Price-conscious shoppers are actively seeking the best deals this back-to-school season. In fact, almost 4 in 5 US consumers say offering the lowest price (77%) and good deals, discounts or promotions (79%) is important in their decision to shop with retailers regularly.1 Google provides multiple ways for shoppers to find the best prices, making it essential to keep your deals up to date to stand out. Follow these tips to maximize back-to-school sales.
Attract deal-seeking shoppers while maintaining profitability
Maximize your gross profits while still offering competitive prices this back-to-school season with Google's new automated discounts (beta). This Google AI-powered feature optimizes and displays the ideal sale prices for your products across your Shopping ads and your online shop’s product landing page based on market signals such as price competitiveness, seasonality trends, and shipping cost.
To further entice shoppers seeking online and in-store deals, add promotion assets to your Search, Performance Max, and App campaigns. You can now show ads that feature redeemable coupons when you add promotion assets to your Performance Max for store goals campaigns. In Maps, customers will be able to view, save, and share digital coupons with friends and family for both in-store and online redemption.
Connect with shoppers who are looking for your products nearby
While online resources are key for back-to-school inspiration and research, the in-store experience remains crucial for many shoppers. Last year, nearly 80% of shoppers planned to go back-to-school shopping in stores, and 34% planned to buy online and pick up in store.
As shoppers search online to find products nearby, automatically showcase your in-store products on Google Search and Maps so local shoppers can easily find your products and buy them in-store at no cost to you.
Expand your reach even further by using local inventory ads and Performance Max for store goals to promote specific business locations and product promotions, and to target shoppers looking for your products in store. These solutions allow shoppers to see your latest store hours, check inventory at stores closest to them, and utilize a variety of fulfillment options, like same-day delivery, buy online pickup later, and curbside pickup.
For more tips, check out our in-depth retail best practices.
Posted by Elizabeth Wang, Group PMM, Retail Ads & Commerce
1. Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, n=1000 online consumers 18+ per market. Feb 6-10, 2023.