Petco Sees 626% ROAS Boost with Google Demand Gen Ads

Petco and its media partner Ovative Group transformed their holiday marketing strategy by leveraging Google's Demand Gen ads to reach high-value pet parents who were not easily accessible through social media.

The campaign, which took place during Cyber Week, aimed to drive both online sales and physical store visits. By using a unified campaign structure that could flex in real-time, the team was able to adapt individual impressions toward either an online checkout or a physical store visit depending on what each pet parent was most likely to do.

The results were impressive: during Cyber Week, Petco saw a 626% increase in omnichannel marketing return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to the previous year's Demand Gen tests. This was accompanied by a 71% surge in physical store visits and an 86% reduction in omnichannel cost per acquisition (CPA).

The success of this campaign led Petco to make Demand Gen a year-round strategy since last holiday season, with plans to lean in even harder this coming holiday.