This article explains how Shoppable Ads work, including the checkout experience, payments, fulfillment, and campaign strategy.
Shoppable Ads let you sell products directly to shoppers at the moment they've completed a purchase on a partner site across the Rokt Network, without the shopper ever leaving that site. Customers complete the purchase with a single tap using a digital wallet or card on file, and the order is pushed directly into your Shopify system.
You are the Merchant of Record. You take the payment, send the confirmation email, and receive 100% of the customer data.
How Shoppable Ads work
1. A customer completes a purchase on a partner site (such as Ticketmaster or StockX).
2. Rokt displays a personalized offer featuring your product on the confirmation page. The offer includes pricing, shipping costs, estimated taxes, and your Terms of Service.
3. The customer confirms with a single tap using a digital wallet (Apple Pay, Shop Pay) or card on file.
4. Rokt creates the charge with you as the Merchant of Record. 100% of the purchase price (product, tax, and shipping) settles directly to your linked Stripe account at time of sale, minus Stripe's processing fee (2.9% + 30¢).
5. The order is pushed into your Shopify system. You handle fulfillment (picking, packing, and shipping) using your existing processes.
What makes Shoppable Ads different
You own the customer. Unlike traditional marketplaces, you receive full customer data (email and shipping address), flowing directly into your fulfillment stack and CRM for future retargeting and long-term loyalty.
Attribution is direct. The sale happens at the point of the ad interaction. There are no modeled conversions or view-through estimates.
Every sale is provable and documented in your own system.
You only pay for sales. Pricing is performance-based.
You set a ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) or CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) target, and you're charged only when a purchase is confirmed. If your campaign isn't converting, you don't pay anything.
Your policies apply. Because you are the Merchant of Record, all purchases are subject to your specific brand policies: returns, shipping, support. Your Terms of Service are surfaced to the customer before they complete the purchase.
Campaign strategy for Shoppable Ads
Shoppable Ads campaigns are managed through Product Sets in Catalog for Brands. You can segment your catalog and apply specific bidding, budget, and discount strategies based on your business objective.
Two incentives are recommended for Shoppable Ads to drive conversion in the post-purchase moment:
A compelling discount: An exclusive, time-bound discount (typically 20–40%) gives customers a reason to buy now. These discounts are exclusive to Shoppable Ads and cannot be reused outside the placement.
Free shipping: Shipping costs are a leading cause of cart abandonment. Successful brands include shipping in the offer price to maintain a frictionless experience.
| Strategy | Goal | Suggested Approach | Product Selection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best sellers | Maximize volume | CPA | Your highest-converting items to build volume quickly. |
| New product launch | Drive awareness | CPA | New arrivals at exclusive prices in high-trust environments. |
| Starter kits | Increase AOV (average order value) | CPA | Lower-priced bundles that introduce customers to your brand. |
| Inventory clearance | Increase sell-through | ROAS | Deeply discounted end-of-season SKUs with a ROAS floor. |
What you need for Shoppable Ads
In addition to the standard Catalog Ads onboarding, Shoppable Ads requires:
A linked Stripe account: This is how Rokt settles the purchase price directly to you. Separate from your billing method.
A billing method on file: Bank account (0.4% fee) or credit card (2.9% fee) for weekly ad spend charges.
For Shopify brands, setup takes under 30 minutes. Your product feed, pricing, and real-time inventory sync automatically through the Catalog for Brands app.
Fulfillment and customer experience
Inventory sync: Real-time feed integration removes out-of-stock items automatically. Select items with high stock levels for Shoppable campaigns.
Shipping and returns: Rokt surfaces shipping costs, estimated taxes, and your Terms of Service directly near the checkout button before the customer taps to purchase. You handle fulfillment, returns, and customer support using your existing processes.
Customer communication: Your brand name appears on the credit card statement. The customer receives a confirmation email directly from you, so they contact you (not Rokt) for any support questions.