Google Shopping is not purely an online sales tool. You can also drive customers to your bricks and mortar store by using Local Inventory Ads. Online shopping is great, but people still love the feeling of walking into a physical store and buying what they want there and then.
Capture the attention of people who are searching for your products on their mobile devices and who want to buy now.
Google trend data shows that searches for “shopping near me” search terms have increased 3x in the last two years. If you have a physical store and are not currently running Local Inventory Ads, you could be missing out.
If you have a product to sell and at least one physical store, Google Shopping’s Local Inventory Ads could be the game changer you have been looking for.
What are Local Inventory Ads?
Local Inventory Ads – Also known as Google local shopping ads, allow advertisers to showcase both products and information about a store to people who are nearby and searching on Google. These ads take users to a “local storefront”, which is a Google-hosted page. The Ads use product inventory data from your Google Merchant Center Account and display local products amongst your Google inventory ads.
If you would love the opportunity to reach nearby shoppers searching on their mobile devices and inform them of your product range, stock and more, then local inventory-based advertising could be the answer. When users click your ad and visit your local Google storefront, they can view up-to-date in-store inventory, find out your opening times and get directions to your physical store.
Google Local Inventory Ads look similar to standard Google Shopping Ads, with the addition of a Google Map showing the location and an indicative distance to store from the user’s current position within the ad.
What are the benefits of Local Inventory Ads?
Using google local inventory ads has many benefits, from being able to promote your current stock through to catching the attention of nearby shoppers and bringing them to your store.
Promote your in-store inventory
As with everything in our digital world, speed and convenience matters. People want to find and buy the products they need easily and quickly.
By promoting your in-store inventory through Google Ads, you can let potential customers know that your store has the items they are looking for and that the item(s) are also in stock. By serving ads of this kind at the moment they search on Google for a particular product, you are more likely to gain a sale because the user knows they can purchase the product nearby.
Bringing your local store online
With the capability of a Google-hosted local storefront that you can use as your digital storefront experience for customers, you can expand your reach and customer base.
Your Google-hosted local storefront will provide potential customers with details about the product they are searching for, price, reviews, location of your physical store and a link to Google Maps for easy navigation.
Why miss out on potential sales opportunities when people are near your store and looking for what you sell – It might be that they are completely unaware of your store, so you can use this as an opportunity to increase your brand awareness and customer base.
Customer X
Use Local Inventory Ads to catch customers when they least expect it.
Picture Customer X:
Customer X might be out enjoying a meal.
During this meal, a discussion starts around a particular product. This product could be something that they desire, and you sell.
Customer X then does a Google search after their meal and sees your Local Inventory Ad with the distance to your store from their location along with directions to your store.
Customer X enjoys a walk after they eat, so they decide to walk to your store and purchase said product.
The result of your Local Inventory Ad is that you have gained one new customer who would potentially have ordered the product online from a competitor.
Measure the performance of your marketing
With Local Inventory Ads, you can monitor the impact on the footfall to your store from your digital ads. If you have multiple physical locations, you can serve ads based on the stock levels at each store, providing your store location is within your Google My Business profile. Promote your actual stock to increase overall product sales from your store.
Highlight events that you have coming up
By notifying Google of an upcoming sales event, they will ensure that the system serves your Local Inventory Ads as much as possible against your standard impression share. By ensuring your ads have the least amount of downtime, you can maximise the sales volumes from your event.
Market your product discounts with sale price annotations
With this annotation on your Local Inventory Ad, your ad will stand out by displaying how much they can save. You can highlight to potential customers that you sell what they are looking for, at a discounted sale price and promote that you are nearby so they can have the product in their hands ASAP.
Optimise for your product category
With the capability to optimise your Local Inventory Ads based on the types of products and target markets, you have an excellent opportunity to stand out from the crowd. The product categories in which unique optimisation options are available are B2B, Clothing & Accessories, Customised Products, Software Subscriptions, Wireless Products & Services and Unsupported Variants.
Do these magical Local Inventory Ads only show on Google Search?
Simply put – No. Local Inventory Ads show across more than just Google Search. Your ads will also be served to people on the following:
Google Assistant
For your potential customers, finding the products they want and directions to your store are simply a quick spoken question away. Potential customers ask “Hey Google, where can I buy a black tweed parka?”. Their Google Assistant will then highlight in-stock products from your local products feed to these potential customers who are nearby, along with details on how to get to your store to make the purchase.
Google Images
This platform has become a great tool throughout Google Shopping. People use Google Images for inspiration, so what better place to serve your ads to promote the products they are looking for and informing them that your store is nearby. Your Local Inventory Ads will display amongst the related Google Image results along with the price and distance to your store.
Ultimately, Google Ads is continuously evolving, and with each addition to the platform, new tools emerge that make it easier to gain the sales your business needs. As with all Google Ads tools, you need to commit a lot of time and effort in getting things right. Get it wrong, and you can lose a lot of money very quickly.
What next?
If you have read this article and have a brick and mortar store, I expect you would love to benefit from Local Inventory Ads to increase sales through online store traffic and foot traffic.
However, if you don’t know what steps to take or even if the rest of your Google Ads account is performing to its full potential, speak to our friendly team today. Our ex-Googler can provide you with a free Google Ads audit and a digital marketing opportunity report.
Start winning with Google Ads and make your budget work for your business! Your expenditure on digital marketing should be an investment that is a key part of your business model. This investment should be something that generates a significant return, not a burden that provides little reward.
The team here at Factory are Google Shopping experts who focus on reducing wasted ad spend. Our aim is always for maximum sales at the lowest cost per conversion. If you would like to see higher ROI on your shopping campaign, then don’t hesitate, speak to our ad management professionals today at our PPC Agency in Manchester
