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Frequently asked questions

Understand the product before changing the way you work.

Clear answers for commercial leaders, ecommerce teams, paid marketing specialists and agencies.

What Expanly is

What is Expanly?

Expanly is the Control Layer for Retail Growth. Its shared business interface brings catalog, commercial and advertising data together so teams can see where budget goes, set priorities and put them into action. See the product.

What problem does Expanly solve?

Retail teams know which categories, collections and inventory matter, but automated ad platforms do not have that full context. Expanly adds the shared interface between the business plan and advertising execution.

How do we get started with Expanly?

Start with the free Wasted Ad Spend Audit. Google Ads and GA4 provide the first allocation view, while a 30-day observation period adds catalog history and deeper commercial context. We then review the business case and recommend the first priorities together.

Is Expanly an automation tool?

Expanly combines a shared business interface with governed automation. Teams see the allocation reality, make priority decisions, keep approved rules current and review what changed.

Who is Expanly built for?

Expanly works best for multi-category ecommerce retailers with 5,000 or more SKUs and at least €20,000 in monthly feed-based advertising spend. The typical decision owner is a Head of Ecommerce or another commercial leader, while marketing specialists and agencies use the operating detail.

What if our catalog or advertising spend is smaller?

The value of dynamic prioritization grows with catalog and advertising complexity. If you have fewer than 5,000 SKUs or spend less than €20,000 per month on feed-based advertising, Expanly may not yet justify the investment. We will be direct about fit after looking at your setup. Talk to our team.

How the product works

What data does Expanly connect?

The available setup connects Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, Google Merchant Center and product or custom business feeds. Those feeds can include catalog, margin, stock, returns and other commercial fields.

What are Business Rules?

Business Rules turn a commercial decision into dynamic catalog logic. A rule can combine category, margin, stock, return rate, seasonality, performance and custom fields, then assign matching products to High, Standard or Low Priority.

How do priorities reach Google?

Approved priority segments are delivered through Google Merchant Center so the retailer's Google Shopping and PMax setup can use them. The exact campaign structure remains a decision for the retailer and its specialists.

Which advertising platforms are supported?

Google is available now. Meta is coming next. Other advertising and commerce channels are on the product roadmap.

Does Expanly make changes without approval?

Important changes remain reviewable. Expanly and Expanly AI can prepare logic and keep approved rules current, while the team controls what is published.

Will Expanly conflict with our existing campaigns or feed setup?

Expanly is designed to work with the setup you already have. It adds a shared priority model and publishes approved signals through Merchant Center; your specialists and agency remain responsible for campaign structure and channel decisions.

How much engineering work is required?

The standard Google Ads and GA4 connections take about 30 minutes and do not require a new implementation project. Product and commercial feeds may require help from the person who owns those data sources, depending on the retailer's setup.

Does Expanly work across multiple countries?

Yes. Retailers can use a shared priority model across markets while keeping market-specific data, rules and operating decisions where needed.

What happens when our catalog or website changes?

Expanly keeps evaluating the current catalog against approved rules. Routine feed changes are reflected as the data updates. For a major migration or identifier change, the Expanly team helps plan the transition and validate the mapping.

Expanly AI

What can I ask Expanly AI?

You can ask cross-source business questions such as which categories generate strong revenue with relatively low ad investment, where spend conflicts with stock or return risk, and what changed after a priority went live. Explore Expanly AI.

Can Expanly AI take action?

Yes. Expanly AI can take a question through analysis to a prepared action and follow-up. It prepares the change, a person reviews it and the team decides what goes live.

Is Expanly AI available to everyone?

Expanly AI access is enabled with the Expanly team. We help connect the approved AI workspace, review the MCP setup and agree which data and actions are available. See how Expanly AI works.

How do we get started with Expanly AI and MCP?

Contact your Expanly team to review the use case and MCP settings. Expanly MCP connects synchronized Expanly data and approved actions to an AI workspace chosen by the customer, with the customer's security and IT requirements kept in the loop. See Security & Data.

Existing tools and teams

How is Expanly different from PMax?

Performance Max optimizes from the signals and targets available inside Google's system. It does not automatically know which categories the business wants to grow, where margin changes the answer or which inventory needs to move. Expanly gives those business priorities a structure that the advertising setup can use. Compare the approaches.

We already use custom labels. Why would we need Expanly?

Expanly adds the layer many advanced setups still lack: an intuitive business-facing interface for weekly priority decisions, one shared catalog model and understandable data on what changed and what the team should try next. See what Expanly adds to custom labels.

Does Expanly replace our feed management tool?

Usually not. Feed tools can continue cleaning, enriching and distributing product data. Expanly adds the decision layer for what matters, keeps the priority logic current and connects it to advertising execution.

Can Expanly work with profit or POAS tools?

Yes. Profit can be an important input to the priority model. Expanly combines it with stock, returns, seasonality, category goals and other business context rather than treating one metric as the complete strategy.

We already have a media agency. How does Expanly fit?

The agency keeps channel strategy, campaign expertise and the client relationship. Expanly gives the client and agency one shared priority model, reduces manual priority-label maintenance and brings business context closer to execution. See the agency model.

How much time does our team need?

The initial connections are designed to be light. After setup, most of the work is reviewing priorities and deciding what to change, not manually maintaining product labels every day.

Can we use Expanly without an agency?

Yes. Expanly can be operated by an in-house ecommerce or marketing team. If you work with an agency, the same interface gives both sides a shared view of business priorities and execution.

Results and the free audit

How fast can we see something useful?

GA4 and Google Ads can reveal first allocation signals as soon as the data is connected. First rules can be ready the next day, visible change often appears in about two weeks and a 30-day observation period creates a deeper catalog view.

How does Expanly measure impact?

Expanly shows budget allocation and business performance by the priorities and rules your team set. That helps the team understand the observed change, compare periods and decide what to keep or test next. It does not treat every before-and-after difference as causal proof.

What is the Wasted Ad Spend Audit?

The audit shows where advertising investment goes today, which categories, products or brands appear misaligned with the business plan, and how much could potentially be reallocated toward stronger growth opportunities. Across retail catalogs, 20–30% of product advertising spend commonly sits on products the business would not actively choose to support at the same level. Request the audit.

Does the audit promise a specific revenue uplift?

No. We use real data to build an informed estimate and business case, but we do not promise a fixed euro result.

Common use cases

Can we prioritize high-margin, private-label or strategic products?

Yes. Rules can combine margin, brand, category, stock, returns, demand and custom business fields so the products that support the plan receive a clear priority signal. Explore use cases.

Can we support launches, campaigns and seasonal priorities?

Yes. A priority can be scheduled for a launch or campaign window and combined with safeguards such as margin, stock cover and key-size availability. The rule can then return products to their normal priority when the period ends.

Can we reduce support for low-stock or high-return products?

Yes. Low availability, high return risk or another agreed condition can lower a product's priority. The purpose is to protect the broader business plan while specialists retain control over campaign execution.

Can Expanly use warehouse, ERP or other custom business data?

Yes. Custom feeds can bring stock, margin, returns, supplier, logistics and other approved business fields into the shared priority model.

Pricing and data

What does Expanly cost?

Pricing is based on the scope of the catalog and operation. As part of the audit, we build the business case and assess the potential value before making a proposal.

How is our data handled?

Business data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Detailed margin, inventory and other commercial data is not sent to ad platforms; the platforms receive the approved priority signals needed for delivery. See Security & Data.

Still have a question?

See your own data in the free audit, or talk to us about the product and your current setup.