ARC sells phone cases to buyers across Europe and the US. In our first 11 months, Shopify net revenue grew 72% and new customers grew 64%. Blended MER held steady, up 4%, on 73% more ad spend. Whitelisted creator ads became the engine, rising to as much as 74% of Meta spend.
Net revenue, Nov 2025 to Sep 2026 vs prior year (Shopify)
New customers, same 11 months (Shopify)
Blended MER, same 11 months, held on 73% more spend (Shopify, ad platforms)
TL;DR
ARC needed to grow ad spend fast without letting blended efficiency slip, and a change in Meta’s attribution made its year-over-year Meta ROAS useless.
We scaled whitelisted creator ads from about 40% of Meta spend to as much as 74%. Google stayed the efficient base, and we judged every move on Shopify net revenue.
Over 11 months, net revenue rose 72% and new customers rose 64% on 73% more spend. Blended MER held, up 4%.
ARC sells phone cases to buyers across Europe and the US. Its year peaks every September, when Apple launches a new iPhone.
ARC hired us at the end of October 2025, right after the iPhone 17 launch. The team wanted to keep growing spend through the holidays and into 2026.
Alex Moore at ARC set the scorecard. Growth would be judged on net revenue against Meta and Google spend.
Measurement made the job harder. At the end of January 2026, ARC moved Meta to incremental attribution. Meta’s reported ROAS dropped overnight, so a year-over-year Meta ROAS comparison would mislead anyone who read it.
ARC had started running whitelisted creator ads in June 2025. By October they took 38% of Meta spend.
When we compared them with brand-made ads on cold audiences, creator ads drew a click-through rate about 100% higher.
They also lasted longer. A typical creator ad kept spending for 56 days, against 34 days for a brand static and 18 days for a brand video. Some of that gap comes from how each format was used, since many statics were small, quick tests.
Two more patterns shaped the creative plan. Male tech creators beat female fashion creators by about 100%. AI-made statics did as well as produced statics, so we could make more of them, faster.
Creator ads won on cold traffic but not on warm traffic. Brand statics stayed cheaper for retargeting, so we kept both formats in the account.
Scaled whitelisted creator ads. They took 41% to 47% of Meta spend in our first four months, and 53% to 74% from March to August 2026.
Folded four creator campaigns into one worldwide campaign with minimum spends per ad set. It took 65% more spend at about the same Meta-reported efficiency.
Built a steady creator pipeline and a daily naming check. Every creator ad mapped to the right creator, so we could judge each one on its own.
Excluded existing customers from Meta prospecting in 2026, so acquisition spend went to people who had never bought.
Ran Google as the efficient base. Against the same 11 months a year earlier, Google-reported ROAS rose 40% on 22% more spend.
Shipped creative at volume. For the iPhone 18 launch we delivered 65 statics and 5 AI color-change videos in one week.
From November 2025 to September 2026, net revenue rose 72% against the same 11 months a year earlier. New customers rose 64%. Total Meta and Google spend rose 73%.
Blended MER held across the 11 months, up 4%, while spend grew 73%.
September is launch month, so it swings the whole year. Leave out both Septembers, and net revenue rose 94% from November to August while MER improved 11%.
The holidays ran hottest. Net revenue rose 90% in November and 111% in December.
Spring gives the cleanest read. In March and April 2026, spend was flat against the year before, and net revenue still rose 36% and 39%.
Metric | Nov 2025 to Sep 2026 vs Nov 2024 to Sep 2025 |
|---|---|
Net revenue (Shopify) | +72% |
New customers (Shopify) | +64% |
Meta plus Google spend | +73% |
Blended MER | +4% |
Cost per new customer | +6% |
Net revenue, Nov 2025 to Sep 2026 vs prior year (Shopify)
New customers, same 11 months (Shopify)
Blended MER, same 11 months, held on 73% more spend (Shopify, ad platforms)
Revenue and new customers come from Shopify’s own reports, in euros. Net revenue is gross sales minus discounts and returns. Spend is Meta plus Google, pulled from each platform.
Both windows run 11 months, from November to September, one year after the other. We also show November to August, which leaves out both launch months.
We use no Meta ROAS in this study because of the attribution change. Google’s attribution did not change, so we show Google’s ROAS, and we treat it as directional.
Three things we did not cause helped the numbers. The iPhone 17 launch in September 2025 ran before we started and was much bigger than the 2024 launch, which carried demand into the holidays. ARC also added new product lines in 2026. And creator ads began before us, so we scaled the program rather than invented it.
One launch did not go as planned. In September 2026, the iPhone 18 month, net revenue rose 34% but spend rose 62%, and MER fell 10%. On keynote day, site traffic held but conversion fell by more than 50%, which points to a weaker upgrade cycle. The month was bigger but less efficient.
Cost per new customer also rose 6% across the 11 months. We bought many more new customers, but each one cost a little more.
Alex Moore
ARC
To scale spend 70% without losing efficiency, you need a format that keeps working at higher budgets. For ARC, that format was creator ads. They won cold traffic and kept spending long after brand ads faded.
When a platform changes how it counts results, move your scorecard to the store. Shopify counted net revenue the same way before and after Meta’s change.
A complimentary growth session, built around your account and your numbers.
At a glance
Client
ARC
Vertical
Phone accessories
Channels
Meta + Google
Engagement
November 2025 to today
Source of truth
Shopify net sales, with spend pulled from Meta and Google
Kinn Studio
Gross sales, year one vs prior 12 months (Shopify)
From seven to eight figures in about 15 months on Meta and Google
People’s Choice Beef Jerky
New customers, year one vs prior 12 months (Shopify)
Net sales up 115% in two years, with Meta built from zero
Freewrite
New-customer revenue, Nov to Dec 2025 vs 2024 (Triple Whale)
25% more new-customer revenue over the 2025 holidays on 9% more spend