Explosive ROI: How SHEIN Ads Made Us 477% Profit in a Month

SHEIN is a fast-growing Chinese e-commerce platform and a global leader in fast fashion, beloved by young shoppers for its rock-bottom prices and massive selection. In 2023 alone, the SHEIN app was downloaded over 260 million times, and in 2024 the company’s annual revenue surpassed $50 billion — numbers that spell huge media buying potential. Thanks to its massive reach and highly engaged audience, SHEIN ads have become a genuine goldmine for affiliates: even at a low cost per click, conversion volumes and overall profits keep climbing.

In this case study, we’ll show how we turned a modest $646 investment into $3,729 in net revenue using the HilltopAds ad network and the Popunder Mobile ad format — delivering over 700 successful conversions and a stellar ROI. Stay tuned, and let’s dive in!

Offer: SHEIN
GEO: US (United States)
Traffic: Mainstream High and Medium activity
Ad Format: Popunder mobile
Ad campaign period: 1 March – 31 March
Revenue: $3,729
ROI: 477%

We set our sights on the United States because it’s one of the world’s biggest — and wealthiest — online fashion markets. Americans spend $134.5 billion a year on clothing and accessories via e-commerce alone. Better yet, over half of U.S. consumers — and a whopping 70% of Gen Z (ages 13–26) — shop for clothes online at least once a year (Mintel). These trend-hungry buyers crave individuality and love anything that helps them stand out, so they gravitate toward creatives showcasing bold styles and fresh, unexpected looks.

Competition in the U.S. fashion space is fierce. Industry giants like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 — and major marketplaces and domestic retailers — are constantly running flash sales and promo events. SHEIN disrupts the scene with rock-bottom prices and lightning-fast drops of new collections, making it a magnet for bargain-hunters. To cut through the noise, your ad must hit three sweet spots: eye-popping deals, crystal-clear pricing, and a seamless mobile experience — exactly what today’s on-the-go shopper expects.

Yes, America’s GDP per capita is sky-high, but SHEIN’s core fanbase is budget-minded young women. They’re coupon-chasers who respond to sale alerts, discount codes, and buy-now-pay-later options. Our winning formula pairs low prices with a sense of urgency and exclusivity:

• “30% off the 2025 collection — today only!”
• “Claim your $10 welcome voucher before it’s gone!”

U.S. shoppers live on their phones and scroll their favorite apps (think Instagram and TikTok) for wardrobe inspo. SHEIN ads need to feel like organic content:

• Crisp visuals that showcase the clothing in lifestyle settings.
• Punchy headlines that instantly convey the deal.
• Lightning-fast load times that won’t lose impatient thumbs.

HilltopAds’ Popunder format is tailor-made for e-commerce and fashion campaigns. It quietly slides under the current window, catching users off guard in the best way possible. Plus, the U.S. is a classic Tier-1 region with premium traffic, meaning higher conversions and better ROI. Affiliates know that both direct offers and warm pre-landings convert well here — so the trick is designing a funnel that feels seamless, native, and downright irresistible to American shoppers.

Whenever we kick off a traffic-arbitrage push in the US fashion scene, we lean on a few tried-and-true tricks that truly click with American shoppers.

We scrapped all the fancy funnels and went straight to the app: our QR code linked users directly to download the SHEIN app. No custom pre-landers or mini‑sites — just a clean scan‑to‑shop banner. Check the screenshot to see exactly how it’s set up:

Before you can start your advertising campaign on HilltopAds, you’ll need to sign up as an advertiser. You can register through this link.

Once you’re all set up, here’s how to create your campaign:

• Head over to the Manage Campaigns section.
• Hit the Add Campaign button.
• In the campaign creation area, choose the Popunder mobile ad format.
• In the Traffic Channels section, pick Mainstream High and Medium Activity.

After that, it’s important to configure the Postback to keep track of your campaign results.

For detailed instructions on how to work with Postback and placeholders, please refer to our comprehensive guide.

To put it simply, when setting up the final URL for the offer, you’ll need to include specific parameters to track conversions and source IDs. The parameter used for passing conversions is click_id, and for the source ID, it’s zone_id.

As a result, our Final Destination URL should look like this:

https://my_offer.net/?&click_id={{ctoken}}&s1={{zoneid}}

• {{ctoken}} – HilltopAds parameter for passing conversions.
• {{zoneid}} – HilltopAds parameter for passing source ID.

You can include any parameter you need for your campaign analysis from the available options. Just make sure to include the click_id parameter in the final link to track conversions properly.

Next, we set the necessary targeting settings:

• GEO – US (United States)
• Device type – mobile/tablet
• OS – Android
• OS version – Android 10 – 15

You can also configure campaign filters and allow/disallow Proxy and WebView traffic from the campaign. In this case, we enabled the WebView filter while disabling Proxy traffic:

• Proxy – disallow
• WebView – allow

WebView is a tool that loads a landing page with an offer directly within a mobile app. In other words, when users open the app, they are immediately redirected to a single-page website featuring the offer.

We capped the daily budget at $20 to tightly control ad spend while maintaining steady delivery. By limiting spend per day, we prevented exhausting our budget too quickly. For bidding, we locked in a fixed CPM of $2. This figure wasn’t random: initial tests showed that $2 CPM struck the right balance between reach and cost. In practice, it delivered solid impressions without inflating costs, helping stabilize the campaign early on.

After carefully tuning the advertising campaign for 31 days, we achieved the following results:

• Total Spend: $646.04
• Total Conversions: 702
• Average CPA: $0.92
• Total Revenue: $3,729
• ROI: 477% 

In those opening days, our eCPA took a little joyride while the platform learned the ropes. For example:

• Day 1: 12 conversions at $1.00 each
• Day 2: 18 conversions at $1.05 each
• Day 3: 20 conversions at $0.85 each
• Day 4 onward: eCPA gradually leveled off around $0.95

Those early swings were just the algorithm finding its groove. Once targeting locked in, things smoothed out and stayed solid.

With a disciplined $20 daily budget and $2 CPM bidding, we efficiently managed spend while maximizing reach. The campaign delivered 702 conversions at a very low average cost, generating $3,729 in revenue from just $646 spent. This represents a 477% ROI – meaning nearly six times return on each dollar invested. In short, careful planning and constant monitoring led to a campaign that was both stable and highly profitable.

What began as a lean $646 experiment exploded into a solid $3,729 payday in just 31 days — and that’s no marketing fairy tale, it’s the power of SHEIN ads and pinpoint targeting. We drilled straight into SHEIN’s core audience with spot-on creatives, squeezed every cent for maximum impact, and watched clicks roll into real revenue. Day in and day out, we tracked our metrics, killed off underperformers, and doubled down on the winners. The result? A five-fold return on that initial $646 investment!

This isn’t empty hype — it’s proof positive delivered on the HilltopAds platform. Hungry for more wins like this? Swing by the HilltopAds blog for real-world success stories packed with hard numbers and actionable strategies. Your next victory could be just a click away!