not advertising goes beyond lost sales. Companies avoiding paid shopping ads miss:

1. High-Intent Customer Capture

65% of clicks for buying keywords go to ads compared to 35% for organic results. When someone searches for your product, competitors' ads appear first.

2. Mobile Shoppers

With mobile devices accounting for 62% of Google ad clicks and 69% of smartphone owners using them for shopping, mobile-optimised shopping ads are critical.

3. Data and Insights

Paid campaigns provide invaluable data about customer behaviour, search patterns, and conversion triggers that organic strategies can't match.

4. Competitive Visibility

75% of users informed that ads made the search easy. Your competitors are making it easier for customers to find them than to find you.

5. Scalable Growth

While organic strategies take time, paid shopping ads deliver immediate visibility and measurable results. The average ecommerce ROAS across platforms is 3.2x, with the top 10% of ecommerce advertisers achieving 8.4x ROAS.

The Investment Reality

Many businesses overestimate the cost of entry. Here's what it actually takes:

Google Ads:

• $100–$10,000 is the average monthly cost of Google Ads for SMBs

• The average CPC for Google Shopping Ads is $0.66

Amazon:

• Starting with an automatic sponsored product campaign with a daily budget of ~$30 can collect valuable data

• New sellers should aim for an ACOS of around 29%

Social Media:

• Platform costs vary, but Meta's average CPC of $0.78 makes it accessible for businesses of all sizes

• TikTok offers cheaper CPMs than established competitors

Moving Forward

The data is clear: paid shopping ads aren't just effective—they're essential for competitive survival. With 74% of ecommerce companies planning to increase ad spend in 2025, the gap between advertisers and non-advertisers will only widen.

Key takeaways:

• Shopping ads deliver measurable ROI across all major platforms

• Google Shopping captures high-intent buyers at the critical decision moment

• Amazon advertising reaches customers ready to purchase

• Social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook drive discovery and impulse purchases

• The cost of not advertising includes lost sales, market share, and competitive intelligence

The question isn't whether you can afford to advertise, it's whether you can afford not to. Every day without paid shopping ads is another day your competitors get an opportunity.

*The numbers were quoted in dollars because these were the most up-to-date that we could find from various sources.