The upcoming holiday season is promising a dynamic shift in shopper behavior, with 74% of consumers planning their shopping well in advance. With global inflation influencing spending habits, it’s a crucial time for retailers to optimize their marketing strategies for more profitable sales.
Here’s how Google’s new AI-powered tools and features are designed to help you take full advantage of this year’s unique holiday shopping trends:
- Personalize the Shopping Experience Across Platforms
Consumers are multi-channel shoppers, with 61% using 5 or more channels in just two days. Google’s enhancements allow you to connect with these customers through:
Performance Max Campaigns Optimization: Target high-valued new customers while keeping existing ones engaged. For beta access, contact your Google account team.
Local Shopping Tools: Google’s updates make it easier to bridge online search with in-store shopping. With features like ‘Pickup Later’ annotations and a new local store unit ad format, your business can offer a streamlined omnichannel experience.
- Gain New Insights for Strategic Planning
Google is offering retailers fresh insights to understand early holiday shopping patterns and better shape marketing strategies.
Product Page Supercharging: Gain detailed insights into product issues like inventory levels, bidding targets, and missing feed information to improve decision-making.
Merchant Center Performance Tab Upgrade: Get an all-in-one view of your bestselling products, click-potential, and competitive performance insights.
- Experiment and Iterate Ahead of the Season
Google is providing tools to experiment with different strategies:
A/B Experiments: Test different bidding strategies to account for the blending of online and in-store shopping.
One-Click Experiments: Quickly set up A/B tests between Standard Shopping campaigns and Performance Max, with some advertisers seeing a 25% increase in conversion value.
- Enhance Your Product Visibility
Capture sales through strategic product visibility:
Image Diversification: Offers with multiple images can increase impressions by 76% and clicks by 32%. Google’s new Product Studio suite of free AI-powered tools allows image enhancement and scene generation.
Videos and 3D Visuals: Advertisers using video in their campaigns saw a 12% increase in conversions. And 3D visuals can increase engagement by 50%. Now you can provide 3D image assets directly through Merchant Center.
- Provide Detailed Product Attributes and Offers
With the lengthening consideration cycle, it’s crucial to provide product details like fulfillment speed, cost, color, or size. The new annotation features allow for more visibility and personalization, while same-day delivery and return information will facilitate faster conversions.
Google’s new features and insights tools are offering businesses a multifaceted approach to maximize their holiday performance. By understanding customer preferences, engaging them across platforms, and offering detailed product insights, businesses can strategically position themselves for a successful holiday season.
Check out Google’s retail holiday checklist and best practices guides for further guidance on maximizing your holiday sales.
