Worldwide, online fashion sales are booming. Competition is tougher than ever, so how do you stay ahead and win over customers? Today we have a look at Google Shopping and the features that will help give you an edge.
The fashion industry is expected to grow by 8.7% by 2022. Some sectors in the industry will record even higher growth rates - the athletic wear, for example, is expected to grow by as much as 7.5 percent. That is positive news for fashion brands, but competition is fierce.
We have a look at Google Shopping features such as customer match, shopping ads on image search, showcasing shopping ads and the currency conversion tool. Many of them are relatively new, launched by Google to enrich the shopping experience for consumers. They also give you new opportunities for increasing ROI.
Customer Match on Google Shopping lets you use your own customer email list for ad targeting. This can include customers who have made purchases with you before or those who sign up for your newsletter.
People buy clothes regularly and often have a style that results in an affinity or loyalty with particular brands. On top of it, it costs five times as much winning a new customer than it does to retain previous customers. In addition, 66 percent of consumers spend more with brands they are loyal to.
Consumers want personalized ads and they want loyalty offers. The benefits of using Customer Match include:
The most important element when using Customer Match is the quality of your email list.
How to get the most from Customer Match on Google Shopping:
Google includes Shopping ads on its Image Search pages for some keywords. The placement of these ads is very prominent – they appear directly below the options for narrowing the search but above the organic image listings.
The ads appear in a carousel format on both desktop and mobile. Users can scroll through the ads by swiping on mobile or clicking the arrows on desktop.
In addition to the placement being visually appealing, the location is a natural fit for consumers.
One thing you do have to be aware of is that Google Image Search is part of Google's search partner network, not the main search network. Therefore, if you want your ads to appear in Google Image Search, you will to need target your campaigns at the search partner network.
When you do this your ads will be eligible for all search partners, not just Google Image Search.
This is likely to result in an increase in impressions and an increase in clicks. This might benefit your store but you should monitor ROI and make adjustments to your campaign as necessary.
With a Showcase Shopping ad, you display multiple products instead of just one. This makes it the ideal type of ad for general search terms such as brand searches or a particular category of clothing. Examples are "summer dresses" or "swimwear".
These ads can appear on Google Shopping as well as Google Search. They can also appear on Google search partners.
This helps customers along the buying journey. One way to do this is by including your best sellers or latest additions in the range of products in the ad.
The ad looks like this:
When a customer clicks on the ad they see a Google-hosted page with information about your store.They also see all the products included in your Showcase Shopping ad.
When the user clicks on a specific product they go to your website – Google charges you for this click.
In other words, Showcase Shopping ads increase your chances of getting worthwhile clicks on general search terms.
Here are some tips to help you maximize results with Showcase Shopping ads:
Google's Currency Conversion toolis ideal for small and medium-sized fashion retailers as it reduces the work you must do to sell products internationally. If you are a US-based fashion retailer, for example, you will grow faster when you sell overseas, plus your business will be more secure.
With the Currency Conversion tool, however, you can keep your website as it currently is while targeting campaigns at users in other countries. Those users will see your ads with prices in their local currency.
The benefits include:
Getting started with the Currency Conversion Tool involves uploading a product feed for each country you want to target.
Google then uses the Currency Conversion tool to access Google Finance for an up-to-date exchange rate to calculate the correct price.
Here are some things you should know when using the currency conversion tool:
To be competitive in the modern world of online fashion retailing, you need every advantage you can get. After all, the fashion industry is growing but you have to appeal to a wider range of customers and in a way that is more relevant to them if you are to compete.
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