Article Written by Katina Jaye Beveridge, ASBAS Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre.
The pandemic has changed the way Australians spent their money since 2020. Lockdowns, restrictions, and social distancing, consumers have had little choice except to do everything online. Consumer behaviour have changed, from how people buy their everyday goods to how they pay for them.
Today, 46% of Australian consumers are doing online shopping, with the shift most pronounced among younger people. Overall retail has declined last year, but ecommerce sales, on the other hand, skyrocketed during the pandemic.
This is why online shopping marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and now, Google Shopping, have become household names over the last few months. So, if your business is not promoting your products on Google Shopping, you’re losing a lot of potential customers.
What Is Google Shopping?
Google Shopping is a service that allows users to look for, compare, and buy actual objects from a variety of shops who have paid to advertise their goods. Also known as a comparison shopping (CSE), the store and price of each good are displayed as thumbnail images in Google Shopping results.
First launched in 2002 and named, here are some of the notable features of Google Shopping:
- Filterable consumer information
- Product information
- Product reviews
- Comparative shopping
Consumers can search for things directly on Google Shopping’s website, shopping.google.com. This is the simplest way to use the platform. You may also access the service by performing a conventional Google search for an item in a web browser and tapping or clicking on the Shopping option beneath the search bar.
Why Businesses Should Use Google Shopping?
- As of April 2020, any online vendor can offer products on Google Shopping for free.
- Businesses can use the service to appear in Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) multiple times, including as a text-only result, a Shopping result, and a website result. This could lead to more revenue and engagement.
- The Google Merchant Center makes tracking products and sales simple and straightforward.
- Google Shopping has been shown to have a conversion rate of 30% greater than text advertisements.
Google Shopping is a refreshing break from the text-heavy shopping experience that most people are used to. It’s almost like a digital mall, with shoppers being able to enter, search for what they want, and view a variety of brands and product categories all on one screen. All in all, it is certainly a great place to market your products.
