Google is making it easier for retailers to promote their Christmas offers
As retailers start making plans for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the 2020 Christmas shopping season, Google has announced that it will be easier for consumers to find the latest deals and promotions using the search engine and other tools.
According to the search giant Holiday Shopping StudyLast year, 40 percent of global shoppers turned to its services to find the best deals and compare product prices from retailers. With more users shopping online during the pandemic this year, retailers will need to be able to adapt quickly to meet consumer demand.
To help retailers ensure that all their doorbuster and evergreen deals are seen by consumers, Google will promotions available to all US retailers. Retailers can also expect faster average approval times and simpler promotion editing features.
Emily Kucyk, search marketing manager at Urban Outfitters, explained in one press release how faster approval times helped improve the performance of the merchant’s promotions, saying:
“Running promotions on Google has helped us grow demand and ROI exponentially. The faster approval times also drove sales volume for our flash sales as we didn’t miss a part of the day waiting for review.”
Google is also extending promotions to more surfaces by adding annotations to products with promotion when they appear in both free listings and ads on the Shopping tab, Google Images on mobile, and ads with store inventory information on Search. As a result, promotions from sellers will appear in more places to better reach potential customers, regardless of whether or not their business is advertising with Google.
To help retailers showcase their products to new customers, the company will now allow them to list their products on Google for free around the world. Retailers can also sign up for free local listings in the Merchant Center so their products appear in-store in free listings in Search and the Shop tab.
Sidewalk pickups and free shipping were important factors for consumers shopping during the pandemic, and for this reason Google introduced new ways for businesses to engage local customers by emphasizing whether their items can be picked up nearby or shipped for free . Verified retailers in the US can also add links to their online stores directly to their company profile on Google.
Google has also expanded its Smart Shopping campaigns to help businesses reach new customers and respond to holiday demand.