1) Branded Shelves is a different stage than Sponsored Products
Where Sponsored Products is primarily focused on direct conversion (“selling as much as possible at the lowest possible cost”), Branded Shelves, according to Purely Goods, is higher in the funnel.
Floris (Purely Goods):
Sponsored Products is “entirely focused on conversions.” Branded Shelves also focuses on brand, recognition, and assortment: “you give more of an idea of what you have to offer.”
What does this mean in practice?
You need to evaluate Branded Shelves differently from what you’re used to:
Not only on ACOS, but also on brand impact, new-to-brand, and its role in your growth.
Your creative (image + title) carries more weight, as you need to capture clicks at a glance.
2) Diversity in your shelf is more important than “20 variations of the same thing”
An insight they gained from bol (and immediately applied): a shelf often performs better when you bundle different relevant products instead of just placing variants side by side.
Think: not 10 sleep masks in different colors, but:
sleep mask + nose clip/nasal strips + earplugs + cushion (variant) + travel accessory
… as long as it remains one logical theme.
Purely Goods therefore has:
narrow shelves (e.g., focused on nasal strips / running / Hyrox),
and broad shelves concentrated on larger search themes where multiple product groups come together.
Takeaway: build shelves as if you're creating a mini-shop window around one use-case.
3) Structure that works: group by theme, not by “everything everywhere”
Their approach is simple and strong: bundle based on relevance and create a shelf per theme.
Examples from the recording:
“Sleep Optimization” (broader)
“Sleep Masks” (narrower)
“Anti-Snoring” (narrower)
“Travel Accessories” (narrower)
“Hyrox / Sport” (narrower)
Why this works: bol (and the shopper) understands more quickly what you're promising, and your CTR increases. CTR is a key variable in shelf distribution.
4) CTR is (likely) a determining factor for impressions
Purely Goods points out something important: they were told that click-through rate (CTR) plays a significant role in how often your shelf is displayed.
Logically: bol wants to provide format space to shelves that shoppers find appealing.
Practical actions to boost CTR:
Choose images that show the situation directly (in use, context, problem-solution).
Make the message super clear: what is the theme, who is it for, why click?
Don’t group random mixes together: relevance = higher clicks = more delivery.
5) Creative learnings: “in use” images and people work better
Purely Goods indicated that they primarily work with atmospheric images where the product is in context:
anti-snoring → sleep/bed context
travel product → travel/on-the-go context
sport → sport/running context
And they also received the tip: showing people can help (provided it logically fits the product and situation).
Design tip we also touched on in the recording:
If you use people, have the gaze/“attention” point towards the product/theme. It sounds small, but it helps with scanning behavior.
6) Catch-all strategy: works, but don’t expect miracles
They tested a “catch-all” variant: one broad shelf with many items, low CPC (minimum), and many placements/search terms to capture “low-hanging fruit.”
Result according to Purely Goods:
many impressions
fair amount of clicks
but conversions were disappointing / ACOS was higher than hoped
What we learn from this:
Catch-all is fine if that’s your goal: reach + extra traffic.
But if you want conversions? Then you usually need tighter themes and better intent match.
My advice (AdYard):
Use catch-all as an “always-on” layer, but let your growth come from your theme shelves.
7) Budget allocation: start small, scale smartly
Purely Goods indicated they shift about 10–15% of their ad spend to Branded Shelves (the rest in Sponsored Products). They work with daily limits per shelf but also see that delivery sometimes fluctuates (one shelf “performs well,” while another remains quiet).
Practical approach:
Start with 3–5 shelves that are truly logical (themes with volume).
Set CPC conservatively at first.
Monitor for 7–14 days: impressions, CTR, click volume, orders.
Scale only the shelves that show traction.
8) Targeting French: new, but still limited data
Since going live, it’s possible to target Branded Shelves on the French translation as well. Purely Goods has seen impressions, but not yet enough to draw firm conclusions.
Takeaway: enable it as a test, but evaluate only after sufficient volume.
9) Measuring remains a challenge
An important point from the recording: Branded Shelves still lacks some of the granularity to which you’re accustomed with Sponsored Products. You can’t (yet) neatly see per keyword/placement what exactly drives sales.
This makes it more difficult to apply “single-adgroup control.”
What you can do:
work with tight themes (so you know which intent you’re targeting),
focus on CTR + total performance per shelf,
and keep your setup simple and scalable.
Conclusion: Branded Shelves is now an opportunity, but only if you build it as a brand showcase
The biggest mistake we’ll see: treating Branded Shelves as “another Sponsored Products clone.” You’ll go too broad, too randomly, and only steer for the short term.
The winners build:
themes,
context images,
tight relevance,
and use Branded Shelves as a brand showcase that also converts.
As Purely Goods summarized: this format makes your brand story “more accessible” on bol. And if you leverage it smartly, you seize the advantage of a new channel where the competition (and CPC) is still relatively low today.
