GoogleAdsBenchmarks-March2026
Summary: UK ecommerce CPCs rose 4% to £1.28 as spring competition intensified. PMax now commands 71% of managed spend. Fashion ROAS softened during the seasonal transition, while Home & Furniture saw early Easter-driven uplift. POAS across all sectors improved to 1.6x as more brands shift to profit-first bidding.
March 2026 at a Glance
| Metric | Value | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|
| Avg. CPC (UK Ecommerce) | £1.28 | +4% |
| PMax Share of Spend | 71% | +2pp |
| Shopping Impression Share | 34% | -1pp |
| Avg. Conversion Rate | 2.8% | 0% |
| Avg. ROAS (Fashion) | 3.2x | -0.3x |
| Avg. ROAS (Home) | 4.1x | +0.2x |
| Avg. POAS (All Sectors) | 1.6x | +0.1x |
| Broad Match Adoption | 58% | +3pp |
What's Driving the Numbers
CPCs Rising Into Spring
The 4% CPC increase reflects seasonal competition as outdoor, garden, and fashion brands scale budgets ahead of warmer weather. Home improvement and garden categories saw the steepest CPC inflation at 8-12%, while fashion CPCs remained relatively flat during the seasonal transition between winter clearance and spring newness.
PMax Continues to Dominate
Performance Max now accounts for 71% of managed spend across our client base, up from 69% in February. Google's continued push of PMax recommendations and the deprecation of Smart Shopping mean this figure will likely reach 75%+ by Q3. The key challenge remains transparency - brands running PMax without proper feed segmentation and asset group architecture are paying more for less visibility.
Our PMax management approachFashion's Seasonal Transition
Fashion ROAS softened to 3.2x as brands navigate the awkward period between winter sale and spring/summer newness. This is structurally expected - new season stock at full margin converts at lower volumes than discounted winter stock. Brands measuring POAS rather than ROAS during this period will see the margin benefit of full-price positioning even at lower volume.
Fashion advertising comparison guidePOAS Improvement Across Sectors
Average POAS rose to 1.6x, driven by better SKU segmentation and the increasing adoption of margin-weighted bidding. Brands using return-adjusted POAS targets saw 15-20% improvement in actual profit contribution compared to revenue-optimised campaigns running at the same budget level.
Understanding POAS methodologyBroad Match Adoption Accelerating
Google's push toward broad match continues, with adoption reaching 58% across managed accounts. The risk remains: without strong negative keyword management and conversion data, broad match can waste 15-25% of budget on irrelevant queries. We continue to see the best results from a hybrid approach - broad match for high-volume categories with proven conversion data, exact/phrase match for niche or high-margin products.
The Broad Match TaxMethodology
Data is drawn from JudeLuxe-managed UK ecommerce accounts with £10k+ monthly spend. Benchmarks represent median values across Fashion, Beauty, Home, Pet, Supplements, and Sports sectors. POAS calculations use verified COGS data and exclude estimated return adjustments where return data is unavailable.
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