A Guide on What Is Google Shopping & How Does It Work?

The popularity of online shopping has exploded.

Consumers spent over $861 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020. That’s an incredible 44% rise when compared to 2019. That’s also the highest annual U.S. eCommerce growth in the last two decades. 

So it’s fair to say that there is a huge market for businesses to take advantage of. 

But as a small business owner, how are you supposed to stand out in such a saturated market?

A lot of businesses have been selling their products on sites such as eBay, Amazon and Etsy. The downside to that is they can take a hefty commission and you lose control of much of the selling process. 

There is a way that businesses have been able to promote their wares whilst also keeping control of the selling process. And that is via third-party advertising sites.

One such site is Google Shopping. But what actually is Google Shopping and how does it work?

Let’s take a closer look.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is Google Shopping?

How Does Google Shopping Work?

Is Google Shopping Safe?

Key Takeaways

What Is Google Shopping?

Google Shopping is a way of using Google’s search engine to generate clicks on your business’s website or marketplace. 

Their listings put your products at the top of Google’s search engine results pages, or SERPs. This allows you to be seen by anybody who searches for something that has any relation or relevance to your product. 

How Does Google Shopping Work?

Google Shopping works through two main avenues:

1. Google Ads

Google Shopping Ads is an advertising tool. It enables advertisers to bid on SEO, or search engine optimization, favorable keywords. This means that they can secure a place for their ads on Google’s SERPs. 

This tool can also be used to set up and save campaigns, set budgets, analyze data and optimize your marketing efforts. 

2. Google Merchant Center

Unlike sites like Amazon and eBay, Google Shopping doesn’t sell products directly from a ‘marketplace’ on their site. Instead, as we mentioned earlier, they promote products through paid ads that appear at the top of the SERPs. 

If you were to go and do a product search on Google right now, you’ll see that the first three or four results are paid ads. 

Google Merchant Center works by business owners constantly uploading and updating their product feeds. 

This way, Google Shopping always has access to your product listings. Including their current prices, any offers and up-to-date availability of your product inventory. 

With this information, they can make and format the relevant ads.

Every time somebody runs a related Google Search then clicks on one of these paid ads, they will be sent directly to your website. This keeps you the business owner in charge of the selling process. 

For every sale that is generated by Google, you will pay a portion of the profit to Google Shopping as a form of commission. You will also pay a fee every time someone visits your site through a paid ad. 

Is Google Shopping Safe?

For businesses, there is no issue with safety when it comes to Google Shopping.

The clicks generated will take customers straight through to your website where you can then handle the sale. So none of the customer’s money has to pass through anything other than your internal system. 

However, unless you’re a well-known brand or they have bought from you before, customers can be wary of third-party sites. 

That is why as a business owner, it is vital to make sure that your website is professional, up-to-date, and offers excellent customer service. 

There are a lot of scamming and phishing websites out there and you need to make sure that you reassure any potential customer that you are not one. 

One way of reassuring your customers is by gaining a Google Guarantee label. 

Having this label means Google will help customers if they fall victim to a scam. So if your website has this guarantee, it means potential customers will be far more likely to trust your business and products. 

Key Takeaways

Google Shopping is a powerful online shopping platform for online retailers. It can help your eCommerce business in a number of ways. 

Google Shopping can create a higher search volume and give better traffic targeting. It can also help generate far more clicks on your website which in turn can improve your conversion rate. 

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices? 

Then check out our FreshBooks Resource Hub.

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