The days of "online VS offline" are over. We can no longer oppose physical shops and internet levers. They are now totally complementary and offer an optimal shopping experience to Internet users.
64% of Internet users carry out what is known as ROPO: Research Online, Purchase Offline. Before going to a physical location, the Internet user searches online to check the availability of the article, its price, its characteristics, etc.
The challenge for an e-tailer is to make its points of sale visible on the Internet and to highlight the products available and their information.
Mobile-to-store: the weapon to attract traffic to your shops
150 is the number of times we consult our smartphone per day, on average. This is also the number of times it is possible for an e-tailer to interact with a potential buyer.
Traffic on mobile has surpassed that on pc, since the beginning of 2017 and continues to increase, every day. Nevertheless the conversion rate is still quite low. To turn this mobile traffic into conversions, why not attract it to the shop, where the conversion rate would be higher?
The implementation of a mobile to store strategy is synonymous with growth. The aim is to capture the Internet user, searching on mobile, and attract him to the shop. For e-tailers, this sales channel is a godsend: in addition to increasing their online presence, through the publication of several offers, traffic in shop increases and potentially, turnover as well. Finally, it can be really beneficial for the brand image and represent a means of building loyalty, by creating a real physical contact with the customer.
Various levers can be used to support a web to store strategy. Using them intelligently increases the chances of making contact and attracting the Internet user to a point of sale. Mobile display, paid search, natural search, social networks, mobile app...
Google LIA: Google's ad format for mobile-to-store
One of the most powerful levers in terms of mobile to store is the advertising format deployed by Google, in 2014: Google Local Inventory Ads. Thanks to this format, it is possible via the Adwords account (linked to the Merchant Center account), to publish products available in shop, on the search engine. With Google LIAWith the new Google search engine, e-retailers have the opportunity to reach targeted buyers by displaying product ads in Google search results.
At first glance, LIA ads are very similar to "classic" shopping ads. Product image, title and price. What makes them different? An icon and the mention of availability in shop directly on the ad. When the user clicks on the ad, a product sheet opens with the product details, the shop address, opening hours and the distance to the shop.
This format is a real opportunity to improve the shopping experience for shoppers, who are becoming increasingly omnichannel. It offers visibility to the shops' product catalogue on the most used search engine in France.
Overall, retailers experienced an average 2% increase in click-through rate when they ran in-store product ads instead of traditional shopping ads.
To be able to create LIAs, there are several criteria to be met:
- Have a Merchant Center account and an Adwords account
- Have an online product flow (the flow of classic shopping campaigns)*.
- Have a Google My Business account that lists the address of your various physical shops (with the corresponding ID)
- Develop an in-store product flow (which lists the products available at the point of sale)
- Develop an inventory flow (showing the stock and price of each product in shop) and match it to the product flow
Do you want to set up a Google LIA campaign? Contact our team of experts.
source: Mobile Marketing Association study & counter global stats
