How does Google Shopping work?
Written by Jamie Schelling
Digital Marketing & AI Automation
How does Google Shopping work is a frequently asked question from clients at BE Digital. In this blog we introduce how Google Shopping works, why it is interesting for your business and how you can get started with it.
What is Google Shopping and how does it work?
Google Shopping is a Google service that presents products from online sellers in an easy-to-scan format. Google Shopping makes it easier for users to find and buy products and offers comparisons between the offers of different sellers for particular items. This allows consumers to find and buy the best item at the best price. The service, which was originally known as Froogle, now shows items as thumbnail images displaying the item, the price and the shop it comes from.
To get your products into Google Shopping, you need to create an account with Google Merchant Center. This tool was designed by Google specifically to make it easy to import and manage the feed (the list of products and product data). In addition, Google Merchant Center lets you optimise the feed so that it becomes easier to find and its quality improves.
The easiest way for consumers to access Google Shopping is by searching for items directly on the platform's website. Visitors can also run a regular Google search in a web browser and tap or click the Shopping tab below the search bar to access the Google Shopping environment.
How do you get into Google Shopping?
How do you set up Google Shopping?
To take a Google Shopping campaign live, a number of steps need to be taken. These steps are as follows:
- Create a Google Ads account.
- Create a Google Merchant Center account.
- Link the Google Ads and Google Merchant accounts together.
- Create a Google Shopping feed.
- Upload the Google Shopping feed.
- Optimise the Google Shopping feed.
What is a Google Shopping feed?
A Google Shopping feed is a way of sending data to Google in a structured, predefined manner. This data contains a variety of information about the products that are live on your website.
A Google Shopping feed can be set up in several formats, namely:
- Google Spreadsheet (most commonly used)
- TXT
- XLS / CSV
- XML
A standard Google Shopping feed can consist of two types of attributes:
- Required attributes
- Recommended attributes
The required attributes of a Google Shopping feed are:
- ID (unique ID number per product)
- Title (the title of the product)
- Description (short description of the product)
- Link (the URL where the product can be found)
- Image link (the link of the image to display)
- Availability (stock)
- Price (cost of the product)
- Google Shopping category (the product category?)
- Brand (what is the product brand?)
- gtin (global trade item number from the manufacturer)
- Mpn (Manufacturer part number)
- Condition (new or used)
Recommended attributes include:
- Colour
- Material
- Gender
For a more detailed explanation from Google, you can read through the page on product specifications .
Why Google Shopping?
Google Shopping is one of the bigger growth opportunities for retailers at the moment. With a Google Shopping campaign it is possible to reach people who are actively searching for specific products. With a Google Shopping campaign, customers can be sent directly to a product page and easily make a purchase there.
The benefits of Google Shopping at a glance:
- A boost for your CTR (click-through rate)
- Appear multiple times in the search engine
- Higher-quality leads
- More visitors to your website
What does Google Shopping cost?
Recent changes have made it free for sellers to get their product listings on Google, in places such as the Google Shopping tab and Google's main search results page. Of course, advertising via Google Shopping delivers more.
Shopping comes with its own costs. The costs depend on various factors, such as the number of products in your feed and the competition advertising for the same product. It all revolves around the cost per click set by each advertiser. As a result, the cost per click for shopping ads can differ. The cost per click is also influenced by the quality of the ads and the feed. So the better the quality, the less you ultimately have to pay per click.
Are you curious about what opportunities Google Shopping has to offer for your business?
BE Digital is an expert in advertising on Google and closely follows all developments. We are happy to help you take a step into the world of Google Shopping!