As retailers begin making plans for Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the 2020 holiday shopping season, Google has announced that it will make it easier for consumers to find the latest deals and promotions using its search engine and other tools.
According to the search giant's Holiday Shopping Study, last year 40 percent of global shoppers turned to its services to find the best deals and compare product prices at retailers. Since more users have turned to online shopping during the pandemic this year, retailers will need to be able to adapt quickly in order to meet consumer demand.
In order to help retailers ensure that all of their doorbuster and evergreen deals will be seen by consumers, Google will make promotions available to all US retailers. Retailers can also expect faster average approval times and easier editing features for promotions.
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Manager of search marketing at Urban Outfitters, Emily Kucyk explained in a press release how faster approval times helped improve the performance of the retailer's promotions, saying:
"Running promotions on Google helped us exponentially grow demand and ROI. The faster approval times also drove sales volume for our flash sales because we didn’t miss a portion of the day awaiting review."
Running promotions and listing products
Google is also expanding promotions to more surfaces by adding annotations to products on promotion when they appear in both free listings and ads in the Shopping tab, Google Images on mobile and local inventory ads on Search. As a result, retailer's promotions will show up in more places to better reach potential customers regardless of whether or not their companies advertise with Google.
To help retailers get their products in front of new customers, the company will now allow them to list their products on Google for free around the world. Retailers will also be able to op-in to free local listings in the Merchant Center so that their in-store products appear in free listings across Search and the Shopping Tab.
Curbside pickup and free shipping have been important factors to consumers shopping during the pandemic and for this reason, Google has introduced new ways for businesses to engage local customers by highlighting whether their items can be picked up nearby or shipped for free. Verified retail merchants in the US will also be able to add links to their online stores directly to their Business Profile on Google.
Google has also expanded its Smart Shopping campaigns to help businesses reach new customers and respond to holiday demand.
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