Advertising costs for Ozon have long been a headache for most sellers: rates are rising, algorithms are changing, and it is impossible to manually manage the budget for hundreds of SKUs. Since the end of April, sellers have had a new tool — the "Target Expense" strategy for Pay-per-click promotion.
The mechanics are simple: the seller sets a target share of advertising expenses for the campaign, and the system selects bids itself to meet this target. This makes it possible to keep the economy of individual SKUs within the specified limits without constant manual intervention. If the budget is poorly spent or not spent at all, this is a signal to check the campaign coverage and conditions, rather than waiting for the result.
At the same time, Ozon has made changes to logistics. The format of applications for cross-docking using the FBO model has been updated — this is important for everyone who regularly ships goods to the site's warehouse through the transshipment scheme. Error in the request format = delayed delivery and lost slots. Margins for non-locality have also been revised: this is a zone where sellers lose money unnoticeably — sales go on, and logistical coefficients eat up margins.
A separate expense item is native banners. Since April 27, the minimum bid has increased to 250 rubles per thousand impressions. For those who have used banners as a budget coverage tool, this means reviewing the test plan and KPIs.
On May 5 and 12, changes to the Ozon agreement will come into force, affecting the promotion and the "Pay-per-order" model. Contractual changes are an area that sellers often ignore until the first hold in the report.
The practical minimum for a seller right now is to select 10-30 SKUs with a stable margin, record current figures — revenue, expense, share of advertising expenses — and test the "Target Expense" on this group for seven days. At the same time, update the checklist for cross-docking applications and recalculate the top SKUs, taking into account the new margins for non-locality.
