Google’s holiday tip: get to know the needs of mobile-savvy shoppers
This holiday season, mobile shoppers want help in a hurry — and retailers need to be ready to oblige if they want to win their business.
That's according to Google’s infographic, “Holiday Checklist 2017: Want to Know About Today’s Mobile-First Shoppers.”
To ensure they can meet their customers’ needs, Google recommends that marketers should focus on the following trends:
Shoppers are visiting stores with greater intent. Mobile research will play a key role in helping customers decide which stores to visit. For example, mobile searches for “where to buy” specific items has jump more than 85% over the past two years. Meanwhile, the time spent watching “store tour” videos on YouTube grew by 10 times over the past two years.
Last-minute shoppers are searching more than ever. Shoppers plan to make purchases right up to Christmas Day. Last year, searches for “where to buy” peaked on Christmas Eve. The top queries included “Where to buy Hatchimals,” “Where to buy NES classic,” and “Where to buy Cards Against Humanity.”
Meanwhile, mobile searches for store hours peaked on Christmas Day — the highest day of the year for this specific search, data revealed.
Shoppers want a personalized experience. Besides doing their research and expecting to find their answer on the go, mobile shoppers also demand results to be tailored to fit their needs. For example, 49% of smartphone owners say they prefer to shop on a mobile site or app that recommends brand or products based on their past views, sales and purchases.
Meanwhile, mobile specified who their gifts are for — from co-workers to hairdressers — expecting to get results relevant to their needs. In fact, these searches grew 50% from the first week in December to the week of Christmas.
Shoppers turn to video to know what they are getting. Stepping up their research results, more shoppers are turning to video. Specifically, “shop with me” videos are soaring in popularity on mobile, growing more than 10 times in watch time over the past two years.
Further, the amount of time that shoppers spent watching ‘unboxing” videos — or videos of the unpacking of products — on their smart phones is the equivalent of watching “Love Actually” more than 20 million times.
Based on this research, discoverability, personalization, and seamlessness will be critical for advertisers this holiday season, according to Google. The company is expanding its services portfolio to help marketers connect with these shoppers. Its new additions include:
• Expanding showcase shopping ads to 15 additional countries. Google has seen subsequent searches for a merchant nearly double after a user expands their Showcase Shopping ad.
• Localizing inventory for the Google Assistant. If you ask Google Assistant “Where can I buy ____ nearby,” products from brands with a “local product inventory feed” will organically surface, without brands paying for these impressions.
• Creating a new local ad format for Display. This will help brands spotlight in-store products and promotions in more rich, visually engaging ways.
• A better method for online-to-in-store shopping. With a number of enhancements, such as impression-based store visits within store visits measurements, brands and retailers will have access to deeper details on shoppers who came into a store after seeing ads online.
That's according to Google’s infographic, “Holiday Checklist 2017: Want to Know About Today’s Mobile-First Shoppers.”
To ensure they can meet their customers’ needs, Google recommends that marketers should focus on the following trends:
Shoppers are visiting stores with greater intent. Mobile research will play a key role in helping customers decide which stores to visit. For example, mobile searches for “where to buy” specific items has jump more than 85% over the past two years. Meanwhile, the time spent watching “store tour” videos on YouTube grew by 10 times over the past two years.
Last-minute shoppers are searching more than ever. Shoppers plan to make purchases right up to Christmas Day. Last year, searches for “where to buy” peaked on Christmas Eve. The top queries included “Where to buy Hatchimals,” “Where to buy NES classic,” and “Where to buy Cards Against Humanity.”
Meanwhile, mobile searches for store hours peaked on Christmas Day — the highest day of the year for this specific search, data revealed.
Shoppers want a personalized experience. Besides doing their research and expecting to find their answer on the go, mobile shoppers also demand results to be tailored to fit their needs. For example, 49% of smartphone owners say they prefer to shop on a mobile site or app that recommends brand or products based on their past views, sales and purchases.
Meanwhile, mobile specified who their gifts are for — from co-workers to hairdressers — expecting to get results relevant to their needs. In fact, these searches grew 50% from the first week in December to the week of Christmas.
Shoppers turn to video to know what they are getting. Stepping up their research results, more shoppers are turning to video. Specifically, “shop with me” videos are soaring in popularity on mobile, growing more than 10 times in watch time over the past two years.
Further, the amount of time that shoppers spent watching ‘unboxing” videos — or videos of the unpacking of products — on their smart phones is the equivalent of watching “Love Actually” more than 20 million times.
Based on this research, discoverability, personalization, and seamlessness will be critical for advertisers this holiday season, according to Google. The company is expanding its services portfolio to help marketers connect with these shoppers. Its new additions include:
• Expanding showcase shopping ads to 15 additional countries. Google has seen subsequent searches for a merchant nearly double after a user expands their Showcase Shopping ad.
• Localizing inventory for the Google Assistant. If you ask Google Assistant “Where can I buy ____ nearby,” products from brands with a “local product inventory feed” will organically surface, without brands paying for these impressions.
• Creating a new local ad format for Display. This will help brands spotlight in-store products and promotions in more rich, visually engaging ways.
• A better method for online-to-in-store shopping. With a number of enhancements, such as impression-based store visits within store visits measurements, brands and retailers will have access to deeper details on shoppers who came into a store after seeing ads online.