The holidays are upon us. As of June, 58% of US holiday shoppers said that they will shop online more this season than in previous years, and 59% said that they will shop earlier to avoid an item being out of stock.1 In fact, US searches for 'holiday gift ideas' in August have already surpassed 2020 levels. To help you stand out, we’re introducing new annotations to highlight fast delivery, easy returns and new business identity attributes this holiday season.
Highlight your delivery and return policy directly in your ads
Shoppers are looking for the best value for every dollar, especially during seasonal shopping, and the quickest delivery option and ease of returns are top of mind. In fact, 'next day delivery' searches have grown globally by over 70% yoy.2 Today, we are announcing new delivery and return annotations in Google Search and Shopping results – across free and paid listings.
Shoppers can now see when their orders will arrive with delivery annotations like 'Free delivery by Fri, 24 Dec', 'Get it by 24 Dec' and 'Fast & Free badging for products that ship for free in 5 working days or less'. Merchants who highlight 1- to 3-day delivery in their free listings on the Shopping tab see an 11% increase in average CTR. If you haven’t already, check and make sure that you have set up your delivery information in Google Merchant Center. You can also synchronise your delivery data with providers such as FedEx, USPS and UPS so Google can calculate custom delivery speeds for your customers. And finally, you can also use the 'shipping' attribute in your feed to specify each product's delivery cost and speed.
'Free delivery by 24 Dec' annotation
To give shoppers more confidence in their purchases and added reassurance when it comes to returns, you can now indicate extended holiday return windows with return annotations like 'Free 90-day returns' or 'Free returns until 31 Jan'.
'Free 90-day returns' and 'Free returns until 30 Nov' annotations
Elevate your business identity with Women-owned or Veteran-owned attributes in Merchant Center
71% of consumers prefer buying from companies aligned with their values3, and we want to make it easier for businesses to get discovered by these shoppers.
Earlier this year, we launched the Black-owned business identity attribute so people can easily identify and buy from Black-owned businesses on Google. We are building on that momentum and adding two new attributes: Women-owned and Veteran-owned. You can add these new attributes in Merchant Center today. Self-identification is optional and only available to retailers based in the US. The feature will become visible to shoppers soon.
Veteran-owned new business identity attribute
Venus Williams and Stephanie Morimoto on women supporting women
Talking Shop, a series of conversations to elevate the voices of underrepresented business leaders, features Venus Williams and Stephanie Morimoto. In this episode, Williams, tennis champion and founder of 2 successful businesses, and Morimoto, CEO of Asutra, discuss the value of inclusion and representation, explain why their work is anchored in supporting other women and discuss digital marketing strategies to grow their Shopify businesses. Williams mentions, 'Communities are better when women are empowered. I've faced inequality as a woman, and it's not fun and it's not pretty, but hopefully, we're breaking down more doors and more barriers.'
Talking Shop episode with Venus Williams and Stephanie Morimoto
As the holiday season approaches, we want to provide you with the tools and features to truly stand out and highlight information that matters to your shoppers upfront. Have a look at our retail marketing guide for the latest holiday best practices across our free and paid solutions.
Posted by Jeff Harrell, Senior Director, Shopping
1. Google-commissioned Ipsos COVID-19 tracker, US n=506 online consumers 18+ who plan to shop for the holidays, 17–20 June 2021
2. Google Data, Global English, 26 Jan 2021 – 26 Mar 2021 vs 26 Jan 2020 – 26 Mar 2020
3. 5W Public Relations’ 2020 Consumer Culture Report
