Google Local Inventory Ads (LIAs) are a valuable asset for high-street stores that need to bring in local shoppers. They are even more precious as individuals more and more shift to their smartphones to search for merchandise details and shop hours.
To win sales from shoppers while they’re still in “research mode,” local businesses must place their products at the forefront. Google LIAs are the solution for enhancing your performance max campaign and improving local search results. Below, we break down how LIAs work and how to leverage them to enhance local product visibility and increase foot traffic.
What are Local Inventory Ads?
LIAs are a Google ad format that presents your inventory and store details to nearby consumers searching for the products you carry. When someone runs a local product query on Google Search, Google Maps, or even with Google Assistant, they’re shown up-to-the-minute information on whether a desired item is in stock at your shop.
The ads highlight key information, including the item’s price, stock status, and the distance between your store and the searcher’s current location, motivating local customers to stop by and make a purchase.
Key Features of Local Inventory Ads
- Product Availability: Ensure that the information is accurate to facilitate customer inquiries regarding in-store inventory. Let customers see right away if a specific item is available at a nearby store location.
- Store Information: Ensure that it includes details for customers to easily search on Google for your location. Displays essential details, such as the store’s operating hours, street address, and contact number, making it easier for customers to plan in-store visits.
- Google-Hosted Page: Provides an optional page hosted by Google, where customers can access additional inventory information about the product and the store.
- In-Store Pickup: Enhance your shopping experience by allowing customers to pick up their orders at the store. Integrates online and offline shopping by enabling customers to collect their online purchases in-store.
How to set up Local Inventory Ads
To get started with local inventory ads, follow these simple steps if you operate both a website and physical retail locations. Completing each action will set you up to enjoy the advantages that LIAs deliver.
Step 1: Link your Google Accounts
First, you need to create and then connect these Google accounts:
- Google Business Profile: This is crucial for local search optimization and helps in showcasing your merchant-hosted local storefront. It is a free online listing that presents your essential business information, including your business name, physical address, operating hours, and customer reviews, helping to attract local shoppers.
- Google Merchant Center: Think of your Google Merchant Center account as your digital storefront—it’s where you upload and manage your product details so they can appear in Google Shopping Ads and Local Shopping Ads.
- Google Ads: Utilize this platform to promote your store inventory effectively. You also need a Google Ads account to create and run local inventory ads.
To connect the two accounts, go to Google Merchant Center, click on settings, and then select “Linked accounts.” After that, you can pick the Google profile types that you want to connect to your GMC and link the corresponding accounts.
Step 2: Activate Google Local Inventory Ads and Submit your Business Details
Log in to your Google Merchant Center and, in the left navigation under ‘Growth’, select ‘Manage programs’. Locate ‘Local inventory ads’ and press ‘Get started’.
Next, select the country where your physical store is based, and where you want the local inventory ads to show, then complete the business information section. You’ll need to provide key attributes for your products, including the verification contact number and other essential product and store information.
- Business name
- Address
- Verification contact number
- Customer service contact details
After entering all the required information, a green tick will confirm that everything is in place.
Step 3: Select your Landing Page Experience from the Provided Choices
The landing page experience is what users will encounter after clicking a local inventory ad. To begin, open Google Merchant Center, head to Settings, and select Local Inventory Ads Setup. From there, pick the country you’ve configured for the LIAs.
Then, find the section labeled ‘Product pages’ on your website; you’ll see three local storefront choices that improve local search visibility. Pick the landing page setup that best fits how you run your store.
To guide your decision, here’s a brief description of each landing page option.
- Google-Hosted Local Shop Front: Use this option if your product pages can’t display which stores have a product in stock. Consider a shoe brand with three stores that sells a particular pair of trainers through its merchant-hosted local storefront, encouraging customers to visit your store. If a shopper can’t see on the product page which of the three store locations has that pair, then the Google-hosted storefront is the way to go.
- Merchant-Managed Local Shop Front (Basic): Pick the basic merchant-managed front when your product pages can show whether a product is in stock at each location. For instance, if a shopper can click on a pair of trainers and see that it’s at the nearest store, then this basic local shop front enhances the shopping experience.
- Merchant-Managed Local Shop Front (Full): This setup allows for seamless integration with Google My Business to enhance visibility. Opt for the full merchant-managed shop front when you can both confirm stock at each store location and provide accurate prices and availability for each location. If a shopper can see the trainers at a specific store along with the price and stock level, the whole local shop front is the best fit.
Step 4: Submit a Sample Product Page and Link to Your Price Guarantee Policy
If you chose to control your shop front locally via a merchant account, you must provide Google with an in-store depiction of product pages similar to your in-store inventory. Google can then ensure your inventory pages qualify for Local Inventory Ads requirements.
Then, find the “Sample product page” field and enter the URL of the product page you want to use as your sample. Make sure you pick a page that actually represents the type of inventory you want to sell, such as online customers purchasing.
Lastly, no matter what your landing page design is, include a definite link to your price assurance policy in order to allay local shoppers and drive store visits. Such a policy must hold accountable any retailer that offers the same merchandise in-store at prices listed in your local inventory ads for compliance with the request inventory verification procedure.
To confirm this, tick the box that reads ‘Shoppers can buy in-store at the price shown on my site.’ Then paste the URL for your price guarantee policy so a reviewer can verify it.
Step 5: Upload your Product Feeds
To activate local inventory ads, your first step is to have a primary product feed ready. The primary feed is a detailed file that includes data about your products or services, as well as every attribute that defines them.
Key attributes typically include the title, description, images, size, color, gender, shipping details, price, availability, and unique identifiers like GTINs, which are vital for the shopping experience. You can either gather this inventory information by hand or simplify the task by using a feed management tool that builds and optimizes the feed for you. After you’ve uploaded the primary shopping feed, follow up by uploading the local product inventory feed for the inventory verification process.
The local product inventory feed is narrower than the primary feed and carries less detailed data. Still, its role is to fill in the gaps related explicitly to the storefront, covering product and store information.
- Product ID
- Store code
- Availability
- Price
Mapping the data is straightforward with DataFeedWatch. It is crucial to keep this information up to date so that product ads shown to local shoppers always reflect the current in-store inventory reality. To upload your feeds, sign in to your Google Merchant Center, go to the Products section, and click on ‘Feeds’:
Step 6: Activate Local Products in your Shopping Campaigns
The final step to enable local inventory ads on Google is to enable them within your Shopping campaigns in the Google Ads interface. Go to Google Ads, select your Google Shopping campaign, open campaign settings, find the ‘Local products’ section, tick the box that says ‘Turn on ads for products sold in local shops,’ and hit Save.
If you’re running Google Shopping campaigns as Performance Max, you can skip this step. By connecting Google Merchant Center with Google Ads and uploading a local product feed, local inventory ads will be automatically displayed.
Conclusion
To bridge your offline store with the online marketplace, Local Inventory Ads are your strongest ally, reaching shoppers precisely when they’re ready to make a purchase. By implementing the practices outlined in this guide, your business will be well-prepared to outpace the competition in the retail landscape, especially within your local store.
Now make monitoring your results a daily habit. Refine your tactics based on the inventory verification data to not only hit but surpass your store performance targets. Activate LIAs right away, and you’ll soon see store visits and customer interaction climbing to new heights.
Vijay Sood is a seasoned digital marketer with a passion for driving online growth and innovation. With a robust background in developing and executing comprehensive digital strategies, Vijay excels in leveraging SEO, content marketing, and social media to boost brand visibility and engagement. His expertise lies in transforming data-driven insights into actionable marketing campaigns, helping businesses achieve their digital objectives.
