Google Shopping Actions: Turning Answers Into Actions

Editor's Notes

• #5: Sources: Google Data, US, Jan - June 2015 vs. Jan - June 2017Google/Ipsos, “Shopping Tracker”, October-December 2017, Online survey, US, n=2,132 shoppers who return to a retailer site.Google Data Jan - June 2017 vs. Jan - Jun 2015. US Mobile retail has made shopping an ambient activity by solving two fundamental human needs:First, because mobile allows shoppers to sneak their shopping tasks into quick, otherwise wasted moments, it gives shoppers more time to spend with their passions and people they love.Second, mobile equips shoppers with more information than ever before - giving them the confidence that their purchase is just the right item for them. Thanks to mobile, today’s consumer can get exactly what she wants, instantly and effortlessly. She’s more curious, demanding, and impatient than ever before. As technology advances, she is coming to expect all digital experiences to be helpful, personal, frictionless -- and she expects brands to leverage technology to deliver this assistance, too. In just the past 2 years: Curious: She increasingly researches even the small stuff -- i.e. she dictates what is ‘high’ vs. ‘low consideration’, and she can become an expert on anything in minutes. Demanding: She demands personal relevance in-the-moment -- even without spelling out the request. Impatient: She expects her needs to be met immediately. Ex: Search interest in “same day shopping” increased 120%.
• #6: Thanks to mobile, today’s consumer can get exactly what she wants, instantly and effortlessly. She’s more curious, demanding, and impatient than ever before. As technology advances, she is coming to expect all digital experiences to be helpful, personal, frictionless -- and she expects brands to leverage technology to deliver this assistance, too. In just the past 2 years: Curious: She increasingly researches even the small stuff -- i.e. she dictates what is ‘high’ vs. ‘low consideration’, and she can become an expert on anything in minutes. Demanding: She demands personal relevance in-the-moment -- even without spelling out the request. Impatient: She expects her needs to be met immediately. Ex: Search interest in “same day shopping” increased 120%.
• #7: Sources: Google Data, US, Jan - June 2015 vs. Jan - June 2017Google/Ipsos, “Shopping Tracker”, October-December 2017, Online survey, US, n=2,132 shoppers who return to a retailer site.Google Data Jan - June 2017 vs. Jan - Jun 2015. US Mobile retail has made shopping an ambient activity by solving two fundamental human needs:First, because mobile allows shoppers to sneak their shopping tasks into quick, otherwise wasted moments, it gives shoppers more time to spend with their passions and people they love.Second, mobile equips shoppers with more information than ever before - giving them the confidence that their purchase is just the right item for them. Thanks to mobile, today’s consumer can get exactly what she wants, instantly and effortlessly. She’s more curious, demanding, and impatient than ever before. As technology advances, she is coming to expect all digital experiences to be helpful, personal, frictionless -- and she expects brands to leverage technology to deliver this assistance, too. In just the past 2 years: Curious: She increasingly researches even the small stuff -- i.e. she dictates what is ‘high’ vs. ‘low consideration’, and she can become an expert on anything in minutes. Demanding: She demands personal relevance in-the-moment -- even without spelling out the request. Impatient: She expects her needs to be met immediately. Ex: Search interest in “same day shopping” increased 120%.
• #8: Source: Google/Peerless Insights, “Voice-Activated Speakers: People’s Lives Are Changing,” n=1,642, U.S. monthly active voice-activated speaker owners (Amazon Echo/Dot and Google Home) A18+, Aug. 2017. And, advancements in voice have made shopping even more pervasive. Voice has proven to be hugely popular because it both (i) saves users the frustration of typing on a phone screen and (ii) allows them to access their phone for assistance when they otherwise couldn’t - for example, Android Auto in the car and Google Home in your kitchen. // Mobile has created this need for immediate assistance today...but as these demands and expectations accelerate, what’s next? These helpful experiences are becoming more and more universally available -- not just on smartphones, but embedded all around us. The ability to get help and complete tasks will just “be there” in our lives -- and one of the biggest ways we’re seeing this is through voice: 1 in 2 users would rather speak than type as it’s faster, simpler and more convenient 72% of people who own a voice-activated speaker say that their devices are often used as part of their daily routine. 44% of those who regularly use a voice-activated speaker say they order products they need like groceries and household items at least once a week. What do these assistive, conversational interactions mean for shopping? People want faster, frictionless, and seamless interactions that can help them shop wherever and however they want -- from making decisions on what to buy, to building baskets, to checking out more quickly than ever before. Put simply, they want an easier way to get their shopping tasks done. One retailer who’s delivering on this well today? Amazon. A recent Google survey shows that the top reasons for purchasing on Amazon are that it’s often the fastest way to get the item, it’s where they always shop anyway, it’s quick, and convenient.
• #9: When we looked at all the potential assistive use cases, it was clear that Google could bring the most value to our merchants by designing an integrated transactions experience that is competitive with...probably vastly exceeds...the alternatives in market Shopping actions is a single transactional platform...providing personalized, persistent, and assistive shopping experiences...across all Google surfaces
• #10: Shopping Actions Shopping Actions help users act faster with frictionless transactions and fulfillment Shopping Actions is a new shopping program that allows retailers to surface their products across different Google platforms: Express, Google Assistant, and Search. Shopping Actions enables a frictionless shopping experience by using a: Shareable List Universal Shopping Cart Instant checkout with saved payment credentials Allowing customers to easily turn browsing into buying.
• #12: Sources: Mastercard Pre/Post Analysis of Shopping Actions Performance, June 2018. Analysis conducted among MasterCard users of a subset of merchants that reflect ~40% of Shopping Actions spend and ~a third of transactions. Merchants were weighted based on contribution to the competitive set given their relative size and ecomm only merchants excluded from weightings for offline metrics. Anchor period 24 Aug ‘17 - 30 Sept ‘17 with rolling 6 month pre/post analysis Google internal data, Q1 2017 vs 2018 YTD. (blog post) Program overview Shopping Actions is a new shopping program that allows retailers to surface their products across different Google platforms: Express, Google Assistant, and Search. Shopping Actions enables a frictionless shopping experience by using a Shareable List, Universal Shopping Cart and instant checkout with saved payment credentials, allowing customers to easily turn browsing into buying. Key benefits Get new customers, and keep them. 70% of US mobile users rely on Google before buying something new. By participating in Shopping Actions you can offer ready-to-buy users a 2-click checkout in the exact moment of shopping inspiration. Increased ROI - Shopping Actions is complementary to your existing Google Shopping Campaigns. It increases your overall presence on Google to drive incremental conversions and sales on top of what you’re getting today. We only trigger Shopping Actions Units (TUs) on Search when we know the user has intent to purchase in the short term AND that the unit will have a higher CTR than the traditional Shopping Ad unit. We are able to infer immediate purchase intent based on aggregate behavior for that specific query.To maximize for overall sales and conversions, we recommend participating in both. Bigger baskets over time with smarter, more relevant recommendations and offers: Google’s unique understanding of intent, context, and users’ personal shopping preferences, history and loyalty enables us to surface your products more intelligently to your most loyal customers. In fact, 63% of users add MORE items to their basket beyond what they initially searched for. Repeat purchases, retailer preference & loyalty -Users can easily reorder items using a single cart that works wherever they choose to shop - including voice enabled devices. We take into account retailer preference based on past behavior and membership/loyalty accounts, and trigger products from a shopper’s preferred retailer as much as possible. In those moments, to encourage repeat orders we surface past purchase history and recommend new items for their basket based on our understanding of the user and their shopping behavior across merchants. If Kelly does a search for “peach blush,” for example, and she has opted to link her Google account with her Ultamate Rewards status, we’ll recognize this and surface relevant blush results as well as related items -- like makeup brushes -- from Ulta Beauty to help her build a basket with her preferred retailer. If we know she regularly purchases makeup remover on a monthly basis, we’ll surface the same brand of makeup remover to her, right when she has the highest intent to re-order. Pay per sale - In addition, Shopping Actions uses a pay-per-sale model, meaning you only pay when a sale actually takes place. Shopping Actions appear within the sponsored Shopping Unit on the Google Search page, and on Google.com/Shopping. No organic rankings are impacted or changed An easy way to get on the Assistant, a growing surface for shopping 44% of those who regularly use a voice-activated speaker say they order products they need like groceries and household items at least once a week. [Source] 58% of say they use it to create or manage shopping lists at least once a week Google Assistant available on more than 500 million devices (May 2018), up from 400 million devices (Jan 2018), up from 100 million devices (May 2017) Over 5,000 connected home devices (May 2018), 1,500 devices (Jan 2018), 1,000 devices (Oct 2017) => talk to strong momentum of our device ecosystem uptake available in more than 30 languages available in 80 countries by the end of the year Case Study Overview: Early results from Shopping Actions seem promising, as Target found that the number of items in customers' Google Express carts jumped an average of 20%, and Ulta saw an increase in average order value of 30%.
• #13: Shopping Actions has not only delivered a positive experience to consumers, but has helped our retail partners as well. Based on early test results, participating retailers on average see an increase in total conversions at a lower cost, compared to running Shopping ads alone. We have also seen an approximately 30% average increase in basket size for merchants participating in Shopping Actions. Additionally, two of our partners have commented on the results they have seen. Target and Google have a long-standing partnership, and a history of innovating together to make shopping easier and more inspiring. Target was one of the first retailers to test Shopping Actions, and has seen the size of guests’ Express baskets increase by nearly 20%, with strong adoption in new markets Ulta Beauty has seen improvements in loyalty and customer engagement on Google Express, with average order value (AOV) increasing 35% since 2016. In summary, Shopping Actions is part of our vision to build the easiest shopping experience possible, providing consumers a single cart, linked to their stored payment credentials, that allows them to shop seamlessly across retailers, surfaces, touchpoints and devices. Our vision is equally about retailers and how we can partner with them, to offer the best experience possible for shoppers, and to grow their businesses by combining what we each do best to help them thrive. We want to strengthen the relationship retailers have with consumers, so Shopping Actions is optimized to suggest new products based on our unique understanding of who they are and what they want.
• #14: One of the most obvious differentiating aspects of the platform compared to alternatives is the retailer first design. focusing on your economics Prominent merchant branding Merchant-oriented personalization / loyalty membership Assistive reordering Smart basket building All increase basket size CS and returns
• #16: Start with the onboarding steps that require verification and take longer such as logos and payments All onboarding steps can be completed in parallel, so you don’t have to stall the full onboarding process if you need extra information to complete a specific step Don’t forget to configure your product feed and set the destination to Shopping Actions! will be default when the v2 of the onboarding flow launches later this month Have some products that aren’t eligible to be sold on Shopping Actions? No problem! Simply don’t opt those products into the program in your product feed You can launch on Shopping Actions with a default logo so you don’t have to delay launch while you finalize a more detailed logo -- connect with you CA AM on that one Even though shipping and taxes will already be configured if you run Shopping Ads through your Merchant Center account, double check the settings to avoid any holds up prior to launch
• #18: Thanks Jonathan and again - thank you so much Stephanie for those great holiday preparation tips and details on this new exciting program from Google. I am equally excited to announce that if you are ready to sell on Google Shopping Actions, that ChannelAdvisor is here to help!
• #19: If you are a current ChannelAdvisor seller and have a marketplaces contract currently, this will launch like any other integration, and there is no additional fee to get access to the setup if you have that marketplace contract. We have options for you not matter what your current setup is for currently sending a Google feed to Google Merchant Center. Along with the product data, we also have full order management support to Google’s order API.
• #20: Highlighted on this slide are the next steps for you if you are interested in adding Google Shopping Actions to your ecommerce strategy. If you are a Channeladvisor seller, please reach out to either your Sales rep or Account manager to have them assist you in the application process with Google. Also make sure you have a ChannelAdvisor US account setup, and set some time aside to review the getting started guide highlighted on this slide.
• #21: If you are not a current CA seller and would like a demo of Channeladvisor and Google Shopping Actions capabilities, fill out the interest form located at channeladvisor.com/request-a-demo. One of our ChannelAdvisor Sales Reps will be in touch to talk further with you about ChannelAdvisor and Google Shopping Actions.