Google Shopping will launch 3 major updates on 26th June 2017 that will not only allow you to improve the detail and precision of your Shopping ads but also catch out items in your Merchant Center feed that have accidentally inflated important figures that influence an internet user’s decision on whether to click and purchase when they see your Shopping ad.
These updates, which I have listed in further detail below with links to guides on how to capitalise on these updates, will help you to reduce the rate of checkout cancellations.
Minimum Order Value can be set for all product types
You will be able to set a minimum order value for any type of product, not just those in food and beverage categories. So, if for example you are not (only) a food and beverages seller and you sell products that are priced individually below £50 and offer free delivery for one-time purchases totalling £50 or above, you can now set a minimum order value of 50 GBP before you upload products with prices below your chosen minimum order value figure and with a delivery option of free delivery.
How To: Set a minimum order value as part of the service description, and if only certain products require a minimum order value you should add a delivery label to those products.
Price and Weight now have maximum limits
You will not be able to show Shopping ads for products that have a shipping cost or weight above the new maximum price and weight limits. These limits differ depending on the carrier (DHL, DPD, Royal Mail, TNT, UPS and Yodel in the UK) and affect the cost of delivery. Google’s aim is to avoid showing Shopping ads that have vastly inflated and incorrect cost of delivery figures which rarely get clicks, so expect a beneficial decrease in the amount of wasted ad impressions that damage the reliability of your brand.
Delivery Date will appear in Shopping ads in the US
If you are advertising to customers in the US, you will be able to show an estimated delivery date in your Shopping ad. Google works this out by adding together the transit time and the handling time. This additional feature on your Shopping ads will be a crucial deciding buy-factor for online customers who make last-minute purchases or who need products delivered to them urgently or by a specific date.
How To: Set the handing time with the min_handling_time and max_handling_time attributes, where handling time means the length of time from the placing of an order to the dispatch of the product, calculated in business days. Set the transit time in the service description, also calculated in business days.
Let’s capitalise on these updates and grow our online shopping cart opportunities. Thank you for reading!
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