How To Drive More In-Store Shoppers Using Google Local Inventory Ads (3 minute read)
When it comes to holiday marketing, multichannel outreach becomes especially efficient. While you are working on your digital presence, it's imperative to pay extra attention to driving sales in brick-and-mortar locations.
Consumers say that they would buy in-store if they were close to a store, could get the product quickly, or saw better pricing. That's where Google Local Inventory Ads come in. Their main goal is to simplify offline shopping for online-savvy consumers.
For companies that combine e-commerce and offline shopping, these ads can become an integral part of the marketing campaign.
So What are Google Local Inventory Ads EXACTLY?
Local Inventory Ads (LIA) allow you to demonstrate products you have in stock to the shoppers who are searching for them while being close to your brick-and-mortar location.
For example, a consumer is 500 meters away from your clothing store. They Google "fleece sweater near me". In response to the search, Google presents a local inventory ad, which has the following information:
Your in-stock fleece sweater's photo, name, and rating (if any)
Your store's name and location on the map
Proximity to the consumer's location (500 m)
Price
Once the shopper clicks the ad, Google transfers them to a Local Storefront, which provides additional information about your store:
Work hours
Options to call, get directions, and buy online
Link to the website
During the holiday shopping spree, consumers often face the "sold out" problem. When it happens, they go to the web to search for nearby stores with the necessary items in stock.
Local Inventory Ads target mobile users that need a quick and clean search experience on the go. They are a bridge between online and offline shopping.
Key Benefits of Google Local Inventory Ads
The number of "near me" searches in Google is growing every year. By taking advantage of LIA during the holiday rush, you are bringing these nearby searchers to your doorstep. Here are a few other benefits of using these ads.
1. Managing Last-Minute Orders
The holiday rush is stressful for e-commerce companies. High-quality inventory is the key to fulfilling last-minute orders properly.
By investing in LIA, you aren't just improving your inventory techniques, you are giving shoppers an opportunity to purchase the right product without delivery costs involved.
2. Avoiding Cart Abandonment
About 78% of holiday shoppers who visited a store did an online search before doing so. Consumers tend to spend more money in-store than they do online.
By advertising in-store items to nearby consumers, you are directing them to the physical location thus increasing sales, avoiding cart abandonment, and cutting delivery costs.
3. Meeting Consumer Expectations
The 21st-century shopper expects the information to be readily available online. By implementing digital marketing tactics for your offline stores, you are meeting the consumer's expectations.
With LIA, you have the opportunity to target the audience, which could otherwise turn to the competition. Your competitors are likely to be using Local Inventory Ads. If your store isn't listed in the local search results, it's invisible to the shoppers.
4. Raising Brand Awareness
Studies show that you can increase brand awareness by 46%, simply by having your brand show up in mobile search ad results.
So even if your ad doesn't bring the consumer to the brick-and-mortar location immediately, it makes them aware of the brand and could aid your future digital marketing efforts (both online and off).
5. Capitalising on the Intent
Consumers who are looking for products on their mobile devices usually have a serious intent to buy. If you manage to convert them when they are geared toward making a purchase, you increase the marketing ROI tremendously.
Google's LIA catch the searchers in the right place and at the right time. All you have to do is keep the store's information and inventory updated.
6. Implementing Click to Collect
The "Click to Collect" format is a highly successful scheme that brings customers to your store and drives additional sales.
LIA can help you reap the benefits. You could offer searchers to buy a product online and pick it up at the nearby store. During the holiday season, such a visit can generate more purchases while cutting delivery costs and helping manage last-minute orders.
7. Measuring Performance
Google allows you to monitor the impact of the digital ads on foot traffic to your store as well as in-store sales. You can evaluate the impact of LIA and adjust your digital marketing campaign accordingly.
You can also check out how well your regular Product Listing Ads perform compared to LIA. Using them simultaneously could be an excellent way to drive sales during the holiday season and beyond.
How to Implement Google Local Inventory Ads
Even if you haven't been working with paid search ads before, implementing LIA is fairly easy. Before enabling Local Inventory Ads, you need to set up the following accounts:
Merchant Centre
Google Ads
Then you need to enter up-to-date information about your physical stores and their inventory to create several feeds within the Merchant Centre:
Google Shopping Feed
Local Products Feed
Local Product Inventory Feed
Business Information Feed
The key to reaping the benefits of LIA is keeping the information fresh.
FYI: The Google team performs initial and ongoing inventory verifications to make sure the information you provide online matches the offline reality. Failing to pass the verification could jeopardise the success of your LIA campaign.
The Takeaway
By implementing Local Inventory Ads, you can drive more foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar locations while increasing brand awareness and promoting your online stores. These ads can help you reach an important part of your target audience with an urgent intent to buy.
Would you like to learn more about implementing Google Local Inventory Ads before the holiday craze?
Get in touch with us today!