Using store sales data with Customer Match

You can use store sales data with Customer Match to create lists based on your uploaded in-store transaction data. You can then use the lists to reach and re-engage customers who have completed purchases at your offline store using Search, Shopping, Display, Video, Gmail and Performance Max campaigns.

In this article

• Find out if you’re eligible for Customer Match
• Learn how Customer Match works
• Learn how to use store sales data with Customer Match

Eligibility

To be able to use this feature, your Google Ads account should be:

• Eligible and approved to use Customer Match.
• Eligible and registered to use store sales measurement. If you are not registered and want to use store sales measurement, review the specific eligibility requirements.
• You must be uploading in-store transaction data for store sales measurement.

If you think that you’re eligible, contact your Google Ads representative.

If you instruct Google to use store sales data with Customer Match to create lists based on your uploaded in-store transaction data, you must also comply with the Customer Match policies, including Google’s EU User Consent Policy where applicable.

How it works

After you upload your transaction data to Google Ads, Google matches the data uploaded to Google Ads accounts, which are then used to create Customer Match lists. These audience lists are eligible to serve with Search, Shopping, Video and Gmail campaigns and are updated regularly with every store sales upload.

To create a list, you have to set up a series of rules in Google Ads. Google will then use those rules to populate your list.

Rules you can create

Spend-based

Create a rule that populates your list with people based on their total, average or individual spend on transactions. For example, you can create rules that populate your lists with:

• Customers who have a total spend more than $100 AUD
• Customers who have an average spend that is less than $30 AUD
• Customers who have spent more than $20 AUD on an individual transaction

Frequency-based

Create a rule that populates your list with people based on the number of transactions they’ve had with your store. For example, you can create a rule that populates your list with customers who’ve made more than 5 transactions.

Time-based

Create a rule that populates your list with people based on when they last made a purchase at your store. For example, you can create a rule that populates your list with customers who’ve made transactions in the last 30 days.

Custom variable based

Create a rule that populates your list with people based on the store sales custom variables set up in the Google Ads UI and uploaded in your transaction file. For example, if you have a 'Product category' custom variable that identifies customers who purchased coats, you can create a rule that populates your lists with customers who have purchased coats. You must have created a custom variable and be uploading transactions with the desired custom variable value. As a reminder, your rules must comply with the Customer Match policies.

You can choose to mix and match these rules and also create custom combinations for more advanced use cases.

Note: All transactions uploaded to Google Ads are used for the purpose of list creation. The overall list size may differ from the reported shop sales conversions as conversions are reported after attribution, while Customer Match lists are populated after matching.

Instructions

Note: The instructions below are part of the new design for the Google Ads user experience. To use the previous design, click the 'Appearance' icon, and select Use previous design. If you're using the previous version of Google Ads, review the Quick reference map or use the Search bar in the top navigation panel of Google Ads to find the page that you’re searching for.

Before you begin, make sure that your Google Ads account has been approved to use store sales data with Customer Match and that you’ve uploaded your store sales data to Google Ads.

Step 1: Create a store sales customer list

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon .
2. Click the Shared library drop-down in the section menu.
3. Click Audience manager.
4. At the top bar, select Your data segments.
5. Click the plus button , then click Customer list.
6. Click Create a list of customers with store sales data.
7. Enter a name for your audience.
8. In the 'Conversion attributes', 'Conversion totals' and 'Conversion dates' sections, click Add rule and create your rule.
   • Conversion attributes: Create rules that apply to each transaction from a particular customer.
   • Conversion totals: Create rules that apply to all transactions from a particular customer.
   • Conversion dates: Choose a lookback window for the rule. You can go up to 180 days.
9. (Optional) Add a description of the audience. A description is useful in case you have multiple audiences and need to differentiate between them in Google Ads.
10. Click Save and continue.

Examples of spend-based rules

Add customers with a total spend over $100 AUD to your list

In the 'Conversion totals' section, use the drop-down menus to create a rule that looks like this:

• 'Total conversion value is greater than 100'

Add customers with an average spend of less than $30 AUD

In the 'Conversion totals' section, use the drop-down menus to create a rule that looks like this:

• 'Average conversion value is less than 30'

Add customers who’ve spent more than $20 AUD in a single transaction

In the 'Conversion attributes' section, use the drop-down menus to create a rule that looks like this:

• 'Conversion value is greater than 20'

Examples of frequency-based rules

Add customers who’ve made more than 5 transactions in your store

In the 'Conversion totals' section, use the drop-down menus to create a rule that looks like this:

• 'Total conversions is greater than 5'

Examples of time-based rules

Add customers who’ve made transactions in the last 30 days

In the 'Conversion dates' section, enter '30' into the box so the rule looks like this:

• 'Last 30 days'

Examples of custom variable-based rules

Add customers who’ve purchased coats in your store

This example assumes that you have an active store sales custom variable set up where the custom variable name is 'Product category' and one of the values is 'Coats'.

In the 'Conversion attributes' section, use the drop-down menus to create a rule that looks like this:

• 'Custom: Product category equals Coats'

Notes:

• The value needs to match the exact name listed in your store sales data file.
• If you deactivate your custom variable, or create a new one, any lists associated with the custom variable will be set to inactive, and any campaigns associated with the inactive lists will stop serving.
• A custom variable has to be active to create or edit lists associated with the custom variable.

Step 2: Add your store sales customer list to a campaign

1. In your Google Ads account, click the Tools icon .
2. Click the Shared library drop-down in the section menu.
3. Click Audience manager.
4. At the top bar, select Audiences.
5. Click the box next to the name of your store sales customer list, then click Add to.
   If you have multiple audience lists, click Search to narrow your results and find your list.
6. Click Campaigns, then locate the campaign you want to add your customer list to.
7. Click Next.
8. Choose your targeting setting, then click Add audiences.

RETURN TO SHOP SALES HOME

Related links

• Customer Match policy
• How Google uses Customer Match data
• Fix Customer Match issues with list upload, small list size or low volume