A challenge of every retailer is trying to attract new customers to their store, whether that’s online or in person. What’s even worse is paying for and attracting a customer who isn’t a perfect fit. That budget could have gone towards a shopper who would have completed a sale, racking up those almighty conversions everyone is hoping for.
Google realized there was a gap in the matrix causing an estimated $300 billion in search abandonment each year. When a customer types “red long-sleeved t-shirt” into the search bar, they should be delivered to a shopping ad of a store that actually has red, long-sleeved t-shirts. Abandonment happens when they are delivered to a red, short-sleeved shirt or even a product listing that is out of stock. (Google states that the term “in stock” increases by 800% year over year.)
Image Source: Google
Well-placed ads are crucial in providing the best possible shopping experience to a retailer’s customers. Nine out of 10 consumers state that their favorite retail sites are the ones where they can quickly find what they are looking for. While 77% say they will avoid sites where they have experienced search difficulties. Customers are growing increasingly impatient with search results, leaving room for improvement in Google’s eyes.
Google recently stepped up and released Retail Search, which is a new API (Applications Programming Interface) introduced to the Google Cloud arsenal of tools. This tool will allow retailers to really hone in on their exact customers and match them directly to the perfect product. This will help lower search abandonment as well as increase consumer confidence.
Retail Search is made possible by Google’s ever-growing database of consumer info along with its machine learning capabilities. Consumers today expect search engines to understand their buying intent and provide relevant results faster. Retail search, combined with the other tools in Google’s bag of tricks, will only grow as more data points continue to roll in, better defining all of us as consumers.
Set up a free marketing assessment with Baer Performance Marketing to find out how we can help you target the right shoppers and improve your Google Ads strategy.
