What's a healthy POAS for an outdoor gear store 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 benchmark for outdoor and sporting goods stores is built on real account data. The figure above is the closest credible number: the median Google Ads ROAS for sports and outdoors brands in Triple Whale's dataset. It was one of only four industries in that dataset whose median ROAS improved over the year to July 2026, up 6.49%. The same brands had a median order value of $131.92 and a median cost per acquisition of $30.42. Large orders make ROAS look strong. Whether they make money depends on whose product was sold, how big the box was, and whether it came back.

What moves an outdoor store's POAS

Whose brand you sold

An outdoor store may sell other brands' gear, its own, or both. Branded gear can come with a minimum advertised price policy set by the brand, which fixes the price you can show and caps your margin. Your own products carry the margin you set. Two campaigns with the same ROAS can be selling at very different margins, depending on which of the two they push.

Bulky and oversize shipping

Tents, bikes, kayaks and fitness equipment are large and heavy, and some need freight rather than parcel shipping. Google Ads records the order value; the delivery bill comes afterwards and can take a large share of the margin on the biggest items.

Fit returns on footwear and apparel

Outdoor stores selling boots, trail shoes and technical clothing inherit the fit problem. In Loop's returns data from Shopify merchants, 61% of footwear returns and 56% of apparel returns were for fit or size. Footwear that has been worn outdoors can't be sold as new.

Seasons that differ by activity

Ski, camping, cycling and water-sports gear each have their own season. An account-wide POAS blends products that are peaking with products that are out of season, and hides both. Report POAS by category and month as well as by campaign, so you can see which activity is carrying the account at each point in the year.

Turning the median ROAS into POAS

POAS equals ROAS multiplied by your margin after shipping and returns.

• Convert by brand type. Resold and own-brand products need separate targets.
• Count freight on oversize items before judging their campaigns.
• Measure footwear and apparel POAS after returns, on orders past your return window.

Why a benchmark is only a starting point

Your break-even line depends on your brand mix, your shipping costs and your return rate on fit-sensitive products. Use the median to see where outdoor accounts typically sit, then set targets from your own margins, product type by product type.