What Is Push Notification ROI?
Push notification ROI (Return on Investment) measures the profitability of your web push marketing efforts. It tells you how much gross profit you generate from push notifications relative to your platform costs. Calculating push ROI is critical for Shopify store owners to understand if their push strategy is profitable, justify platform expenses, and compare its effectiveness against other marketing channels like email and SMS.
A high push ROI indicates that your campaigns and automated flows are efficiently driving sales at a low cost, making push notifications one of the most capital-efficient marketing channels available. This distinct advantage stems from push platforms typically charging a flat monthly fee rather than per-message, enabling virtually free marginal messages once the subscription is paid.
Push Notification ROI Formulas
Calculating your push notification ROI involves understanding the gross profit generated by push-driven sales and subtracting your platform costs.
Push Notification ROI
Push ROI = ((Gross Profit from Push - Platform Cost) / Platform Cost) × 100
Where:
- Gross Profit from Push = Total Revenue from Push Notifications × Gross Margin Percentage
- Platform Cost = Your monthly subscription fee for the push notification platform.
Cost Per Order (CPO) from Push
Cost Per Order = Platform Cost / Total Orders from Push
This metric highlights the incredible efficiency of push, as the CPO can often be mere cents once subscriber volume is achieved.
How to Use This Calculator
This calculator helps you dissect the performance and profitability of your push notification strategy. Follow these steps to get an accurate ROI for your Shopify store:
- Subscribers: Enter your Total web push notification subscribers. This is the audience size for your campaigns.
- Campaigns Per Month: Input the Number of push campaigns sent per month. This helps estimate your manual campaign reach.
- Delivery Rate: Enter the Percentage of pushes actually delivered (browser/device online). Pushes are browser-dependent, so this is important.
- Click Rate: Provide the Percentage of delivered notifications that are clicked. This measures how engaging your pushes are.
- Conversion Rate: Input the Percentage of clicks that result in a purchase. This shows the effectiveness of your landing pages and offers.
- Avg Order Value: Enter your Average order value from push-driven purchases. If unsure, use your store's overall AOV or segment specifically for push.
- Gross Margin: Specify your Gross margin on products sold. This is crucial for calculating the true profit generated, not just revenue.
- Platform Cost: Enter the Monthly cost of your push platform (PushOwl, OneSignal, Firepush, etc.). This is your primary expense for the channel.
- Automated Messages: Input your Monthly automated push messages (back-in-stock, price drop, cart abandonment). These typically have higher engagement.
- Automated CVR: Enter the Conversion rate for automated pushes (usually higher than campaigns).
- Opt-In Rate: Provide the Percentage of site visitors who opt in to push notifications. This helps project subscriber growth.
- Monthly Visitors: Input your Monthly unique site visitors — used to project subscriber growth.
- Churn Rate: Specify your Monthly subscriber churn (browser clears, device changes, manual unsubscribe). This impacts long-term subscriber numbers.
Step-by-Step Example
Let's calculate the push notification ROI for a Shopify store, "Cozy Living Goods," which sells home decor. They have 12,000 subscribers and use PushOwl's Growth plan at $79/month.
Inputs:
- Subscribers: 12,000
- Campaigns Per Month: 2 (e.g., new product launches, flash sales)
- Delivery Rate: 90%
- Campaign Click Rate: 5.5%
- Campaign Conversion Rate: 2.8%
- Automated Messages: 7,500 (across cart abandonment, back-in-stock, price drops)
- Automated CVR: 8.5%
- Avg Order Value: $65.00
- Gross Margin: 50%
- Platform Cost: $79.00/month
Calculations:
Campaign Orders:
- Delivered campaigns: 2 campaigns × 12,000 subscribers × 0.90 delivery = 21,600 delivered pushes.
- Campaign clicks: 21,600 delivered pushes × 0.055 click rate = 1,188 clicks.
- Campaign orders: 1,188 clicks × 0.028 conversion rate = 33.26 orders (approx. 33 orders).
Automated Orders:
- Automated orders: 7,500 automated messages × 0.085 automated CVR = 637.5 orders (approx. 638 orders).
Total Push-Driven Orders: 33 + 638 = 671 orders.
Total Push Revenue: 671 orders × $65.00 AOV = $43,615.00.
Gross Profit from Push: $43,615.00 revenue × 0.50 gross margin = $21,807.50.
Push Notification ROI:
- (($21,807.50 - $79.00) / $79.00) × 100 = 27,504.43% ROI.
Cost Per Order (CPO) from Push:
- $79.00 platform cost / 671 orders = $0.12 per order.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly Push Subscribers | 12,000 |
| Monthly Platform Cost | $79.00 |
| Campaign Orders Generated | 33 |
| Automated Orders Generated | 638 |
| Total Push-Driven Orders | 671 |
| Total Push Revenue | $43,615.00 |
| Gross Profit from Push | $21,807.50 |
| Push Notification ROI | 27,504% |
| Cost Per Order (CPO) | $0.12 |
This example demonstrates how automated push notifications significantly contribute to overall orders and drive an exceptionally high ROI, especially given the low, flat-rate cost structure of push platforms.
Automated vs. Campaign Pushes: The Real ROI Driver
While broadcast campaigns are useful for product launches and sales, the true engine of push notification ROI for Shopify stores lies in automated funnels. These "set it and forget it" messages consistently outperform manual campaigns in terms of click-through and conversion rates, leading to a much higher return on your platform investment.
- Higher Intent: Automated pushes like cart abandonment, back-in-stock, and price drop alerts are triggered by specific user actions or expressed intent. A customer who adds an item to their cart but doesn't purchase, or signs up for a back-in-stock alert, is already highly engaged.
- Timeliness & Relevance: These messages are sent exactly when they are most relevant to the customer. A cart reminder goes out minutes after abandonment; a price drop alert hits when a desired product becomes more affordable. This immediacy is a core strength of the push channel.
- Consistent Performance: Unlike campaigns that can fluctuate based on offer, seasonality, or message quality, automated flows run continuously, generating predictable revenue. They act as a persistent safety net for lost sales opportunities.
Many Shopify push platforms, like PushOwl and OneSignal, offer robust features for setting up these automated sequences. Prioritizing the optimization of these flows (A/B testing timing, copy, and offers) is often the fastest path to significant ROI improvements. As seen in the example above, automated messages can generate over 90% of total push orders, dramatically lowering your CPA for this channel.
Push Notification Benchmarks for E-commerce
Understanding common performance metrics helps you assess your own push notification strategy. These benchmarks are derived from aggregated industry data for Shopify stores:
| Metric | Average | Top Performers |
|---|---|---|
| Opt-In Rate (web push) | 3-8% | 10-15% |
| Click Rate (web push campaigns) | 4-8% | 8-12% |
| Click Rate (automated web push) | 8-15% | 15-25% |
| Click Rate (mobile app push) | 7-12% | 15-20% |
| Conversion Rate (campaigns) | 1-3% | 3-5% |
| Conversion Rate (automated) | 3-8% | 8-15% |
Key Takeaways:
- Automated pushes dominate: Note the significantly higher click and conversion rates for automated messages. This reinforces their critical role in driving ROI.
- Push outpaces email: Average push click rates (4-8%) are notably higher than typical email click rates (2-4%), making push a powerful engagement tool.
- App pushes excel: If you have a mobile app, its push notifications generally see even higher engagement due to the dedicated app environment.
Improving your metrics towards the "Top Performers" range will have a direct and substantial impact on your push notification ROI.
8 Tips to Boost Push Notification ROI
Maximize the profitability of your push notification efforts with these actionable strategies for your Shopify store:
- Segment Subscribers Based on Shopify Data: Don't send generic messages. Use customer data from your Shopify admin (purchase history, lifetime value, products viewed, loyalty program status) to create highly targeted segments within your push platform. For instance, send specific category deals only to customers who frequently browse those products.
- Optimize Automated Flows: Implement and continuously refine essential automated sequences: cart abandonment, browse abandonment (for PushOwl/Firepush users), back-in-stock alerts, and price drop notifications. These are the highest ROI drivers. A/B test the timing, copy, and images of these automated messages.
- Refine Your Opt-In Strategy: Move beyond the default browser prompt. Use custom pre-prompts that explain the value (e.g., "Allow notifications for flash sale alerts & restocks!") and delay the prompt by 10-30 seconds, or show it on high-intent pages like product or cart pages.
- Personalize Message Content: Dynamically insert customer names, product names, or recent browsing history into your push notifications. Platforms like PushOwl integrate with Shopify to pull this data, making messages far more relevant and engaging.
- A/B Test Everything: Experiment with different headlines, message bodies, images, call-to-action buttons, and send times. Even small improvements in click or conversion rates can dramatically increase your ROI due to the low marginal cost of push.
- Leverage Rich Media: Include engaging images, emojis, and large image formats (supported by most platforms) to make your notifications stand out visually. A compelling image can significantly boost click rates.
- Integrate with Other Shopify Apps: Connect your push platform with loyalty programs (e.g., send notifications for expiring points), review apps (e.g., request reviews after delivery), or wishlists (e.g., notify about price drops on wishlisted items) to create a cohesive customer journey.
- Strategic Timing & Frequency: Use your analytics to identify peak engagement times for your audience. Avoid over-sending campaigns, which can lead to higher churn. Balance campaign volume with the high-impact automated flows. For larger budgets, consider how push complements paid channels; use our Meta Ads Budget Calculator or Google Ads Budget Calculator to see how effective push conversions can free up ad spend.
How do you calculate push notification ROI?
Push notification ROI is calculated by taking the gross profit generated from push-driven sales, subtracting the monthly push platform cost, dividing that by the platform cost, and then multiplying by 100. The formula is: Push ROI = ((Gross Profit from Push - Platform Cost) / Platform Cost) × 100. This calculation highlights the channel's profitability relative to its low fixed subscription fee.
What is a good push notification click rate?
A good web push notification click rate averages between 4-8% for campaigns, which is significantly higher than email. Automated push notifications, such as cart abandonment or back-in-stock alerts, typically see even better click rates, ranging from 8-15%. Highly personalized, time-sensitive, and mobile app-based pushes can perform even better, often exceeding 15%.
How much do push notification platforms cost?
Push notification platforms for Shopify generally operate on a monthly subscription model, without per-message costs, unlike SMS or email. Popular options like PushOwl ($19-$79/mo), OneSignal (free up to 10K subscribers, then $9-$99/mo), and Firepush ($15-$29/mo) offer various tiers. This cost structure makes push one of the most economical marketing channels once a strong subscriber base is built.
What is a good push notification opt-in rate?
An average web push notification opt-in rate is typically 3-8% of site visitors. However, top-performing Shopify stores can achieve 10-15% by strategically delaying the prompt, displaying it on high-intent pages (product or cart), providing clear value propositions (e.g., "get flash sale alerts"), and using custom pre-prompts before the browser's native opt-in.
How does push compare to email and SMS for ecommerce?
Push notifications offer instant delivery, no per-message costs, and generally higher click rates (4-8%) than email (2-4%). However, they have a smaller subscriber base, limited content options (title, short message, image), and depend on browser and device status for delivery. Push excels at time-sensitive alerts like flash sales, restocks, and cart reminders, complementing email and SMS rather than replacing them to form a robust omnichannel strategy.
About This Calculator
This Push Notification ROI Calculator was built specifically for Shopify merchants by Luis Dev Studio. It provides a real-time, no-signup calculation of your push notification profitability, helping you make data-driven decisions for your marketing spend.
Need expert assistance in optimizing your Shopify store's marketing channels or developing custom solutions? Get in touch with us for help.