LOCAL INVENTORY ADSImprove your Web-to-Store Strategy

WHAT ARE GOOGLE LOCAL INVENTORY ADS?

“Local Inventory Ads” (LIA) are a multichannel advertising format that allows advertisers, via Google Shopping ads, to display their product catalogue in search results, including products that are available in physical stores.

For instance, thismicrowave is available

in 3 stores nearby

LOCAL INVENTORY ADS FEATURES

Indicates whether a nearby store stocks the

item that has been searched for

Ads gather results fromstores within a 48 km

radius

It’s always the nearest store that shows up first

48 km

HOW IS IT USEFUL FOR CUSTOMERS?

GOOGLE LOCAL INVENTORY ADS ARE DESIGNED TO FACILITATE THE BUYING PROCESS FOR CUSTOMERS

With LIA, you can find out:

• The availability and the price of a product in the closest possible physical store

• The opening hours of the store• Directions on how to get there

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR RETAILERS?

2. Offer flexibility to customersduring their purchase (if they’dprefer not to pay delivery cost, or ifproducts are out of stock online) and therefore improve customerexperience.

3. Develop a network of physical stores Create a digital display for physical stores to ensure a continual link between online and offline presence.

1. Optimise visibility in Google search results (particularly on mobile) and thus increase turnover.

4. Measure performance: Track the results of your LIA through your physical store traffic.

AM I ELIGIBLE?

LOCAL INVENTORY ADS ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THESE COUNTRIES :

The prerequisites for using Google LIA:

1. Must have at least one physical store in the target country

2. Must sell physical goods that can be purchased at no additional cost (eg membership fees)

3. The company must protect clients’ personal information

FranceUSA Germany JapanUnited Kingdom Australia

HOW TO SET UP LIA

1. Contact Google via this request form

2. Create your Google accounts (Merchant Center, Google My Business Locations and

AdWords)

3. Create and submit the different required feeds (Online product feed, store inventory feed)

4. Activate “Local Inventory Ads” in your shopping ad settings in the AdWords interface

- GOOGLE ‘MY BUSINESS’ ADDRESS FEEDS : Addresses of your physical stores

- ONLINE PRODUCT FEEDS : Your online inventory

- IN-STORE INVENTORY FEED : Submit your stock level, the price, and the availability in

each store

- LOCAL PRODUCTS FEED : Availability / Quantity / Price and Store

If you already sell products through Google Shopping and want to set up Local Inventory Ads, here are the different feeds Google requires:

HOW TO SET UP LIA

HOW TO SET UP A NEW FEED

Follow Google’s standard procedure, then select the appropriate type of feed (Local products/In-store)

NOTE :- Supported file formats for exporting your feeds differ

between the types of feed - Products may take up to 2 days to appear

REQUIRED ATTRIBUTES TO SUBMIT A FEED

Attribute Necessity

Mandatoryinformation

• Store code• Product ID• Quantity• Price

Required for all products

Optional information

• Selling price• Selling price on actual

date• Availability• Restock date

Recommended for every product feed, to give more information

about the price, quantity, and the availability of products.

Store information

(Optional)

• Collection method• SLA pickup

Recommended for all products that can be picked up in store

Note: If a mandatory attribute is missed out, the item in questions risks not being included in results. Furthermore, missing out a recommended attribute can have repercussions on the ad performance.

MAPPING DATA BETWEEN DIFFERENT FEEDS

‘My Business’ addresses feed

In-store inventory feed

Local product feed

Online product feed

For a better understanding of how the different feeds are connected:

IN SUMMARY

The first source of data...

... is connected to the second source of

data...... via attributes ... ... in order to ...

Online product feed*

*If you have oneLocal product feed

itemid, webitemid, or unique product identifiers (eg GTIN,

Brand, MPN)

Bring together your essential information about a product

being sold online (image, description, etc)

Local product feedIn-store

inventory feed

itemid, a unique identifier for each of your products that

you use through each feed to identify the same product.

Identify available products in every physical store

In-storeinventory feed

Address feed

Store_code, a unique identifier for each store

whose address is entered in your Google My Business

account.

Show information about the shop where the product is

available (eg opening times, address)

Feed Recommended amount of updates

Local product feed At least once a week

In-store inventory feedAt least once a day, but can be sent several times a day to update certain segments of your inventory

Online product feed At least once a month

UPDATE FEEDS

Remember to regularly re-import your feed to keep your data up-to-date!

HOW DOES LENGOW WORK WITH GOOGLE LIA ?

Lengow saves time and increasesthe visibility of your products by optimising the different feeds, which are then correctly set up for export.

You can manage your feeds directly from the Lengow solution, which will also allow you to monitor your performance statistics.

In order to set up your in-store product feed within Lengow, you just have to create2 additional feeds:

- The product inventory feed (to give stock information for your store)

- In-store product feed and then match it with your Google Shopping feed

You can choose to separate your "Shopping" and "In-Store" ads or connect them to get hybrid ads. If you are a chain of stores with the same products in stock and at the same price, it is possible to use a simplified feed.

HOW DOES LENGOW WORK WITH LIA?

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS WITH ADWORDS

CONTROL AND UPDATE YOUR LIA CAMPAIGNS WITH ADWORDS:

- Increase your bids on mobile ads to ensure that you drive customers to your store whensearching via mobile

- Determine the physical stores with highest potential ("Dimensions" tab and then "View"="Store_ID") and adjust your bids based on profitability

- Define automatic bids on your ad campaigns: find out which hours are likely to see the mostcustomers visiting your store

OUR ADVICE & RECOMMENDATIONS

THINK MOBILE:Optimise your Local Inventory Ads for mobile:

A majority of consumers now use their smartphone or tablet to do their research before making a purchase. The mobile sector now accounts for almost 50% of e-commerce sales! Do not neglect it!

USE LIA FOR EXPECTED STORE OPENINGS:Launch a Local Inventory Ads campaign in parallel with a store opening!

This will allow your brand to immediately benefit from an important visibility in its local area, the perfect way to start off business for your shop!

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT LOCAL INVENTORY ADS

CHECK OUT OUR DEDICATED GUIDE TO LOCAL INVENTORY ADS:

➢ALL OF OUR ADVICE AND TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN ONE HANDY GUIDE!

Download the guide