3 Ways to Shop Faster This Thanksgiving with Google Shopping Mobile
Browse Faster with Google Shopping Mobile
Without a doubt shoppers will be reaching for their cell phones to make purchases this Thanksgiving weekend. Although some consumers might participate in recent trends such as REI’s #OptOutside to avoid the in-store holiday madness on Black Friday – we can guarantee most consumers will still have their mobile phones nearby to check for deals on their favorite products.
According to Google, “This season shopping-related searches on mobile will surpass desktop, signaling a shift from shopping marathons to shopping moments.”
In response to the social shift in shopping behavior, Google has provided 3 new features to help make the browse and buy process on mobile more efficient to drive qualified traffic to your site.
Narrow Search Options Faster
The typical persona for an online shopper through the months of November to January is a little different compared to the rest of the year. A great way to think of this is to picture your Grandmother or Auntie Jane, browsing Amazon looking for “ideas” on what to buy the family this year.
These types of shoppers are going to explore quite a bit before making a purchase.
According to Google, 40% of shopping searches during the holiday season are on broad terms – and don’t know exactly what product they are interested in yet.
Thanks to Google’s mobile redesign, if a shopper searches for hoverboards, Google will show the most commonly searched categories to help her narrow down her search.
Similarly, if she searches on Google Shopping for tricycles for kids, Google will show tricycles grouped by attributes that people commonly shop by including features, brand, and price.
The goal of this update is to provide shoppers freedom to discover what they might want in a “more organized way”.
Browse By Scrolling & Swiping
Once the shopper has a better idea of what types of products she wants to purchase, she can scroll through multiple products without the inconvenience of having to load each new page.
In the example below, a shopper can browse the Lego Starwars Turbo Tank just by tapping on the product and skimming through reviews, images and product information. The feature also allows her the option to swipe to a new product or continue to research the product’s specs, features, and videos to help inform her purchasing decision.
More Upfront Information & Location Options
As she moves further down the funnel and decides on a product (as seen in the example below) all relevant information will be available including merchants who carry the product, which local stores have it in-stock and a quick glance at reviews and manufacturer details.
One out of every four shoppers avoid the Black Friday rush because they don’t know if the products they are searching for will be in stock. Thanks to Google’s new in-store location tracking, shoppers can find out if the toy they are actively searching for is available at a store nearby for pick-up (in real time).
Extended Holiday Sales Preparation
In addition to our own Black Friday / Cyber Monday Ecommerce Checklist, Google has also provided several tips on how to prepare for holiday shoppers and sales including:
1. Budget to survive the holiday shopping peaks and valleys
- Budget more for days where your historical impression share decreases but retail query volume or your competitor’s impression share increases.
- Why: Consumers are less brand-loyal than before — be there when they’re looking for your products.
- Create daily budget and KPI targets and set alerts to make sure you’re not over- or under-pacing.
- Why: Holiday queries can sometimes be unpredictable, so plan for the unexpected.
2. Speed up Mobile Checkout
- Get your mobile site to load in less than two seconds
- Why: Shoppers believe fast sites are more reliable and will abandon your site if it make them wait.
- Make it easy to convert on your product pages by avoiding interstitials, using simple drop-down
menus, and placing the product’s price and an “Add to cart” button above the fold. - Why: Win the sale before the consumer’s I-want-to-buy moment is lost.
- Add Chrome Autofill tags to reduce a shopper’s checkout time by 30%.
Why: Completing forms on mobile isn’t fun, so help shoppers skip this step.
3. Enable real-time bidding with enhanced CPC
- Use eCPC to optimize for user context and auction dynamics on top of your max CPC bid.
- Why: You’ll maintain your manual max CPC bidding control and can get as many as 7% more conversions or
sales at the same cost.
4. Convert more qualified customers with shopping remarketing lists
- Use signals from your site to bid based on audience.
Why: Re-engage shoppers who visited your site or abandoned their checkout flow with audience bid modifiers.
Additional Q4 Resources
Anticipate Sales Traffic With 2015 Google Shopping Holiday Calendar
The Black Friday – Cyber Monday Ecommerce Checklist
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