What are Google’s new promotions features and why do they matter?

The holiday season is upon us and many shoppers are looking for discounted deals to make the most out of their budget — which has been seriously challenged by the climbing prices. 

To enable shoppers to have easy and safe access to discounts and coupons — and retailers to make their promotions more efficient, Google has put promotions front and center in product searches. Some of the important features in the new release include:

In this post, we’ll show you what these features are and why they are significant updates for both customers and retailers.

A recent study shows shoppers are looking for discounts and coupons more than last year, with 65% of respondents saying that discount is the top factor influencing their purchase decision. This means offering head-turning discounts is essential if businesses want to unlock the numerous opportunities of end-of-the-year sales.

Informed by this crucial change in customers’ shopping behavior, Google has unveiled a new promotion badge which will show up on searched items with an active promotion. In the past, shoppers could see items on sale or with a reduced price. With this new feature, it’s now possible to see specific promotions, such as coupon codes, right in the search results. 

These new promotions labels help customers find coupon codes faster and safer. They’re also beneficial for retailers because they can track what deals their competitors are offering shoppers and how their own promotions match up. 

To ensure you can build, test and run multiple discount and coupon campaigns, you need to use a flexible tool that enables you to make last-minute changes without experiencing a technical breakdown — which is extremely costly during the holiday season.  

One of the results of the widening gap between rising prices and dwindling cash in shoppers’ pockets is an increasing trend in comparing prices. Research shows that 45% of Gen Z customers cross-reference prices on multiple online outlets to find the best deals. 

One of the key features of Google’s new promotions features is its deal comparison functionality. The release, now only available in the U.S. allows customers to see deals side by side right in their results. 

For example, if a customer searches for a pair of boots, Google will show them a side-by-side display of the discounted deals, enabling them to compare prices and make a well-informed decision.

The best deals are always those that bring shoppers the highest value. To ensure shoppers make an insightful decision, this new Google feature enables customers to see how a retailer’s price for a certain product compares to other retailers, and whether it’s normal, low or high for that item. 

It’s an important feature for retailers too. If you manage your product listings on Google, you can see what promotions are performing well and what needs to be improved. You can also gain valuable insights about customers’ shopping habits. It’s in fact a dashboard for you to make your promotions more efficient. 

Google’s new promotions features have big impacts on how retailers build up and execute their promotion campaigns. It shows the growing importance of a holistic promotional strategy — incentivizing customers’ actions with flexible and timely discounts and coupons. 

Check out our ebook, “Campaign ideas for your online promotions” to discover many different ways you can build creative promo campaigns that help you stay ahead of the competition.