Google Merchant Center

Google’s efforts to lure back Ecommerce creates an opportunity for retailers to adapt early and take advantage of new features in Google Merchant Center. In April, Google recently announced Free clicks in Google Shopping in order to entice more advertisers into the program. Since then, they have created an “organic” section in Google Shopping. A handful of free clicks can have a major impact on overall CPA’s, especially in high CPC categories. More recently, Google has begun importing all products on a website into Merchant Center, but do not default to active.

In a recent project, we corrected tax reporting and shipping information in the feed in order to “unsuspend” an account that had been left dormant for quite some time. We reconstructed the feed with the latest attributes such as “alt view” pictures, and also addressed the missing parts. Finally, in cooperation with a programmer, we tapped the backend API of BigCommerce in order to create an XML Review feed. We submitted it directly to Google Merchant Center, thereby bypassing the need for third-party review aggregators and avoiding their fees. Each time a customer leaves a review on the site, the XML file automatically populates Google Reviews. The yellow stars appear right alongside the big boys—Lowes and Home Depot. (Note: Due to Covid-19, it took Google three weeks to approve the Review Feed.)