Google Shopping: What is it? What are the benefits?

Google Shopping: What is it? What are the benefits?

Reading Time: 6 minutes

If you are an online seller, Google Shopping is your next channel for some obvious reasons. What do you use to search? And what are the first few results? If your products are listed right in front of the prospect while searching, the probability to get clicks and conversion goes very high.

And remember, transactions are reciprocal. If you give business to Google, you will get it for sure. To learn this art, read the below article in detail.

There are 2 categories of eCommerce stores exist at macro-level,

1. Marketplaces – B2B and B2C
2. Individual eCommerce store – Retail, Wholesale, Niche, Service-based, subscription-based, etc.

Whichever category your eCommerce business belongs to, you need to consider Google Shopping. 

But, what is Google Shopping? And, why should I invest in Google Shopping? We’ve got you covered for all of your questions. 

What is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping (formerly known as Product Listing Ads by Google) is a comparison-shopping website where you can list and advertise your products. Online buyers compare your products with others and make a buying decision.

Google Shopping provides detailed information about your product-

• Product description
• Product ratings & reviews
• Prices
• Comparison 

The product information is in such detail that every user landing on Google for product searches would get all the information in one place and leave happy after buying the product from the most affordable store.

How does Google Shopping work for your customers?

1. A user lands on Google for a product search
2. S/he types in the product name on Google search bar and press ‘Enter’
3. Apart from Google search results, Google displays the feed from Google Shopping
4. As Google Shopping feeds are visually represented, the user is more likely to click on the respective result
5. The user lands on Google Shopping, compare that product offerings from different online retailers
6. Finally, the user makes the decision of buying from one store

So, if you already have an online store or sell on marketplaces, you need to list your products on Google Shopping. Here is what Google has to say about it-

Tip for the Seller: It is not just important that you list your products in Google Shopping, but you need to advertise them on Google.

Powerful Benefits of Google Shopping

1. Enhances attention

For example, you want to buy a pair of shoes for men. Here is what you’ll probably type in on Google,

Where would you click first? On the plain text-based results or the ones that are visually present on the top of all results?

On the visually represented shoes- I bet on that.

Google Shopping makes your products look visually appealing on Google search results itself. So, when your potential buyers search for your products, they land on your online store.

2. Brings footfall / Drives Traffic

Do you know how many people visit Google Shopping monthly on an average?

Around 6 million people visit Google Shopping monthly to compare products across multiple stores and brands.

Imagine the number of visitors you can expect monthly on your online store after listing your product on Google Shopping. Also, as you saw in the above example, most people would think of clicking and checking out the products visually displayed on Google. 

So, such Google Shopping feeds divert the traffic from Google to your listing and finally, to your online store.

3. Improves product visibility

You need to know one more thing- Google Shopping Ads.

Google Shopping Ads allow you to advertise your products on Google Search and Google Shopping. So, the result you saw above for “sports shoes for men” was coming from Google Shopping Ads.

Where can you display ads via Google Shopping Ads?

Here are the places where customers can see your Google Shopping Ads-

• Google Search

Niche brands can list their products on Google Shopping, and online marketplaces allow and help their sellers to list their products on Google Shopping.

On Google Search, it may appear like this-

• Display Network

If you select Display Network, your Google Shopping ad may look like this on the Google partner sites-

• Gmail

Recently, Google Ads notified the advertisers through an email saying that Shopping Ads will appear on Gmail from March 4, 2020. So, your Google Shopping ad will look like this on your customers’ mobile email-

• YouTube

You can view “Suggested Products” on YouTube feed because Google Shopping Ads allow you to showcase ads on YouTube-

Imagine the reach where you can reach to your potential buyers through Google Shopping. The moment you list and advertise on Google Shopping, you see a whopping increase of your product reach.

4. Multiplies conversion ratios & AOV

As per Adobe Digital Index 2020, here is an overall industry-wise eCommerce average order value (AOV) –

Now, just look at the eCommerce conversion rates only from Google Shopping for US retailers-

If you’ve noticed the average order value (AOV) for apparel and accessories segment, the average is $122. But, only Google Shopping helps online fashion brands to sell an average order worth $219.

So, Google Shopping acts as a support system to bring in more sales and revenue.

5. Improves audience targeting

Google Shopping Ads have “Similar audiences” which you can add to your advertising campaign.

If you add such audiences to your campaign, you tell Google to show ads to the people whose search behavior is similar to the ones who have already visited your eCommerce store.

This means you attract new, but highly relevant audiences to your eCommerce store, which enhances your customer acquisition.

Customer Match makes you upload your customer and promotional email lists to target the customers you know. You can cross-sell and up-sell your products by targeting existing customers.

Similarly, there are various ways to target audiences on Google Shopping Ads to attract the right customers as per your campaign and goals-

6. Boosts ROI over text-based ads

Merkle’s Q1 2018 report says that Google Shopping ads generated 60% of Google Search Ad clicks and the impressions increased by 47% year over year.

That’s the reason why Google Shopping spend increased by 40% year over year. 

Also, if you see the other benefits of Google Shopping ads, there are higher chances of people clicking on Shopping Ads compared to the text-based ads-

Hence, online retailers and advertisers experience a higher return on investment (ROI) when advertising with Google Shopping Ads compared to text-based ads.

7. Simplifies product management

Google Shopping is a platform where the products from your competitors are also available just like the online marketplaces. 

But, unlike online marketplaces, you don’t need to add product images, information, and pricing manually.

Most of your eCommerce platforms support integrations with Google Shopping. 

For example-

• Magento has extensions to get your Magento products in the Google Merchant account easily and quickly.

• Shopify has an app to sync your products, run campaigns, and track performance in your Google Merchant account.

• WooCommerce has a plugin to push your products into Google Shopping feed. 

Hence, uploading products, managing them and setting up and running campaigns is simple and easy-to-implement for retailers to start selling on Google Shopping.

Get started with Google Shopping Now

Google Shopping was launched in 2002, but it gained popularity after it combined its Product Listing Ads (PLA) with Google Express. 

So, if you’re planning to have an eCommerce store or you want to boost sales of your existing online store, it’s time you invest or divert your spending on Google Shopping.

It works as a magic for tangible goods. Try now.