A Comprehensive Guide to Zombie SKUs Across Google Ads Shopping and P-Max Campaigns

Zombie SKUs can quietly drain your resources without you even realizing it. These products receive little to no attention in your paid campaigns and are often overshadowed by higher-performing items, which can lead to many other issues down the road.

Olga Bobchenok, our digital marketing specialist, has put together an all-encompassing guide to Zombie SKUs that provides insights into what they are, how they impact your operations, and why addressing them is important.

Check it out!

Table of Contents:

1. What are Zombie SKUs?
2. How To Determine Which Zombie SKUs You Should “Kill” or “Revive”?
3. How To Ensure The Success Of Revived Zombie SKUs?
4. Get in Touch With Us for a Custom Strategy

What are Zombie SKUs?

Zombie SKUs are products or SKUs that have not been receiving impressions or have received an extremely low amount of impressions in paid campaigns for an extended period of time (30 days or longer). These products can also, but not necessarily, be unsuccessful or unprofitable.

Depending on your P-Max / Shopping campaign setup and budget, your campaigns may focus too much, if not exclusively, on top performers or products that generate the most engagement, depending on search volumes, interest, demand trends, etc. While this approach is great, it can also cause you to miss out on the value of having a separate campaign for lower-visibility products. This becomes even more likely if your campaign budget is too limited to cover all of your SKUs.

How to identify Zombie SKUs?

To spot Zombie SKUs, you need to monitor and analyze the following aspects:

• Low number of impressions and clicks
• Low number of sales
• No add-to-cart or wishlist activity

How To Determine Which Zombie SKUs You Should “Kill” or “Revive”?

Bad Zombie SKUs are the ones that no longer serve the client’s business, and driving more traffic to them would result in wasted ad spend and no sales.

What are the signs of a bad Zombie SKU?

• Historically low sales
• The product is outdated or aging
• Items are no longer actively produced by the company, leading to excess stock
• A high percentage of negative feedback
• Low demand

What can you do with bad Zombie SKUs?

• Run a clearance sale with a “Last Chance” or BOGO offer
• Bundle them with bestsellers to help move stock
• Liquidate the inventory
• Remove them from the catalog if they are obsolete

What are the signs of a good Zombie SKU?

• High margin or strong LTV potential
• Past success but lost traction (due to seasonality, trends, or competition shifts)
• Good reviews but low traffic (could benefit from SEO & ads)
• Add-to-cart activity without conversions (may indicate a pricing or messaging issue)
• Complementary to a bestseller (could be bundled)
• Low competition
• Unique selling points (products with unique features or limited alternatives can succeed with the right positioning, especially if competitors are dropping similar SKUs)
• Good organic performance but low paid visibility

How To Ensure The Success Of Revived Zombie SKUs?

To ensure the lasting success of revived Zombie SKUs, consider the following tips:

1. Optimize product listings. Review your product listings in the Merchant Center and identify areas for improvement:

• Improve images. Test lifestyle or model imagery instead of just product shots. Experiment with different backgrounds and ensure multiple high-quality images are included, showcasing the product from various angles.
• Evaluate landing pages. Optimize landing pages for mobile compatibility and high performance. Look for missing crucial elements such as strong social proof (reviews, ratings, user-generated images), diverse visuals, and clear, visible USPs (e.g., Free and Fast Delivery, 2-Year Guarantee, Easy Returns).
• Enhance product listings. Update headlines and descriptions with relevant keywords to increase visibility. Test different headline formats and include attractive offers. Refresh the ad copy with new angles to maintain engagement.
• Complete all fields. Fill out all key and additional product listing fields (e.g., product category, apparel details, etc.).
• Address listing issues. Resolve any issues preventing your product from appearing on Google listings such as mismatched prices or inactive landing pages.
• Activate seller rating. Ensure your Seller Rating is active as ads with seller ratings typically see a 17% higher CTR on average.
• Opt for reviews. Opt for Google Customer Reviews and Product Reviews to boost credibility and visibility.

2. Ensure the visibility of Zombie SKUs by sorting them into a separate campaign. You can opt for either a P-Max or a Shopping campaign. The main advantage of the Shopping campaign route is the ability to pair it with a profile bidding strategy, which provides better control over your bids, which is especially important when dealing with lower-performing products while still benefiting from automated bidding.

3. Suggest running a discount or special offer to boost demand for the products. This can help generate interest and drive sales, especially for products with low visibility or engagement.

Get in Touch With Us for a Custom Strategy

If you need assistance in optimizing your product listings or addressing Zombie SKUs, book a free consultation with our experts. We’ll work with you to develop a custom strategy that will help your business achieve greater results.