Sponsored Ads – General Information
Sponsored Ads include the Sponsored Product Ads and Sponsored Brand Ads services.
Sponsored Product Ads help you to prominently advertise your offers on the Kaufland marketplaces and in the Kaufland app. These ads help you stand out from the competition and showcase your best offers to customers through prominent ad placements on the Kaufland marketplaces.
Read more about Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) here.
Sponsored Brand Ads boost your brand’s visibility and allow you to highlight three products at once with a single headline, a clickable logo and a brand logo.
Read more about Sponsored Brand Ads (SBA) here.
How do you gain access to Sponsored Ads?
It’s easy to get started. You can access the Sponsored Ads tools directly via your Kaufland Seller Portal.
- Log in to your Seller Portal.
- In the main menu, go to the “Marketing Tools” or “Services” section.
- Click on “Sponsored Product Ads” or “Sponsored Brand Ads”.
How do you activate Sponsored Product Ads in the Seller Portal?
Sponsored Product Ads are available to all sellers. To register for Sponsored Product Ads, you must accept the GTCs for SPA by clicking on “+ Create your first campaign”.
Once your account has been activated, you will have access to Sponsored Product Ads and can start creating your first campaign.
How do you enable Sponsored Brand Ads in the Seller Portal?
Access to the Sponsored Brand Ads tool is granted only to verified brand owners and their authorised partners.
If you already have access to Sponsored Brand Ads, you will either see the “Create your first campaign” button on the home page, or you will be taken directly to the campaign overview if you have already created campaigns.
If you do not yet have access, you will see the “Register” button instead. Click it to send an e-mail enquiry to the Advertising by Kaufland team and request access to Sponsored Brand Ads.
Please send one of the following documents to support-sba@kaufland-marketplace.com. We will review your document, and only then will you be granted access to the Sponsored Brand Ads tool, if applicable.
- Brand ownership:
Registration of your brand in a register held by the patent or trademark office which identifies you as the owner of the brand.
- Authorisation by the trademark owner:
A signed document (for example, a scan or a PDF file signed via DocuSign) bearing the brand owner’s letterhead (Sample text: “We hereby confirm that [name of our company] is an authorised distributor for our brand [name of the relevant brand] and for advertising, e.g. in the form of Sponsored Brand Ads, on the Kaufland marketplaces”), including an extract from the trademark register.
Important note: Please ensure that your documents permit the use of your trademarks in all countries where you wish to run Sponsored Brand Ads campaigns.
Once your documents have been reviewed and your use of Sponsored Brand Ads has been approved, you will be granted access to the tool in your Seller Portal.
Pre-campaign checklist
Before you pay to drive more customers to your product pages, you should ensure that these pages are designed in an appealing way to maximise your conversion rate.
Billing & Payment Process
Sponsored Ads are a performance-based advertising tool. You will only be issued an invoice for clicks generated by your ads.
Please note that no separate invoices will be issued for the click costs of your SPA and SBA campaigns. Instead, you will find the details in your commission statement in the Seller Portal for the relevant month.
Go to the “Accounting” section and click on “Invoices” to access your commission statements.
To find the cost per click for SPA and SBA as quickly as possible, we recommend using the search function and entering the term “Sponsored Product Ads” or “Sponsored Brand Ads”.
Please note that charges for sponsored ads will only appear on your invoice the following month. For example, the SPA payments for February will be included in the commission statement for March and will not be available until early April.
Note for vendors: As a vendor, you will receive a monthly invoice detailing the costs for the previous month. Please transfer the amount stated on the invoice to Kaufland’s bank account.
Please bear in mind that there is no overall budget limit for your Sponsored Ads account. This means that your ads will continue to run until your campaign’s daily budget or total budget has been reached. Manage your spending through your campaign budget and make sure you select the desired budget limit (daily or total budget).
Multi-marketplace management
You must create and manage your SPA campaigns separately for each Kaufland marketplace. Furthermore, you may only promote products that you offer on the relevant sales channel.
You can view the performance of your campaigns separately for each Kaufland marketplace. You can find all the key metrics for the selected sales channel in your dashboard and in your campaign overview. The “Reports” tab is also available to you.
Click costs are calculated separately for each Kaufland marketplace in the following month.
Reports on key performance indicators (KPIs)
A range of performance reports are available to help you monitor and optimise your campaigns. Click on the “Go to Reports” button in the top right-hand corner or select the “Reports” menu item in the Seller Portal. There you can download reports for various time periods.
What reports are available to me?
Performance report by search term
This report shows the cumulative performance of all search terms that generated impressions during the selected period:
- Campaign ID
- Campaign name
- Keyword
- Search term
- Keyword match type
- Page type
- Impressions
- Clicks
- Conversions
- CTR (%)
- Conversion rate (%)
- Costs (€)
- Average CPC
Performance report by campaign
This report shows the performance of individual campaigns over the selected period:
- Campaign ID
- Campaign name
- Campaign status
- Campaign launch date
- Budget type
- Budget amount
- Targeting type
- Offer strategy
- Target ACoS (%)
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR (%)
- Total conversions
- Direct conversions
- Indirect conversions
- Halo conversions
- Average CPC
- Costs (€)
- Sales (total)
- Sales (direct)
- Sales (indirect)
- Sales (halo)
- ACOS (%)
- ROAS
Daily performance overview of the campaigns
This report shows the daily performance of individual campaigns over the selected period:
- Date
- Campaign ID
- Campaign name
- Campaign status
- Campaign start date
- Campaign end date
- Budget type
- Budget amount
- Targeting type
- Offer strategy
- Target ACoS (%)
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR (%) / Click-through rate (%)
- Conversions (total)
- Direct conversions
- Indirect conversions
- Halo conversions
- Average CPC
- Costs (€)
- Sales (total)
- Sales (direct)
- Sales (indirect)
- Sales (halo)
- ACOS (%)
- ROAS
Performance report by EAN
This report shows the performance of all advertised products over the selected period:
- EAN
- Category
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR (%)
- Average CPC
- Conversions
- Costs (€)
- Sales (€)
- ROAS
- ACOS (%)
Performance report by brand
This report shows the cumulative performance of all brands over the selected period:
- Brand
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR (%)
- Average CPC
- Total conversions
- Costs (€)
- Total sales (€)
- ROAS
- ACOS (%)
Performance report by category
This report shows the cumulative performance of all product categories over the selected period:
- Category
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR (%)
- Average CPC
- Total conversions
- Costs (€)
- Total sales (€)
- ROAS
- ACOS (%)
For Sponsored Brand Ads, the impressions shown in the dashboard may differ from those shown in the reports. The dashboard displays impressions at campaign level, counting each ad shown only once, whereas the downloadable reports show impressions at product level. As an SBA contains several items, the impressions at the item level may be higher. Furthermore, impressions for the logo or the ad creative are not included in the report.
Report on daily costs
This report shows the total daily advertising costs for the selected period:
- Date
- Costs (€)
Report on daily costs per campaign
This report shows the daily costs for each campaign during the selected period:
- Date
- Campaign name
- Costs (€)
Budget Utilisation Report
This report shows for which campaigns the budget was used up and at what time during the selected period:
- Campaign ID
- Campaign name
- Budget exhausted on
- Daily budget (€)
- Total budget (€)
- Targeting type
- Offer strategy
- Started on
- Ends on
- Sales channel
Understanding key performance indicators (Glossary)
- Impressions:
An impression is generated whenever a product advertisement is displayed to a buyer.
For Sponsored Brand Ads, the total impressions shown in both the main dashboard and the campaign dashboard are based on how often the header (image and logo) is displayed to shoppers. This is because each Sponsored Brand Ads campaign is treated as a single ad, with the header being the element that is displayed continuously. You can view the impression performance of individual products in the ‘Performance’ tab of the campaign dashboard.
- Clicks:
A click is counted as soon as a buyer clicks on a product ad.
With Sponsored Brand Ads, a click is counted as soon as a buyer clicks on the image, the logo or one of the products shown in the ad.
This metric counts the total number of interactions that shoppers have with these elements.
- Click-through rate:
The CTR is the percentage of times buyers actually click on your ad when it is displayed. A separate click-through rate is provided for each of your campaigns and products. You can view these in the campaign dashboard.
- CPC:
CPC stands for cost per click. These are the costs you will incur when a buyer clicks on one of your sponsored ads.
The CPC is determined by a real-time auction system and may vary depending on competition and your bid.
- Conversions (direct, indirect, halo):
A conversion is counted when a user clicks on your product ad and places an order within 14 days. Each order counts as a single conversion, regardless of how many items it contains.
Three types of conversions are tracked:
- Direct conversion: The customer purchases the product featured in the ad they clicked on.
- Indirect conversion: The customer purchases a different product from the same category tree.
- Halo conversion: The customer purchases a different product from your offers.
For Sponsored Brand Ads:
- Direct conversion: The customer purchases the product that was clicked on in the ad.
- Indirect conversion: The customer purchases another product from the same brand and within the same product category within your offers.
- Halo conversion: The customer clicks on your ad – whether it’s the product, a custom image or the logo – and purchases another product from the same brand within your offers.
The conversion metric also includes orders that are subsequently cancelled. The data in the report is therefore not adjusted for cancellations.
For technical reasons, minor discrepancies in data collection cannot be ruled out.
- Conversion rate:
The conversion rate is the percentage of ad clicks that lead to a conversion (an order). It is the primary indicator of how effectively your ads encourage customers to make a purchase.
A high conversion rate indicates that your ads are relevant and appealing to customers.
- ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale):
ACoS stands for Advertising Cost of Sale and indicates how much money you have spent for every euro of revenue generated.
Calculation example: If you have spent €100 on a campaign that generates €1,000 in sales, the ACoS is 10% (100/1,000). This means you spend €0.10 on ads to generate €1 in sales from this advertising campaign. To determine what your target ACoS should be, you should take into account the cost structure of the products you are advertising, as well as the main objective of your campaign (for example, maximising profit, increasing long-term brand awareness or specifically promoting newly launched products). For technical reasons, minor discrepancies in data collection cannot be ruled out.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend):
ROAS stands for Return on Ad Spend.
This metric calculates the sales generated for every euro spent on an advertising campaign. It directly measures the effectiveness of your ads.
Example calculation: If you spend €100 on a campaign and it generates €1,000 in sales from ad clicks, your ROAS is 10. That means you’ve earned 10 euros for every euro you’ve spent.
- TACoS (Total Advertising Costs as a Percentage of Sales):
TACoS stands for Total Advertising Cost of Sales.
This metric measures your advertising spend in relation to your total revenue, including both sales generated by ads and organic sales. It is a key indicator of how your advertising campaigns influence your overall revenue growth.
A consistently lower TACoS indicates that your advertising is becoming more effective at driving overall revenue.
FAQ – General
How do Sponsored Brand Ads work?
Sponsored ads are based on a cost-per-click (CPC) model. Sellers set a daily budget and a maximum bid for their ads. You are only charged if customers actually click on the ad. This gives you full control over costs and means you only pay for genuine interactions.
Who can use Sponsored Ads?
Sponsored Product Ads are available to all Kaufland Global Marketplace sellers. You can create advertising campaigns directly via your seller account.
In order to participate in the Sponsored Brand Ads programme, you must either be the owner of the brand you want to promote or have permission from the brand owner to use and promote their brand.
Are sponsored ads available on all Kaufland marketplaces?
Yes, you can place sponsored ads on all active Kaufland marketplaces.
Can I pause or stop my campaigns at any time?
Yes, you have full control over your campaigns. You can adjust, pause or stop them at any time. Read more about this in Sponsored Product Ads and Sponsored Brand Ads.
Can I schedule a campaign to start at a future date?
When planning your campaigns, you can set both the start and end times as you wish.
Which products should be promoted?
To get a sense of the performance of your products, you should first include all of them in a campaign. You can then analyse the data and, based on the campaign results, make informed decisions about which products to promote.
Once you have launched a Sponsored Products campaign, you will receive data on its performance, such as:
- how many times the ad was displayed,
- how many visitors click on the ad,
- what the click-through rate is,
- how high the conversion rate is, or
- how much you have spent.
You can also track the performance of each individual product and compare it with other products over a specific period. In addition, you will find answers to questions such as:
- How do products perform over a given period?
- Should the campaign be optimised or re-planned if necessary?
- Is the bid price rising or falling?
- Is the competitive landscape becoming more intense or more relaxed?
- How should a product’s performance be assessed in comparison with other items?
- Should the price of a product be adjusted?
This will provide you with valuable insights that may highlight opportunities to optimise your entire product range, thereby helping to boost your conversion rate.
To help you decide which products to promote, it is advisable to run a campaign for at least two to three weeks (depending on the number of impressions, clicks and conversions it generates). This will enable you to build a solid data foundation on which you can base informed decisions and implement initial optimisations.
Based on your campaign results, you can take the following steps:
- Organise your campaign into categories and ensure that similar products are included in the same campaign. You should also set the necessary bids and budgets for each campaign.
- Suspend products that are performing poorly in comparison to others.
How can I view active and completed campaigns?
You can view your current campaigns in the campaign overview of the Sponsored Ads tools. You can monitor active campaigns and track how key metrics such as the number of impressions or clicks, and the sales generated by your ads, are performing.
You can also view campaigns that have already ended by selecting the “Ended” option under the “Status” filter settings.
Can I influence where my ads are displayed?
In campaigns using automatic keyword targeting, our algorithm automatically determines where your ads appear, ensuring they show up for relevant search queries. You don’t need to select any keywords or other factors, as everything happens automatically.
In the case of campaigns with manual keyword targeting, you can directly influence the search terms for which your ads appear by adding the desired keywords when setting up the campaign. Kaufland Global Marketplace accepts no liability for the display or performance of the ads.
FAQ – Optimising campaigns
How do I determine what constitutes a good ACoS?
When assessing ACoS, it depends on the objective of your campaign. If increasing profit is the primary campaign objective, the target ACoS is determined by the profit margin of the advertised product. If the focus is not only on increasing profits but also, for example, on promoting a new product to raise its profile and boost its organic visibility, you may be willing to accept a higher ACoS in the short term in order to achieve long-term profit growth.
What should I do if my campaign has a poor ACoS?
A high ACoS can be attributed to several factors, including the following in particular:
- Competition within this category is fierce, and the cost per click is correspondingly high.
- Not enough products are being sold, which can be attributed, among other things, to factors such as the price, a lack of reviews or poor reviews.
In such cases, we recommend that you compare your offers with those of competitors within the same category to see whether they are competitive in terms of price, features or reviews.
If you are unable to change any of these factors, you have the option of either pausing underperforming products in your campaign or, for campaigns using manual keyword targeting, excluding keywords that do not convert.
Why aren’t my ads appearing in certain categories, even though I’ve placed high bids?
Every time a customer visits a search results, category or product detail page on the Kaufland marketplaces, the system checks which ad is displayed to the customer.
The algorithm takes various factors into account, including, for example, relevance, product price, page context and keywords. In addition, the algorithm is influenced by the past performance of the advertised products, as well as the current campaigns in the system and the bid. Even if you are the highest bidder for your product, your ad may not be displayed if the algorithm deems it irrelevant. So make sure you use the correct product description and keywords on your product page. You should also make sure that your bid is competitive.
When should I exclude keywords?
For both campaigns with manual and automatic keyword targeting, you have the option to exclude keywords after the campaign has started if you find that they are not performing well. You can also add negative keywords right from the start. This prevents your ads from appearing for certain search terms. In addition, you can better monitor your campaign performance and exclude keywords that incur high costs without generating enough conversions.
How can I increase the number of impressions for my campaign?
If your campaign is generating few impressions, there are usually three main possible reasons:
- Your bid is too low,
- the competition in this category is very fierce, or
- the product is unknown or there is insufficient demand for it.
You can try increasing your bids and ensure that your product descriptions are relevant to the target categories and that the product titles are appropriate.
We also recommend that you promote as many products as possible within a category. This will increase the likelihood of one of your products appearing in the ad slots.
Why isn’t my campaign appearing when I search for keywords that should trigger it?
Your ad is competing with other campaigns. Every time your ad is about to be displayed, our algorithm runs an evaluation process. Of all the relevant listings, the one with the highest rating is selected. The evaluation process is restarted with every search query. This has several consequences:
- Your ads will not be displayed 100% of the time.
- Various criteria, such as click-through rate and conversion rate, are taken into account when selecting which ad to display. If your product listing performs less well than those of your competitors, it is likely to be displayed less frequently and will therefore generate fewer impressions, even if your bid is higher.
Please note that the algorithm is designed to show customers the best possible products, and not necessarily products from sellers who place the highest bid. Although the bid influences the algorithm and is a factor in the ad ranking system, it is not the only criterion used to select which ad is shown.
Do you have any further questions?
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at the following e-mail address: support-spa@kaufland-ecommerce.com.