What's a healthy POAS for a candle brand on Google Ads?

POAS divides the gross profit a campaign produced by what you spent to get it. At 1.0, ad spend used up every dollar of product profit the campaign generated. Above 1.0, the campaign contributes to fixed costs and net profit; below it, each sale loses money before overhead is counted.

No published POAS or ROAS benchmark exists for candles or home fragrance. The figure above is the nearest credible number: the median Google Ads ROAS for home and garden brands in Triple Whale's dataset, a broader category; Triple Whale doesn't break candles or home fragrance out. The same brands had a median order value of $129.92 and a median cost per acquisition of $38.94. Further down, we combine that ROAS with one listed home-fragrance retailer's margin to give a rough POAS, and show the working.

What moves a candle brand's POAS

Heavy, fragile and modestly priced

A candle is glass and wax: heavy for what it sells for, and fragile. Shipping cost follows weight and size, so one candle can cost a noticeable share of its price to deliver. Google Ads records the order value; the delivery bill comes out of margin afterwards.

Breakage

Glass can break in transit, and a broken candle can mean a replacement shipped at your cost. We haven't found published data on how often shipped candles break, so measure your own: replacements sent, divided by orders shipped.

The holiday peak

Gift buying shapes the calendar for home fragrance. Bath & Body Works, a large home-fragrance retailer, reports that its fourth quarter typically accounts for approximately 40% of its net sales. The candles playbook covers planning spend around that peak.

Basket size

Two or three candles in one box share one shipment and one set of packing costs, so margin after shipping rises with basket size. A campaign selling single candles and one selling bundles can show the same ROAS and earn very different profit.

A rough POAS for candles

Turning the median ROAS into your POAS

POAS equals ROAS multiplied by your own margin after shipping, packaging and breakage.

• Use margin after shipping, not the margin on the candle alone.
• Report POAS by basket size. Single-candle orders and bundles can sit on opposite sides of 1.0.
• Judge the holiday season after replacements are counted.

Why a benchmark is only a starting point

Your break-even line depends on your shipping costs, your breakage rate and how many candles a typical order holds. Use the median and the rough POAS to see roughly where candle brands sit, then set targets from your own margin after shipping.