Google, convinced that retailers can better leverage online advertising for a successful holiday season this year, is offering marketing assistance to merchants like Recreational Equipment Inc. and Rooms to Go willing to test online ads against offline campaigns, says John McAteer, Google’s director of retail industry development.
In both REI’s and Rooms to Go’s cases, he says, Google worked with them to more effectively use online advertising, including banner and paid-search ads, to drive traffic into their stores. Google helped REI, for instance, place display ads with geographic targeting on Google’s and its network of partner web sites, producing a 24% redemption rate on coupons offered through the ads for store openings, McAteer says.
But many retailers continue to use online advertising only for products sold online, even though Google has shown in multiple tests with retail chains that online ads can produce twice the response rate of weekly printed circulars for items that may be sold only in stores, McAteer adds. “If a product is not available online, it doesn’t mean people don’t search for it online,” he says.
To convince more retailers of the value of online advertising for offline as well as online commerce, and for planning a more rewarding holiday shopping season, McAteer offered to help merchants with the cost of testing new online campaigns at a recent conference for retailers in Chicago that Google billed “Christmas in June.”
Since then, about 25 retailers have responded to Google’s offer, though McAteer says he welcomes others.
The deal includes financial assistance from Google for campaigns that can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the level of assistance can vary based on the cost of campaigns and the type of retailer. Google will outlay the most resources for retailers who have a strong brand, are willing to share store sales data, and will agree to participate in the publication of a case study about its ad campaign. McAteer says.
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