Earlier this month, Google published about how it plans on helping both ecommerce and brick and mortar retailers get a head start for this holiday season in the face of COVID.
The coronavirus pandemic is still very much the top talk among everyone and certainly has not faded from conversations in the digital marketing community.
What we have seen, especially in the realm of ecommerce, is a marked acceleration of the industry – driven in large part by new and emerging retail solutions from the likes of Google, Microsoft (Bing), and Facebook.
At the beginning of September, virtually hidden in the meat of the article, Google published on its Ads & Commerce Blog – How retailers can get ready for the holidays and beyond a gem of a announcement for ecommerce merchants running Shopping campaigns in the United States.
What was said about Google Shopping?
“Shoppers in the U.S. searching for items on sale or Black Friday deals will see expanded sales filters on google.com/shopping. Promotions, which populate these sales filters—and on average increase conversion rates by 28 percent,—will be easier and faster to use.”
Why is this important?
Earlier this year, in response to COVID, Google sped up its original plans and announced Free Product Listings on the Shopping tab for eligible, US-based ecommerce retailers submitting product feeds to Google Merchant Center and through the program Surfaces across Google.
Google has kept to its promises and has continued to enhance the program since launch, and now will be adding additional filtering capabilities for shoppers which will include filters for promotions.
For retailers, this could lead to an uptick in both paid and unpaid clicks on their ads and free listings, respectively.
What was said about Merchant Promotions?
“You’ll be able to support flash sales and last minute discounts with near instant promotion approvals on eligible offers and easy editing of your live promotions (U.S. only).”
Why is this important?
In case you don’t know, Merchant Promotions (originally) is a program within Google Merchant Center that allows retailers to include a Special Offer callout in their Shopping ads.
Not too long after the announcement of Free Product Listings, our team spotted the very same promotions appearing on unpaid listings on the Shopping tab of Google.
For retailers, this should be a “kick in the rear” to:
- Get started with Merchant Promotions if not already enabled the program
- Set up new Merchant Promotions sooner than later to make sure you’re ready
- Stay on top of their Merchant Promotions throughout the holidays
- Get creative and consider running more or side-by-side Merchant Promotions for different product lines
Overall though, “near instant” approvals of new promotions is a big leg up for retailers leading up to and throughout what can only be described as a holiday selling season unlike any other before.