Profitable Google shopping practice heavily relies on the quality of the product data provided by merchants and the optimization of the bidding process. Optimized bidding, in part, also relies on fresh and highly detailed product information. Providing just the right information in Google product feed is good enough. But you can do much better…

More and more e-tailers see 25-30% of their SEM revenues through Google Shopping. Are you exploiting your product information options?

5 tips that will power up your Google shopping

Now, on the verge on the shopping season, it is a good time to align the product feed and bidding strategy. Here are 5 tips that will help you optimize bidding and maximize revenues:

  1. Add the location of the product within category. This location is typically managed by your merchandisers, taking into account various parameters. Your bidding team will be able to take advantage of this information, for example, by placing a higher bid on the first products in each category.
  2. Mark best peaks through custom labels. Be sure to include best sellers with high stock availability and adjust bidding accordingly, in order to maximize conversion.
  3. Reflect the brand name in the product label, for example, Nike shoes, Adidas shoes. Your bidding team will be able to adjust bidding for better results.
  4. Use successful SEO phrases in the labels of the appropriate products, for example leather, suede, floral texture, Gore-Tex etc. These phrases are used by your consumers. Take advantage of it.
  5. Exclude highly discounted products, with low margins or low price, from the campaign. It will help you maintain a more profitable campaign.Keeping pace with the new specifications

Keeping pace with the new Google Shopping specifications

Google shopping is constantly evolving, looking for ways to simplify use and maximize relevancy and shopping experience for consumers. Following the move from PLA campaigns to Shopping campaigns, which is due in late August, Google has also communicated a change in the Google Shopping feed specifications. The specifications include the addition and revision of several attributes and policies destined to improve the retail experience for shoppers. The major changes you should be aware of include:

  1. Availability attribute values were changed. ’in stock’ will replace ‘available for order’ (for items that can be purchased and delivered in a timely manner). The ‘available for order’ value will not be accepted from September 30 and onward.
  2. Mobile link attribute was added to ensure mobile shoppers have the right experience.
  3. Bundle attribute was added to support merchant-defined bundles. Consumer products, which are sold in custom bundles, such as a camera with a lens and a bag, should use the ‘is bundle’ attribute in order to be displayed appropriately on Google Shopping.
  4. Apparel attributes have been added to allow more detailed descriptions of a retailer’s apparel products. New values were added to the ‘age group’ and two new size attributes, ‘size system’ (US, UK, EU etc.) and ‘size type’ (Regular , Petite, Maternity etc.) allows more detailed apparel description and filtering.

Google will start enforcing the updated feed specification on September 30. Be sure to update your product feed accordingly.

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