Shopping Blog

[cross-posted on the Mobile Ads Blog]

Welcome to the latest post in our Mobile Insights series featuring expert views from our mobile ads team. This week’s guest contributors are Alex Barza and Kacy Brod, who lead our U.S. mobile efforts for Retail. Here are their thoughts on the state of mobile marketing in retail gleaned from Think Retail 2011, Google’s annual gathering of retail executives.

At this year’s Think Retail event in Mountain View, mobile marketing was a hot topic.

We started the day by summarizing the most interesting retail insights from a recently conducted 5,000 person mobile survey (watch the three minute highlight video). We also noted that last year our #1 recommendation to retailers was to create mobile-optimized sites and/or apps. After a quick survey of Internet Retailer’s top 100 ranked companies, we’re happy to report the majority now have created one or both.

After speaking with many retailers and analyzing our own retail data, we identified six trends and recommendations around each to help retailers evolve their mobile strategies.

#1 -- Mobile Is Highly Engaging: There’s no other platform that can allow you to touch and engage with a product or brand like mobile can, so intrigue users to interact with your advertising campaign. Invite them to swipe, rotate, tell their own story, or upload their own personal video: the sky’s the limit. The Gilt Groupe, for instance, ran a iPad Rich Media Interstitial ad that lets users interact with multiple product images by swiping and enlarging the images in an interactive manner. Users simply tap or pinch-out and, in this case, have the option to download the app directly from the Apple Marketplace.



Recommendation: Tie mobile into other branding and channel marketing strategies and look at tapping into Mobile's unique native features to further engage customers.

#2 -- Local Drives Business: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: we believe in local search. The most popular mobile shopping activity is locating the nearest retailer. When consumers find local information, 88% take action within a day; of this number, 61% call a retailer and 59% visit a store. (1)




Recommendation: Be discoverable and drive store foot traffic when consumers are searching for your business, products, or services. Integrate store locatiors into your display campaigns to help your customers find stores nearest to them.

#3 -- Consumers Want Offers: Google research shows that 70% of consumers use their smartphones while shopping. Why? Consumers love to compare prices while in a store. When we analyzed last year’s holiday search trends, we found a 250% increase over the previous year in searches related to offers and deals.

Recommendation: Use Ads with Offers and mobile coupons in both search and display to drive consumers into your stores and keep them there while they are comparison shopping. Include mobile to distribute promotional offers and time-sensitive coupons and designate custom mobile codes to track the return on your ad spend.

Both display and search ads deliver returns for retailers

#4 -- Consumers Engage with Mobile on Multiple Platforms: More than 165 million tablets are expected to ship in the next two years, and according to eMarketer, 41% of people say shopping is their sole purpose for buying a tablet. As a result we’ve noticed a big surge in search on tablets which has prompted us to completely redesign and optimize the tablet search results page for a touch interface. This means retailers need to have a cross-platform strategy which includes tablets.




Recommendation: Test new ad formats and redesign experiences specifically for different types of devices. Target tablets within your existing desktop search campaigns or break them out to ensure appropriate coverage, especially during this holiday season. Reach the tablet customer via new rich media ad templates that make it easy to execute a rich user experience resulting in extremely high engagement. These templates take advantage of tablets’ larger screen sizes, high-res graphics, touch screens and multimedia capabilities to drive deep engagement with mobile audiences. Take a look at our launch partner video here!

#5 -- Mobile Is Incremental: Fifteen percent of all shopping-related searches are now on a mobile device. This spells opportunity for retailers to tap into search growth by specifically targeting mobile devices and tablets.

When one advertising agency expanded their client’s business onto mobile, they saw some unexpected but very interesting behaviors. 20% of clients who conducted research on the desktop finalized their purchases on mobile devices. Seeing this incredible crossover data, they invested in mobile search advertising by leveraging Google’s Click-to-call ads to drive traffic to their call centers and also sent mobile users to an easy to use two-step ordering process on mobile and tablet sites. This investment led to a large increase of new prospects and also lowered the cost of a sale by 25% when occurring on mobile versus the call center. This is just one example of what can be achieved.



Recommendation: We see huge search spikes during the holiday season, as the above shopping query trend graph illustrates. In fact, last year Google saw a 250% increase on Black Friday related queries vs 2009 during the week of Black Friday and we’re hoping for another banner year for mobile. This is a valuable time to get in front of consumers, so have specific mobile holiday strategies in place and establish appropriate budgets. Below are two examples of how Target and Home Depot used Black Friday messaging during the week of Black Friday to capture the increased demand.




#6 -- A Word On Measurement: Mobile acts as a bridge and impacts your in-store and online channels. The opportunity is huge, but it requires innovative thinking, adapting to new realities, and challenging the assumed models. Our research shows that when consumers make purchases as a result of research conducted on their phones, 76% purchase in-store and 59% purchase online, while a smaller portion purchase on their phones.

Recommendation: Measure mobile differently; don’t measure success solely on mobile sales broadly. Think of conversions differently -- metrics such as a store look-up, customer sign-up, redemption of an offer in store, or app downloads are important. Tablets, on the other hand, have shown very strong eCommerce ROI, especially in retail, and can be measured more like desktop.

To learn more about the above recommendations, download the Full Think Retail Mobile Deck here.

For a quick snapshot of what’s available for retail in mobile now, check out our retail sizzle video.

Posted by: Alex Barza, Senior Account Executive, Mobile & Kacy Brod, Mobile Head of Display, Retail


Additional Notes (1) Google & OTX Study Q4 2010

Online retail sales currently represent 9% of all retail sales, are predicted to represent 11% of all retail sales in the US by 2014, and are up from 8% in 2009.* Overall retail sales in Q4 2010 were up 3% but online sales were up 13.5% and we expect online sales growth to be even larger this holiday season.*

The role of the internet will continue to grow for consumers and retailers, as consumers continue to understand the value of finding information about their purchases online.

Consumers make purchase decisions based on brands and experiences. For consumers, a website is the portal to the brand. How (device) and where (location) the brand is accessed is a matter of specific need for information at a unique stage in the purchase cycle. The challenge for all retailers is that expectations for a seamless transition throughout the funnel are high and rising. Persistence of experience delights the customer.

There are five notions that are driving today’s state of Retail:

1. Necessity is the mother of all invention: Downward pressure on the economy increases the desire to save money and make the right purchase decision. Shopping related queries are up 25% y/y this month and deal related queries are predicted to reach a 195% growth rate this December compared to last year. In order to do find the best value and make the right purchase, consumers spend more time investigating how to find the best value.


2. Moore's Law in every pocket: Today, gateways (smartphones, tablets, laptops, kiosks, etc.) to real time information are cheap, more powerful and portable than ever before. Forty-four percent of top retailers show product availability online and at store locations. Retailers are beginning to make it easier for consumers to find what they need where and when they need it.


3. Reducing friction increases adoption: Internet connected shopping tools are simpler and easier to use than they have ever been. For example, 28% of top 25 retailers feature buy via mobile/pickup in-store.


4. Transparency increases opportunity: In addition, pricing and inventory availability have reached near 100% transparency for non-perishable goods.


5. Integration enhances the value of convenience over immediacy: Consumers are now empowered to research, price, locate and transact any good/service nearly anywhere in the world within minutes and have it delivered to a doorstep in 2 days. All this, while Americans have less leisure time than they've ever had. Click and deliver often sounds better than park and wait in line.

So what does this mean for retailers?

Retail has evolved from consumer engagement via individual channels to consumers transitioning between them.

• Align your business around a single customer across many channels rather than a channel by channel experience.


• Build exceptional connected experiences across devices that let every unique individual know your brand understands what interests them at that right moment.


• Ensure that your brand can deliver what a customer is looking for regardless of the device, location or time.

Posted by Todd Pollak and Nina Thatcher, The Google Retail Team


*US Online Retail Forecast, Forrester Research

(Cross-posted on the Google Commerce and Google Merchant blogs)

The people we know and trust have a big influence on our purchase decisions. I bought the chef’s knife I use every day on the recommendation of my friend Eliot, who more than knows his way around the kitchen. And I always try to bring my friend Brian along when I’m music shopping, since he has a knack for pointing out great albums I’ve never heard of.

We’re excited about the +1 button because it brings these personal recommendations to a place where many purchase decisions start -- the Google search results page.

Adding +1 buttons to your product pages makes it easy for your customers to recommend the products they love on your site with a single click. And thanks to recent improvements to the +1 button, they can take the conversation even further by sharing your products right away on Google+.

From there, +1 annotations can help your products stand out. Potential customers might see +1’s from their friends and contacts on your search ads, your organic Google Search results, or even on your page itself.

We’ve worked with Bazaarvoice and PowerReviews to make it even easier to get the +1 button on your pages. Both companies have extensive experience in social commerce, and can help you develop the right strategy for implementing +1 buttons on your site.

Looking for a couple examples of retailers using +1 to help their products stand out on Google search? Jockey (working with PowerReviews) and Golfsmith (working with Bazaarvoice) have already added +1 buttons to the product pages on their sites.

If you’d prefer to add the +1 button to pages yourself, it’s easy to do. Just install a small snippet of code wherever you want the +1 button to appear. For advanced implementation FAQs and documentation, you can visit the +1 button page on Google Code.

As more retailers add +1 buttons to their sites, we’re excited about how much more helpful search results will get. The next time I need a new frying pan, I won’t need to call Eliot up -- his recommendation will be right there waiting for me.

Posted by Brian Lam, Strategic Partner Manager

The end of the year has always been an exciting time for retailers across both online and offline channels. This year, the game will change with a likely uptick in mobile usage during the holiday shopping season.

In Q4 2010, we witnessed the impact mobile had on shopping behavior as 59% of smartphone users used their phones while holiday shopping.* Some people used their smartphones to shop on the go, and even more used them to research products while in a retail store.

This trend is looking to continue in 2011; in fact, research indicates that 70% of those using their smartphones for holiday shopping are using them in-store, where purchases are being influenced on the spot.* As such, retailers need to engage consumers in meaningful ways on the mobile channel. Some are leveraging the mobile platform via wishlists and shopping apps, ensuring that consumers buy from them regardless of the purchase channel. Some other good options include making mobile product research and price comparisons easy.

It's not all happening in-store, though. Mobile commerce enabled sites are still a must for consumers seeking instant gratification, or a break from long in-store lines. The key to mobile commerce holiday success is making your site easy to find and even easier to purchase a product. Site loading times should be instantaneous as, “47% of consumers say they expect a page to load within two seconds, and 40% will wait no longer than three seconds before moving on, according to web performance monitoring service Akamai Technologies Inc.”**

As you continue your holiday planning, remember that consumers are connected across multiple devices and have higher expectations than ever before. They are seeking the best deal, want to know what products they can get where and how quickly they can buy them. Ensure that you’re fully covered across smartphones, tablets, and desktop so that consumers can not only discover and engage with your brand but also transact when they’re ready.

Posted by Keri Overman, The Google Retail Team

*Google/OTX Holiday shopping survey, Comscore July 2011, State of economy
**Internet Retailer, “Prepare Today for Online Holiday Sales”, August 18, 2011

Search as a means of driving Retail sales has evolved in the past few years. As recently as three years ago, most retailers still viewed their “Internet” plan as a means of driving e-commerce. The Internet was a distribution and sales channel measured by its ability to drive online revenues from their website.

Then, as the Internet evolved into a broader media platform where consumers researched, watched videos and compared products/prices, and then often made their purchases in a physical store, many advanced retailers began to include offline sales as an additional factor in measuring their overall Search ROI.

In 2011, the most forward-thinking retailers have started looking at a new measurement to calculate the success of their online campaigns: new customer acquisition and the lifetime value of those new customers.

Think about your own search strategy: most likely you bid on as many of your brand terms as possible. And you should: here are customers that know you, who are raising their hands (via “queries”) and asking for information, then converting at a high ROI.

But what about “non-brand” terms: queries higher up the purchase funnel like “jeans”, “home appliances” or “women’s shoes”? These shoppers are still browsing and researching but they’re not converting at the same rate as those searching for your brand terms, so you may either not be buying non-brand terms them or buying very few. Why? – Most likely because you’re hooked on those brand ROIs. Why pay a higher CPC for a lower conversion rate? 




I’ll tell you why: because those non-brand terms drive a higher percentage of new customers to your site – and when you consider the lifetime value of those customers they will pay off! Here are people looking for products and services you offer, but did not think to type your brand into the search box. You are not (yet) part of their top consideration set. And look at the advertisers who are on that search results page: it’s your competition! You are not even putting yourself in the game.

So what do we recommend? Only you know your relative new customer acquisition costs and lifetime customer value payouts. Every retailer has different metrics, but here’s the general thinking: your brand terms ($.50 CPC) payout at an ROI of 10:1 while your non-brand terms ($1.00 CPC) payout at 5:1. But your non-brand terms bring in more new customers who will eventually payout. In year 2, they buy enough to amortize that initial ROI up to 8:1. Then in year 3 they’re loyal customers who are paying out at 10:1 (or higher). So that initial $1.00 CPC is now paying out – and that new customer you bought three years ago is now a lifetime customer (and you didn’t let the competition get them either).




So don’t relegate those non-brand terms to the “too high ROI” bin. Give them a chance. There is value in there beyond immediate ROI. All it takes is a little forward-thinking strategic discussion, some help from your quant team and the ability to see value beyond today’s sales report. Think about turning new customers into lifetime customers.


Posted by Dan Schock, The Google Retail Team

According to the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2011 Back-to-School survey, 52% of families with school-aged children plan to purchase electronics this year. Among college students and their families, electronics will be the largest category for back-to-school retail expenditures. (1)

As a marketer, do you have a back-to-school strategy in place for these consumers? Here are some key 2011 back-to-school consumer trends that you can take advantage of:

Back-to-School shoppers are...

Online
Don't under-estimate the power of the Internet: NRF's survey found that consumers who shop multiple channels will spend 40% more than those who only shop in stores. (1) This is supported by Traqline 2011 data for popular back-to-school products such as laptop computers, where we also find that the higher the price bucket, the more consumers shop online for a product. (2)


In addition, PriceGrabber's recent back-to-school survey found that 69% of consumers plan to shop online for back-to-school this year, as compared to only 23% in 2010. (3)

NRF's survey also shows that 32% of back-to-school and 33% of back-to-college shoppers (Adults 18+) indicated they may also purchase their back-to-school items online this year. The number for back-to-college increases to 46% when you look at the Adults 18-24 category, indicating that college students, who either buy themselves or largely influence back-to-college purchases, may be shopping online for back-to-college purchases even moreso. (1)

Tactics to utilize:

• Bid aggressively to ensure your products are top of mind during this key retail period when consumers are more actively searching for electronics products


• Use Ad Extensions - such as Ad Sitelinks, Product Extensions, Location Extensions, etc. - to better distinguish your offering from the competition. Consider creating a separate [Back-to-School] site link for your ads


• Back-to-School shoppers come in all shapes and sizes, from kids influencing their parents, to college students, to moms, dads, and other family members. Be sure to have a unique strategy to reach these audiences through audience and content targeting strategies, using our AdPlanner tool, on the Google Display Network. Also, be sure to take advantage of our demographic bidding option

Bargain-Hunting
The NRF survey shows that 50% of respondents are shopping for back-to-school sales more often this year. In addition, 30% are doing more comparative shopping online. (1) PriceGrabber's survey tells us that 41% of shoppers plan on visiting retailer websites to print out coupons. (3) Finally, Google Insights shows us that the term [back to school sale] not only steeply peaks at this time of year, but search interest has also increased each year. (4)

For consumer electronics specifically, Traqline shows us that, of the consumers who shopped for laptops online in Q3 2010 (67%), 76% did so to compare prices and 61% did so to check for current promotions or sales.

It's official: Back-to-school shoppers use price as a prime consideration factor when purchasing a product, and they love bargains!

Tactics to utilize:

• Consumers are looking for sales. If you have special back-to-school promotions, highlight them in your ads! Utilize Offer Ads on both desktop and mobile to incentivize consumers to purchase your products


• Consider bidding on higher funnel terms, such as [back-to-school sale], to be a part of the back-to-school consideration set earlier on in a buyer's purchase process


• Remarket back-to-school ads and discounts to consumers who have been to your site in the past

On Mobile
A recent Deloitte survey found that 64% of surveyed back-to-school shoppers will use their smartphone during their shopping process. (4) On Google's end, we saw a lift of 500% in mobile searches for retail and consumer electronics categories over the summer months last year. (7)

There's no doubt that mobile is a huge opportunity during the back-to-school season for consumer electronics marketers; the question is, do you have a mobile strategy in place to seize this opportunity?

Tactics to utilize:

• We not only have a list of mobile tactics for the back-to-school marketer, but an entire blog post! Check out this July 2011 back-to-school 'Mobile Insights' post by Mobile Ads Account Executive Grace Dolan.

If you haven't yet done so, it's not too late to begin on your back-to-school online market strategy. NRF found that 28% of back-to-school shoppers plan on shopping 1-2 weeks right before school begins. (1) Get started today!


Posted by Payal Shah, The Google Technology Markets Team

Sources:
1) National Retail Federation/BIG Research 2011 Back to School and Back to College Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey
2) Traqline 2011 data for Portable/Notebook Computers category
3) PriceGrabber Back-to-School Shopping Forecast Survey
4) Google Insights for Search, 2004-2011, for search term 'back to school sale'
5) Traqline 2010 data for Portable/Notebook Computers category
6) Deloitte 2011 Back-to-School Shopping Survey
7) Google Internal Data 2009-2011 as referenced in the ‘Mobile Insights’ Google Retail Blog post on 7/18/2011

[Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog, Commerce and Mobile blogs]

For years, shoppers have enjoyed flipping through glossy print catalogs to be inspired, discover new trends and find great products. Today, mobile technologies can make catalog shopping more engaging, social and creative. With that in mind, we’ve created Google Catalogs—a free app for tablet devices that enables you to browse all of your favorite catalogs and interact with new layers of rich-media content.

The Google Catalogs app features digital versions of catalogs across many popular categories, including fashion and apparel, beauty, jewelry, home, kids and gifts. We’ve partnered with a variety of top brands including Anthropologie, Bare Escentuals, Bergdorf Goodman, Crate and Barrel, L.L. Bean, Lands’ End, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Pottery Barn, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Sundance, Tea Collection, Urban Outfitters and Williams-Sonoma, just to name a few.

With Google Catalogs, you can:

• Interact: Zoom in to see products up close, tap on tags to learn more about an item or, in some catalogs, view inspiring photo albums and videos.


• Find products in nearby stores: When an item catches your eye, instantly find it in a store near you or tap “Buy on Website” to visit the merchant online.


• Express your creativity: Create a collage of your favorite catalog pages and products. If you need inspiration, you can check out collages created by others.


• Share with friends: Email a product or collage to all your shopping buddies.


• Get instant access to new catalogs: Add catalogs to your Favorites and get notified each time a new issue arrives.


• Discover new products and brands: Search for products within or across multiple catalogs to find exactly what you’re looking for.

To download the app on your iPad, visit the App Store. Visit www.google.com/catalogs/about/ to learn more, and stay tuned for Google Catalogs for Android tablets, coming soon! If you’re a merchant and would like to participate in Google Catalogs, tell us about your catalog by filling out this form on our website.

Happy shopping!

Posted by Kinnari Jhaveri, Strategic Partner Development Manager, Google Commerce Team

Even in an age of jet travel and cloud computing, real clouds and jet streams--in other words, weather and climate--remain major factors driving economic dynamics at every level. For many retailers especially the vicissitudes of climate can massively impact their businesses, the way they relate to their consumers, and the pace of their development.

From a lemonade stand set up by neighborhood kids to fully-booked schedules for air conditioning installation teams to outdoor events canceled because of high temperatures, summer in most places of the US brings with it a host of constitutive economic dynamics. With triple digit temperatures and excessive heat warnings hitting the US hard from Idaho to Texas, Nevada to Maryland this week and last, some of these seasonal dynamics have become especially pronounced, while still other challenges arise for individuals, communities, businesses, and governments. This post addresses how the heat wave may be impacting retailers in particular and how they might respond effectively and efficiently.

Some of the current events, blog, and image content for “Heat Wave”--a trending topic across the US from July 19, 2011. Source: Google News.

Some relatively obvious retail areas have been and will be significantly impacted. For example, merchants who sell portable air conditioners nationwide or local HVAC repair companies have probably seen major uplift in purchases and requests for service. This month has hit the highest levels of searches for “air conditioning” on Google in over half a decade.

Indexed query volumes for “air conditioning” from January 2004 to present. Source: Google Insights for Search.

Meanwhile, the indexed volume of searches on Google in the US for “water parks” and “ice cream”--which consistently demonstrate peak seasonality in the dog days of summer--have already attained record highs in terms of indexed search volumes this month.

What are a few suggestions or best practices for retailers to consider as this heat continues to unfold? If you are a retailer who provides goods or services that address heat relief, craft ad text and creatives to speak directly to current events. For local outlets seen as places to escape the heat socially --cafes, movie theaters, water parks-- highlight this capacity, especially in any mobile-specific campaigns you have. For display and search initiatives, add a few flighted ad groups or campaigns with heat relief-specific language.

Of course, heat relief goes well beyond water slides. Take some time to consider how the services and goods you provide can or do provide heat relief--and be sure to communicate this in any locally-targeted campaigns or ad creatives. Think about your site’s visitors or shop’s customers. How is the heat impacting their behavior? If you have social media channels, reach out to users and initiate conversations. If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, be sure it is a welcoming place from the heat. Heat--and relief from it--will be a top of mind priority for everyone affected by the heat.

Perhaps you are a laundromat in Chicago right now that has AC. In this midst of a heat wave this usually unremarkable fact might suddenly cause you to stand out--and it might be worth mentioning in locally-targeted ads. If you are crafting a campaign driving awareness around an outdoor concert series in Nashville, it may make sense to explicitly highlight the free, cold bottled water you will be offering. Additionally, some consumers may purchase items from home, rather than brave the heat. With very different temperature extremes, Snowmaggedon 2011 drove a similar dynamic in the retail sector. This could be selling point for those competing from a pure player space against brick-and-mortar establishments.

Looking beyond this current heat wave, and as national consciousness rises around climate change and attendant weather patterns, more and more consumers are seeking to stay cool, while saving money and carbon. For retailers that source their energy from renewable sources, now could be a key time to start highlighting this difference. For those that don’t, now could be an ideal moment to begin considering investment in these sources for the future. The impact of heat waves may remain long after the weather itself has turned cool again. One particular complex of economic factors illustrates this fact powerfully. The current heat wave has significantly damaged US corn, soybean, and wheat crops, driving up these commodities’ prices. It appears that these increases are already impacting livestock prices. This could, in turn, impact a range of retailers involved in food service through the rest of the year. Such a scenario serves as an object lesson: As retailers prepare longer-range plans, they should consider the possible chain of impacts that ripple out from a major heat wave--or any significant climate event.


Posted by Paul G. Nauert, The Google Retail Team

Advertisers often wonder whether search ads cannibalize their organic traffic. If search ads were paused, would clicks on organic results increase, and make up for the loss in paid traffic? Google statisticians recently ran over 400 studies on paused accounts to answer this question.

In what we call “Search Ads Pause Studies”, our group of researchers observed organic click volume in the absence of search ads. Then they built a statistical model to predict click volume for given levels of ad spend. This model generates estimates for the incremental clicks attributable to search ads (IAC), or in other words, the percentage of paid clicks that are not made up for by organic clicks when search ads are paused.

On average, the incremental ad clicks percentage across verticals is 89%. This means that a full 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused. This number was consistently high across verticals:


You can find a video on the study here. The full study can be found on research.google.com.


Posted by Lizzy Van Alstine and David Chan, The Google Quant Management Team

Google’s invite-only retail summit, Think Retail: The Future is Now, was held on July 12 in Mountain View, CA. The event reached over 950 marketing leaders and agency executives. Think Retail explored the ever-evolving marketplace, how to most effectively leverage digital assets, and how to best connect with today’s consumers.

I attended the session and it was a jam-packed day of valuable information, trends, and great examples. It sparked ideas for many marketers on “how can I integrate mobile into my back-to-school programs,” “how can I apply multi-channel online attribution to my business,” and “how the social landscape is changing with Google+.”

The event provided a new perspective on the increasingly digital consumer shopping experience and offered new ideas and opportunities for marketers to make more meaningful consumer connections and increase online and offline sales. Key highlights included:

• Matt Nemer from Wells Fargo’s insights into why “We are on the brink of another acceleration in eCommerce”

• Andy Mantis from MasterCard’s analysis of consumer spending trends and predictions for the holidays

• Product experts from Google sharing trends in local, mobile and video, and how retailers can incorporate these strategies into their marketing mix

• Avinash Kaushik's sharing of best practices for multi-channel online attribution

• Google’s Social team's peek into the Google+ project - real-life sharing , rethought for the web. The team gave a demo on how to use circles, huddles, sparks and more. They also shared how clients using Google Analytics can gain insight into social engagement on their website (see below)

The Think Retail website has been updated with presentations and videos from the event. You can access the content here. Enjoy!


Posted by Atoshi Shorey, The Google Technology Market Team